Eating healthy is not expensive

kneemos · 18-03-2026 04:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124321748#Comment_124321748

Mental health issues is just a scapegoat. No doubt there are some,but I would wager it's a tiny minority of folk with weight problems.

John_Rambo · 18-03-2026 04:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322042#Comment_124322042

Berries may be a fad for you but they've been omni present in our house for decades!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322033#Comment_124322033

I used AI, these are regional Healthy Ireland figures applied to counties, with minor urban rural adjustments. Directionally accurate, not official. If you ever go on a scout jamboree you'll see the evidence first hand when it comes to kids.

Kerry: ~22–24%
Dublin: ~22–25%
Cork: ~23–24%
Wicklow: ~24–26%
Galway: ~24–25%
Mayo: ~24–25%
Clare: ~24–26%

Kildare: ~25–26%
Kilkenny: ~25–27%
Carlow: ~25–27%
Limerick: ~25–27%
Tipperary: ~25–27%
Roscommon: ~25–26%
Meath: ~26–27%

Laois: ~26–28%
Offaly: ~27–28%
Westmeath: ~27–28%
Wexford: ~26–28%
Waterford: ~26–28%

Louth: ~28–30%
Cavan: ~28–30%

Longford: ~28–29%

Leitrim: ~29–30%
Monaghan: ~29–30%
Sligo: ~29–30%

Donegal: ~30–31%

littlefeet · 18-03-2026 05:06PM

AI says Blueberries started appearing in supermarkets from the 2000s following the super food trend, again a trend.

I never saw a mango or an avocado not year round strawberries till I was an adult, and people got on fine with healthy eating except it wasn't called health eating it was just eating home cooked food.

The Nal · 18-03-2026 05:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322106#Comment_124322106

We werent eating anywhere near as healthy. Which is why male life expectancy in Ireland was 72 years of age in the 1990s and now its 81. Lots of butter, lard and an obsession with margarine, processed sliced bread, sugar in every one of your 15 cups of tea for the day. Throw in 3-4 fry ups a week and crinkle cut deep fried chips, rashers every day, whipped cream on everything etc.

Was homecooked but a lot of absolute crap.

As Alan Partidge said:

That was the best full English breakfast I've had since Gary Wilmot's wedding. I'd have that three times a day if I could…………. but I'd be dead. It's cholesterol. Scottish people eat it. Few of them make 60.

John_Rambo · 18-03-2026 05:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322106#Comment_124322106

That’s very true and accurate about blueberries specifically, other berries like the strawberry and the raspberry were fairly common, particularly in season indeed, some not so common now like the gooseberry. A lot of people used to pick fresh berries and still do particularly on the East coast, we'd pay at the farm gate for cardboard punnets and pick our own.

My family were in the food trade for years, both wholesale and retail, mainly fruit and veg. We were lucky to be exposed to all sorts of food from a young age, and it stuck. We still keep a wide, varied diet now, it was just normal to us growing up, we didn't actually call it healthy eating, it was just food. But very good food!

However, people that choose to eat healthy food that wasn't available before are a lot healthier now because they're usually the ones that lead a healthier lifestyle. Health & nutrition has improved dramatically and people are living longer, healthier lives.

littlefeet · 18-03-2026 05:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322159#Comment_124322159

Nothing to do with innovation like vaccines, and other medical innovations or safer working environments or cleaner air then?

magicbastarder · 18-03-2026 05:39PM

it's an interesting argument to say diet in the early 90s was much better, when obesity has rocketed since then.

The Nal · 18-03-2026 05:40PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322198#Comment_124322198

All that and less smoking, drinking, infant mortality etc. Diet a big big part too though.

JM2300 · 18-03-2026 07:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322159#Comment_124322159

From what I understand it has largely been dispelled that butter and lard are bad for you. Trans fats, margarine and vegetable oils are bad for you. Butter, lard, animal fats, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil are all good for you.

waterfaerie · 18-03-2026 07:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322445#Comment_124322445

I think that's a good example of one of the things food scientists disagree on and you will get conflicting information depending on where you look. Then there's the nuance of language, as in, is something actually good for you or is it just not that bad for you. Depending on who is telling you and what they want to sell you, the language can be different.

The reality is that any of those things can be fine if you don't eat too much of them. That's where the education is important because many people will read that x, y or z is good for you and then see that as a free pass to eat as much of it as they want without thinking. Or they'll read x is bad now, you should eat z instead, and then go and eat too much of that. It's all about moderation.

jackboy · 18-03-2026 07:55PM

Another aspect is that many people do eat a healthy dinner most days but then spend the evenings on the couch binge eating rubbish. A significant portion of the obese fall into that bracket.

Viscount Aggro · 18-03-2026 08:02PM

I read somewhere … a fresh fruit only diet would cost 70k per annum.

There are a group of people called "fruitarians".

nachouser · 18-03-2026 08:25PM

Cooking decent food isn't hard or overly expensive. Take a look at the many threads in the Food forum on the site.

beggars_bush · 18-03-2026 09:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124321372#Comment_124321372

Where do you live? The 1980s?

magicbastarder · 18-03-2026 09:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322445#Comment_124322445

yout post is totally contradictory? you say vegetable oils are bad for you, then you list vegetable oils which are good for you?

JM2300 · 18-03-2026 09:59PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322910#Comment_124322910

I didn't list vegetable oils. Sunflower oil, soybean oil, rapeseed and grapeseed oil are examples of vegetable oils.

magicbastarder · 18-03-2026 10:01PM

olive oil and coconut oil are vegetable oils.

JM2300 · 18-03-2026 10:04PM

Olives and coconuts are fruits. But anyway, regardless of what they're called. Olive oil and coconut oil are healthy oils to cook with. Sunflower oil and rapeseed oil are very bad for you.

magicbastarder · 18-03-2026 10:21PM

no, they're not.

or in another way, citation required.

to start the ball rolling:

https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-to-know-about-rapeseed-oil

JM2300 · 18-03-2026 10:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124323102#Comment_124323102

Rapeseed oil is not as bad as sunflower oil, but best avoided as it's high in omega 6 and prone to oxidation which leads to inflammation. Avocado oil, lard and coconut oil are much better options to cook with.

magicbastarder · 18-03-2026 10:44PM

c'mon, you didn't even know what constituted a vegetable oil till a few minutes ago. you'll have to do better to convince me.

you said 'very bad for you'.

i'll get the ball rolling for you again - the two primary disadvantages of sunflower oil listed here are overconsumption (i.e. excess calories) and heating it too high while cooking.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/sunflower-oil-good-for-you

Greyfox · 18-03-2026 10:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124321836#Comment_124321836

We havent established that actually as availability and particularly time are factors, everyone not living in a bubble can see this. Food companies go to great lenghts to try to pretend that there processed food is healthy, a mother food shopping with 2 kids will find it very hard to avoid everything thats unhealthy

magicbastarder · 18-03-2026 10:58PM

it'd be interesting to understand the demographics of the people posting here; myself, i grew up in a household where for most of my childhood, my mother didn't work outside the home, so had time to prepare food for us. i can only assume that will have an influence on your relationship with food; the idea of getting a takeaway was alien to me growing up.

we've gone from a society where a significant number of women were like my mum, to one where it's rare for a woman not to have a job outside the home, and that will have a knock-on effect on how people eat.

JM2300 · 18-03-2026 11:34PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124323209#Comment_124323209

I've said my piece, I disagree with you.

Bushwrangler · 19-03-2026 07:24AM

The Weston A Price Foundation has all the the healthy food info 1 needs. Margarine is worse than vaccines.

DayInTheBog · 19-03-2026 07:49AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322000#Comment_124322000

I had a family member like that. Obese, diabetic, high blood pressure. Did nothing about her diet and had a massive heart attack in bed one morning. I had that conversation with her daughter standing beside her coffin. It was when not if.

DayInTheBog · 19-03-2026 07:55AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124322106#Comment_124322106

We get trays of berries from our local polish store every week. A kg of blueberries and 2kg trays of strawberries when available. I'm lucky if they last 3 or 4 days with the kids eating them. One of mine would eat a full watermelon in a couple of days.

fits · 19-03-2026 07:56AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124323264#Comment_124323264

absolutely this!

Two full time working adults in this house plus a small farm and two busy children with activities. It takes great care to eat well during the week. We have a very narrow window between end of working day and activities some evenings. I do a lot of bulk cooking at the weekend as well as stretching roasts but don’t always have time for that either. And then there’s the housework and maintenance to keep up with also. We could do with some help tbh.

I can only imagine how it’s like for single parents etc.

myfreespirit · 19-03-2026 08:45AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124321485#Comment_124321485

Agreed - I also am in the fortunate position of being able to grow some of my own fruit and vegetables. As you point out, in autumn, blackberries are plentiful and free, so I can have blackberries until the springtime. Combined with winter vegetables and stored apples, these provide at least some alternatives to imported produce.

Citrus fruits and bananas are things that I buy regularly though, as there's no real alternatives available in Ireland that are seasonal

myfreespirit · 19-03-2026 08:47AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124321185#Comment_124321185

Yes, fresh off the trees from August, stored apples from November until April and some frozen until later again.

Eating healthy is not expensive

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