Current Events > Why do some people refuse to eat healthy at all?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like, I know none of us are perfect. But I mean people who seem to make no effort whatsoever for every single meal. I dont know how some of these people are able to function on such horrible diets.

No money or don't care

some people really just do not care.

I don't understand it personally, i think cooking is one of the most important life skill to have.

well for one a "good" diet is often much more expensive then a shit one. it often requires more prep time, which someone working a hard job isn't going to have or want to dedicate time to. much easier to swing by a fast food restaurant and pick up something there. much cheaper to buy boxes of cup noodles and subsist off of that.

most people dont think about it

I just don't care...

I cant eat anything outside of a very small list, pretty much all unhealthy. Anything else will make me gag/vomit if you try to force it into my mouth. Been the case my entire life.

monkmith posted...

well for one a "good" diet is often much more expensive then a shit one. it often requires more prep time, which someone working a hard job isn't going to have or want to dedicate time to. much easier to swing by a fast food restaurant and pick up something there. much cheaper to buy boxes of cup noodles and subsist off of that.

Requiring more time is true. However, in most cases, its not much of any more expensive.

Their tastebuds are fried from years of processed food, probably going back as far as their parents giving them junk food as a little kid. Healthy food literally does not taste good to these folks.

Also the "healthy food is more expensive" myth has been debunked for years. It's just an excuse someone tells themselves while waiting in the drive through. Junk food only becomes the cheaper option if you're in a 3rd world country.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00251-5/fulltext

Compared with the cost of current diets, the healthy and sustainable dietary patterns were, depending on the pattern, up to 2234% lower in cost in upper-middle-income to high-income countries on average (when considering statistical means), but at least 1829% more expensive in lower-middle-income to low-income countries. Reductions in food waste, a favourable socioeconomic development scenario, and a fuller cost accounting that included the diet-related costs of climate change and health care in the cost of diets increased the affordability of the dietary patterns in our future projections. When these measures were combined, the healthy and sustainable dietary patterns were up to 2529% lower in cost in low-income to lower-middle-income countries, and up to 37% lower in cost on average, for the year 2050. Variants of vegetarian and vegan dietary patterns were generally most affordable, and pescatarian diets were least affordable.

Sepucher posted...

Requiring more time is true. However, in most cases, its not much of any more expensive.

https://extension.usu.edu/nutrition/research/does -healthy-eating-cost-more

its generally accepted to be more expensive, and that cost difference will widely vary depending on where you live and who you're feeding. an obvious issue is that many low income neighborhoods have a reduced access to good food, 'food deserts' is the catchy term for areas where you've got to drive a good distance to buy non-processed food.

if you're living paycheck to paycheck, if you're reliant on public transport, if you've got a large family to care for, all of these things make eating healthy much harder.

monkmith posted...

https://extension.usu.edu/nutrition/research/does -healthy-eating-cost-more

its generally accepted to be more expensive, and that cost difference will widely vary depending on where you live and who you're feeding. an obvious issue is that many low income neighborhoods have a reduced access to good food, 'food deserts' is the catchy term for areas where you've got to drive a good distance to buy non-processed food.

if you're living paycheck to paycheck, if you're reliant on public transport, if you've got a large family to care for, all of these things make eating healthy much harder.

From your link:

Other studies argue that whether healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables cost more at the checkout counter is a matter of how you calculate cost (Drewnowski, 2013, Drewnowski & Rehm, 2013; Calrson & Frazao, 2012). For example, if you look at food costs per calorie, unhealthy food costs less, but if you look at food costs per typical portion, many healthy foods are less expensive than unhealthy foods (Carlson & Frazoa, 2012). Further, if you are looking to improve your health, you get more for your money when you consider cost per nutrient value of your food choices. Sweet potatoes, tomato juices and soups, white potatoes, dark green leafy vegetables, pumpkin, and dry beans provide the most nutrition (i.e., protein, fiber, Vitamins A and C, among other nutrients) for the least cost (Drewnowski et al., 2013). When looking at food cost from this perspective, there is a wide variety of nutritious foods, specifically fruits and vegetables that can be incorporated into a diet at a lower cost.

It also points out unhealthy eating leads to higher medical costs which more than offset the cost of the food itself in an overall budget:

When discussing the cost of healthy eating, it is important to consider the cost of not incorporating nutritious foods into meals on a regular basis. Unhealthy dietary patterns that consist of high amounts of sugar, saturated fat, sodium, and calories, are linked to higher rates of chronic diseases such as overweight and obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes, among many others. Not only is the risk of chronic disease greater, but the financial cost of treating the diseases listed are expensive. For example, individuals who are obese have medical costs that are nearly $1,500 more per year on average than normal weight individuals (Finkelstein, Trogdon, Cohen, & Dietz, 2009). As the number of chronic diseases an individual has increases, the annual health care costs for that individual also increases (Cohen, 2015). For example, a person with three to four chronic diseases will spend $25,000 annually on health care expenses while individuals without any chronic diseases will spend $6,000 annually (Cohen, 2015). These statistics indicate that the cost of regularly incorporating nutritious foods into ones diet is much less expensive than the cost of treating chronic diseases later on.

If you're poor, then buying some cheap, unhealthy, but delicious food may be one of the few things you can enjoy in life. Similar reason to why poorer people tend to smoke more.

Meal planning/bulk buying/batch cooking etc. just won't give the same buzz.

I don't like salad dressing, stop getting up in my shit.

Its possible they may just not like or cant eat healthier. Im a picky eater myself and, trust me, it really fucking sucks. I wish I could just shovel whatever into my mouth and be ok but I just cant.

monkmith posted...

https://extension.usu.edu/nutrition/research/does -healthy-eating-cost-more

its generally accepted to be more expensive, and that cost difference will widely vary depending on where you live and who you're feeding. an obvious issue is that many low income neighborhoods have a reduced access to good food, 'food deserts' is the catchy term for areas where you've got to drive a good distance to buy non-processed food.

if you're living paycheck to paycheck, if you're reliant on public transport, if you've got a large family to care for, all of these things make eating healthy much harder.

The MyPlateDietary guidelines are pretty good, but not perfect and it's not necessary to adhere to all of them. For example, while nuts are healthy, they're also expensive and someone on a budget doesn't need to regularly buy them to be on a healthy diet. So a study that equates eating healthy to following those guidelines is overlooking ways to optimize price efficiency.

Eating healthy can be cheap, food desserts notwithstanding. Also keep in mind that unprocessed meat is far more satiating than crappy food so your dollar goes further when buying them.

I saw a video of a 400 pound chick saying

Im sorry but keeping my body healthy is NOT my concern
it is the concern of my DOCTOR
If I want to eat huge pack of ice cream im free to do so.

Also want to add that the line about fast food being cheaper than healthy food is so laughably outdated in 2025. That's objectively not the case anymore.

Because some of us dont care. Ill gravitate towards what im in the mood for and what tastes good. If its healthy neat, if not oh well.

Pow_Pow_Punishment posted...

Also want to add that the line about fast food being cheaper than healthy food is so laughably outdated in 2025. That's objectively not the case anymore.

Eh, it's curved back around some. A lot of places have value menus and/or meal deals again, specifically because they were losing business since fast food has gotten so expensive.

Even cheaper when you can't afford a doctor, so no medical bills. Win win!

HashtagSEP posted...

Eh, it's curved back around some. A lot of places have value menus and/or meal deals again, specifically because they were losing business since fast food has gotten so expensive.

Personally, I've found that most of the app deals I've come across are still expensive but just enough to treat myself with them every now and then as opposed to the prices being so insane that there's no reason to even entertain the idea.

Just glancing at Wendy's, for example, you can get a sandwich, fries, chicken nuggets, and drink for $5. That's obviously going to be incredibly tempting to people who don't have a ton of money or time.

HashtagSEP posted...

Just glancing at Wendy's, for example, you can get a sandwich, fries, chicken nuggets, and drink for $5. That's obviously going to be incredibly tempting to people who don't have a ton of money or time.

Nice deal, but while that's cheap for outside food, healthy meal prep can be cheaper than this per bowl and will be more satiating. I'm guessing the burger and nuggets aren't very substantial in size, either.

My personal best was a $6 app deal for 2 Whopper Juniors at Burger King. It was a good deal, but it didn't completely fill me up and I was hungry again in 2 hours.

Healthy food is more expensive, doesn't last as long as processed food and usually requires some level of culinary skill to prepare. A lot of people don't have the time or money to go shopping several times a week to buy fresh food and many of them don't know how to properly cook a meal.

Eating healthy is pretty expensive

Can only afford processed crap

That, and meal prep takes a decent amount of time

suchiuomizu posted...

I cant eat anything outside of a very small list, pretty much all unhealthy. Anything else will make me gag/vomit if you try to force it into my mouth. Been the case my entire life.

This, ARFID is pretty common. Also, it's gonna blow you away when I say this but unfortunately some people aren't taught a fucking thing about health as children and are too caught up with this nightmare we call life to learn as adults. I had to drag my wife kicking and screaming into healthier choices.

Bad and unhealthy foods are usually cheaper, easier, and taste better

I don't refuse to eat healthy, I just don't care to put in the time and/or money to ensure I am doing so. To those saying that eating healthy can be cheap, that usually means buying ingredients in bulk and then taking the time to make stuff. With unhealthy food, I can more cheaply buy stuff that is already made, just needs to be heated up in the microwave or toaster oven (or regular oven in the case of frozen pizzas since they don't fit in the toaster oven).

People are overweight because they eat too much. It's not really about "eating healthy". As long as you're in a calorie deficit you can pretty much eat whatever you want. Problem is people don't realize just how dense in calories certain foods are.

It's a hard habit to break tbh. But also yeah, some people just don't care. They'd rather eat as much as they want because it feels good at the moment.

ITT: "I don't understand what depression is, why are those people not like me!"

A lot of people just don't have the foresight to care about their health until after it causes a serious problem. Prevention is always cheaper and less time consuming than cure or management.

People were purposely taught poor eating habits and are addicted to unhealthy foods.

How are people saying healthy is too expensive when there's been articles posted refuting that?
Look at the cost of meat per pound, then look at the cost of fruits and vegetables.
It's expensive to eat only organic or the latest fad diet food, but in general, it is not.
A loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jam, a 5 pound bag of potatoes, are all examples of items that are consistently under 5 dollars. A lot of this stuff makes like 3 or more meals.

pedro45 posted...

How are people saying healthy is too expensive when there's been articles posted refuting that?
Look at the cost of meat per pound, then look at the cost of fruits and vegetables.
It's expensive to eat only organic or the latest fad diet food, but in general, it is not.
A loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jam, a 5 pound bag of potatoes, are all examples of items that are consistently under 5 dollars. A lot of this stuff makes like 3 or more meals.

I think a lot of the people in this topic just don't know how to cook, refuse to learn, and then twist themselves into knots coming up with excuses to justify and reinforce their ignorance

Because I couldn't care less about my health. I just have no reason to.

ai123 posted...

If you're poor, then buying some cheap, unhealthy, but delicious food may be one of the few things you can enjoy in life.

this was my main problem, weight gain got progressively worse because i liked carb food. i had to change my ways when i found out i had pre-diabetes last year (which i beaten as long as i maintain a mostly healthy diet).

A_Good_Boy posted...

I think a lot of the people in this topic just don't know how to cook, refuse to learn, and then twist themselves into knots coming up with excuses to justify and reinforce their ignorance

Nailed it. The next comment cements that.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Fruits and vegetables should be your friend after the gym. They take literal 0 seconds to cook.
Also, scrambled eggs can be done, from a cold pan to a plate, in less than 10 minutes.
You can fry up raw chicken nuggets in less than 10 minutes. Then if you keep frying a little longer, you can reheat the leftovers in mere minutes another day.

When it comes to meals that take longer, it's rarely active cooking. When making a roast, i preheat the oven and season the meat which takes like a minute. I sit down and game for like 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
Once i pop that roast in the oven, you have an hour of free time to game more, watch TV, etc.

Some people say i should write a cook book because of how easy i make it. I'm a stoner who wants to eat while also having fun.
It's bomb playing games and getting sucked in as your home slowly smells of delicious meat. Then i slice it up and get into sucked into a movie

pedro45 posted...

How are people saying healthy is too expensive when there's been articles posted refuting that?
Look at the cost of meat per pound, then look at the cost of fruits and vegetables.
It's expensive to eat only organic or the latest fad diet food, but in general, it is not.
A loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jam, a 5 pound bag of potatoes, are all examples of items that are consistently under 5 dollars. A lot of this stuff makes like 3 or more meals.

I don't remember the last time I saw a 5 pound bag of potatoes under $5, even when on sale.

Maybe they should have tried making "healthy" food that actually tastes good. It's tough to will yourself to eat healthy when most of it makes you gag.

If you admit that you don't want to spend the time to cook, fair enough, but healthy meals consisting of beans, brown rice, and veggies are not more expensive than junk food.

Meat seems more expensive upfront but you are getting more satiety and nutrition for the money than junk food that can appear to be cheaper but won't keep you full as long.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Ever consider an air fryer? It's basically a microwave on steroids. You can just sprinkle seasoning on a steak and throw it in without any real manual cooking.

Mostly because many healthy foods is disgusting

Like have you tried a salad? It's not worth living longer if I have to eat that

-GalacticBass- posted...

People are overweight because they eat too much. It's not really about "eating healthy". As long as you're in a calorie deficit you can pretty much eat whatever you want. Problem is people don't realize just how dense in calories certain foods are.

What you eat does matter in terms of glucose sensitivity, satiety, and other important factors that go into how easy it is to achieve a caloric deficit. If your metabolism is broken from genetics or diet, your maintenance level will be different.

firedoom666 posted...

salad

about to have one of those with my lunch. because i opted for soup instead of a sandwich today.

rick_alverado posted...

I don't remember the last time I saw a 5 pound bag of potatoes under $5, even when on sale.

Try Costco. They're usually around that price there.