Would eating only nuts, seeds, egg whites, fruits, and vegetables be healthy?
DumbledoresPhoenix
Posts: 27 Member
See title. And I am not referring to weight loss, just being healthy. Would that be enough nutrients?
I am tired of worrying about what to cook and what to eat, and nuts, seeds, egg whites, fruits, and vegetables are easy to make and good foods to eat. I just want to make sure that I wouldn't be missing something nutritionally important. I would be eating a variety of each (excluding egg whites obviously).
And since I know someone is going to ask why egg whites and not the whole egg, regular eggs make me sick. I can tolerate egg whites fine, though.
Thanks in advance!
I am tired of worrying about what to cook and what to eat, and nuts, seeds, egg whites, fruits, and vegetables are easy to make and good foods to eat. I just want to make sure that I wouldn't be missing something nutritionally important. I would be eating a variety of each (excluding egg whites obviously).
And since I know someone is going to ask why egg whites and not the whole egg, regular eggs make me sick. I can tolerate egg whites fine, though.
Thanks in advance!
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Replies
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You could make a healthy diet of that if you wanted. But it would depend on the amounts of each, the balance, etc.6
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You'd probably want to keep an eye on your micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to make sure you're not making yourself deficient in anything. Maybe throwing in a daily meal replacement shake or multi-vitamin would help.
I'm amazed that you'd be able to eat the same limited menu every day, I never could. I usually just do a weekly meal-prep of 3-4 large batches for my fiance and I to eat all week.3 -
I would discuss such an extremely limited diet with a doctor. If you're only eating a very small set of foods, then it depends a LOT on what foods you choose from those categories and how much of each you eat.4
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Toxikon, the micronutrients is what I am worried about the most. I think I can get a good balance of macronutrients, but I am worried I might be missing an important vitamin or mineral.1
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I'd include legumes in there and maybe some fruit. Legumes for protein, fruit for carbs and sugar.
Maybe some oils/fats/avocados to round out your diet, too.1 -
Where are you getting your protein from? Whilst nuts and seeds contain protein they are more of a fat source than protein source and egg whites will not provide all the amino acids you need either? Also what about carbs? Again extremely limited sources of carbs. Why can't you add meat, fish, beans, tofu, quorn, pasta, rice, bread, cereals and grains?2
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Body healthy, yes if your variety and quantity of vegetables is good. Brain healthy, that's doubtful.2
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It could be done, but would be difficult at best and leave little wiggle room for mistakes, would be my opinion.
That much restriction would mean that you'd have to be incredibly careful to control intake amounts of each macronutrient and micro... I'd also recommend regular doctor's visits during to monitor health and deficiencies.
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Chocolate is good for your mental health...5
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I can't possibly imagine it would be healthy. It's such a narrow range of foods that you'll be missing lots of micronutrients and/or your intake will be unbalanced (too little of some micronutrients, too much of others). The good thing is that you'll probably be bored long before anything serious happens to your body.
It's a fun thought experiment, but something most people leave to their imagination or TV shows.
I would instead figure out what is going on. You are tired of worrying about what to cook and eat? Why? Are you afraid of food? Do you think food shouldn't taste good? Don't you know how to compose good, healthy meals? If you are willing, you can work on all those things, and you attack them at the same time. When you experience that nothing bad happens when you eat well, you'll be motivated to prepare good meals. Healthy eating is not just a healthy diet, it's a healthy relationship with food, too.
Good, healthy meals are made up from a variety of foods from all the food groups:
1. Fruit
2. Vegetables
3. Dairy
4. Meat, fish, eggs, beans
5. Grains and starchy vegetables
6. Nuts and seeds
7. Fats and oils
Combine components from at least three groups into meals that look and taste appealing to you, and have something from each group every day. Eat different foods from day to day. It's not really complicated.5 -
karenbeckwith5 wrote: »Where are you getting your protein from? Whilst nuts and seeds contain protein they are more of a fat source than protein source and egg whites will not provide all the amino acids you need either? Also what about carbs?
Egg whites are a complete protein. I would be getting carbs from fruit, but yes, that might not be enough. Hmmm...1 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Body healthy, yes if your variety and quantity of vegetables is good. Brain healthy, that's doubtful.
Why not brain healthy?1 -
karenbeckwith5 wrote: »Where are you getting your protein from? Whilst nuts and seeds contain protein they are more of a fat source than protein source and egg whites will not provide all the amino acids you need either? Also what about carbs? Again extremely limited sources of carbs. Why can't you add meat, fish, beans, tofu, quorn, pasta, rice, bread, cereals and grains?
Just FYI - you don't need carbs. If your glycogen stores are depleted, your body begins burning dietary fat in place of carbs in a process called ketosis (you've probably heard of the "keto" diet)! There's nothing particularly unhealthy about being in a constant state of ketosis, as far as I know from the research I've read.2 -
kommodevaran wrote: »I can't possibly imagine it would be healthy. It's such a narrow range of foods that you'll be missing lots of micronutrients and/or your intake will be unbalanced (too little of some micronutrients, too much of others).
Could you be more specific? Which micronutrients would I be missing? What would not be balanced?1 -
No, I can't; I could link to tables, but I don't want to do that, because you will get sufficient nutrition from a wide range of foods, and what you are trying to do, is overcomplicating a simple thing for no good reason, and possibly developing distorted thoughts. My advice is to let go of your goal to only eat those foods, and if you can't do it on your own, please seek professional help.DumbledoresPhoenix wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »I can't possibly imagine it would be healthy. It's such a narrow range of foods that you'll be missing lots of micronutrients and/or your intake will be unbalanced (too little of some micronutrients, too much of others).
Could you be more specific? Which micronutrients would I be missing? What would not be balanced?5 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
With how limited OPs diet plan is, I wanted to make sure that nothing was left out.
I have a number of picky eater friends IRL who "say" they like and eat fruits and vegetables but eat bananas, broccoli, carrots, romaine lettuce, and corn exclusively.
I apologize if I was being redundant, but it was in an effort to be thorough.5 -
"healthy" is such a broad, abstract word... but to your question - do I think it's ideal? No. Do I think it's a recipe for disaster? No. Would you be willing to take a couple of specific vitamins/supplements to address potential deficiencies?0
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Are you able to hit all your macros and micros with that diet? Are you satisfied? Do you feel like this is a sustainable way of eating?
If you answered no to any of these questions, I'd rethink it and come up with a more sustainable plan.0 -
I'd include legumes in there and maybe some fruit. Legumes for protein, fruit for carbs and sugar.
Maybe some oils/fats/avocados to round out your diet, too.
and whole eggs instead of just egg whites...most of the nutrition in an egg is in the yolk...
Frankly, I'd be bored out of my gored...5 -
Why???0
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why not eat whole eggs? The many nutrients in egg yolk are necessary for life, such as B12, that is typically missing in vegan diet. https://www.healthline.com/health/egg-yolk-nutrition#nutrition
Also, omega 3 fats from animal sources such as fatty fish (and egg yolks too!) are a different type that is better absorbed by the body than omega 3 fats from plant sources like flax seed. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/09/11/omega-3-from-plants-vs-marine-animals.aspx0 -
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DumbledoresPhoenix wrote: »
Dunno, sorry. I'm not well versed in your diet, so I'm not sure what nutrients you are most apt to be short in (I eat almost the exact opposite of what you are proposing). I'd log foods for a week or 2, then do some reporting on vitamins/nutrients to see how you're doing... then supplement as needed.
If I'm not mistaken, aside from the egg whites, your proposed diet is very vegetarian-ish. You could probably talk to a few vegetarians and see what nutrients they struggle to get enough of, and use that as a basis for what you do or don't supplement.1 -
I think this is an excellent foundation for things to always have in the house, especially if you are eating an absolute rainbow of fruits and veg, and a very wide variety of nuts and seeds.
But why not throw in something like sandwiches as well? They are not difficult and would add additional variety in things you are missing: get deli packs of turkey, ham, chicken and salami, get some sliced cheddar and provolone, get some 100% whole grain bread, get some mustard or mayo, and pile it up with that rainbow of veggies (tomatoes, avocados, sprouts, spinach, romaine, onions, olives, etc.) you are meaning to eat.
We are meant to be scavengers; you could also get out and "scavenge" at a restaurant of grocery deli section from time to time and get in some easy variety that way, with whatever happens to meet your fancy.4 -
Would a limited diet such as the items you listed be sustainable for you? Would you be able to eat enough of those to get your minimum calories in for the day? I think I would starve on a limited diet. Or at least binge when I had cravings for other foods.0
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Sounds like a plan, with some reserves. Add B12 vitamin or some meat, even little. Add beans too.
"Mostly whole plant" works fabulous for people who can handle it. It is the only known way to reduce and prevent naturally coronary diseases.4 -
The more restrictive your diet is, the higher chance that you're going to be missing out on something. That's just the nature of highly restrictive diets. A limited-ingredient diet CAN be nutritionally complete, but people who are successful with restrictive diets need to be more educated about and aware of their nutrition than people who eat a more varied diet.
If this is something you're seriously considering, you need to spend the time to learn about your macros and micros, and then supplement if necessary. Strangers on the internet aren't going to be able to tell you whether a hypothetical food list is going to give you adequate nutrition.
My personal feeling (and, again, I'm just a stranger on the internet) is that highly restrictive diets that aren't linked to religious or moral beliefs can be red flags that something about your relationship with food isn't on the right track.6 -
You might need a B12 vitamin due to not much meat. There is such a wide variety of vegetables and fruits you could choose from. You can get some carbs from sweet potatos, all fruits, nuts and grains. Nonstarchy vegetables still contain healthy carbohydrates, just not as many. You can get, fiber, protein & carbs from nuts, green, white, black, red or garbonzo beans. Quinoa which is actually a seed has a lot of protein and can be mixed into salads, vegetable bowls and soups. You might be getting more micronutrients than people on a high protein diet. I would read up and talk to Dr or a dietitian about you're mostly vegetarian but not vegan diet plans. In the beginning you will have to make a bit of effort to figure out a healthy diet for yourself. You can do it.
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DumbledoresPhoenix wrote: »
Dunno, sorry. I'm not well versed in your diet, so I'm not sure what nutrients you are most apt to be short in (I eat almost the exact opposite of what you are proposing). I'd log foods for a week or 2, then do some reporting on vitamins/nutrients to see how you're doing... then supplement as needed.
If I'm not mistaken, aside from the egg whites, your proposed diet is very vegetarian-ish. You could probably talk to a few vegetarians and see what nutrients they struggle to get enough of, and use that as a basis for what you do or don't supplement.
I am a vegetarian, lol. Egg whites are okay for vegetarians to eat. Usually the main concerns nutritionally for vegetarians are iron and vitamin B12. I have never been deficient in iron, and I already take a B12 supplement. Iron absorption can be increased with vitamin C, too, so I will be eating nuts with fruit to hopefully keep my iron levels in a healthy range.1
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