Consumers spend about $30 billion per year trying to lose weight or prevent weight gain and countless more on convenience foods.
The sale of prescription drugs has more than doubled in the U.S. during the past 8 years. In 1990, Americans spent $37.7 billion on prescriptions; in 1997, national spending on prescriptions reached 78.9 billion. Prescription drugs are the fastest-growing portion of health-care costs, having risen at the rate of 17% per year for the past few years. [1]
Tons of money spent on diets, pharmaceutical costs rising yearly. Knowing what we do about nutrition and its impact on health, lets focus instead on prevention, instead of just treating symptoms. Heresy you say, but just imagine!
So, being the “Health Nazi” in my circle, I’ve spent years pondering what I like to call Bachelor Chow.
First, let’s explain my definition of bachelor chow:
- A specific blend of foods, specifically engineered to meet all nutritional and caloric needs that can be produced in bulk and eaten for every meal of the day.
- Human equivalent to commercial pet foods.
Basically, a conveniently-prepared and healthy blend of foods that fulfill your necessary requirements. Taste is a secondary in this exercise, but of course, it should be edible. Also, we’ll assume that nutrition bars and weight-loss shakes are basically a multivitamin, fillers and sugar. We want to create a “whole functional food” not something cooked up in a lab.
We should also set some ground rules:
- Nutritional needs should shift as you age. A puberty-aged boy require a very different nutritional composition from an elderly post-menopausal woman. So, to make the exercise more practical:
- Bachelor Chow is created for the average late-20s computer-geek.
- Activity level is light to moderate.
- Health is good, weight is normal. (We’ll assume 5′8″ and 150lbs)
- Bachelor Chow meals should cost no more than an average lunch at a restaurant. As an arbitrary price point, I pay on average $8US for lunch.
- Preparation time should not exceed 15 minutes, and as a best case, would not require refrigeration and entail simply pouring from a bulk-bag into a bowl and adding water to reconstitute.
With these points in mind, it’s time to draw up a specific shopping list of nutritional needs.
- Caloric intake should be 2500 calories to maintain weight
- Minimize ingredients that could pose a risk if eaten too often
- Sadly, this removes most large ocean-dwelling fish due to heavy-metal poisoning.
- Try to use as many organics as possible, keeping in mind the $8US max budget constraint.
- Achieve nutrient levels as close as possible to the FDA’s new dietary guidelines.
- 1 gram of fiber for every 100 calories (so, daily intake of 25 grams of fiber)
This is quite the shopping list. Perhaps it would be easier to break food into macro-components.
Healthy Proteins: (opinionated ordering of most healthy choices to least)
- Beans
- Chicken
- Small fish such as Salmon, Pollock, and Catfish, and Shrimp.
- Soy-products
- Eggs
- Dairy
Healthy Fats: (opinionated ordering of most healthy choices to least)
- Walnuts
- Almonds
- Flax Seeds (ground or oil)
- Avocado
- Peanuts
- Dairy/Cheese
Healthy Carbs: (Sticking with complex densely nutritious carbs, in no order)
- Any fruits and veggies except white potatoes and corn.
- Especially superfoods like Blueberries, Broccoli, Oranges, Pumpkin, Spinach, Tomatoes
- Wild and Brown Rice
- Whole-grain bread (read label for at least 3 grams of dietary fiber per serving)
- Oatmeal
- Whole wheat pasta
Now that we have our shopping list, please give me some ideas of how to mix them together in the comments!
And, yes, I am aware of the monkey chow dude. While very similar in philosophy to bachelor chow, he couldn’t handle the food past 7 days. I want a long-term solution.
In part 1a, I’ll add my own recipe experiments and thoughts.
25 responses so far ↓
5thape // Jan 13, 2007 at 8:56 pm
I’ve actually thought about posting some of my bachelor recipes on my blog that use a lot of the same ingredients when I came across this. You can make a tasty salmon fried rice. You cook salmon on a pan until it can be flaked then throw some frozen veggies on top, then the brown rice. The fat from the salmon is enough to fry the rice.
James Andrix // Jan 13, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, predicted that sombody would make a trillion dollars off of some simple healthy food.
Later, he developed the dilberito. I don’t think he’s made his trillion yet, but it’s essentially the same concept as what you advocate.
Thumper // Jan 13, 2007 at 9:50 pm
I have been talking about bachelor chow for years! I’m 36 now, never married, and I don’t know how to cook very well, and I hate cooking real meals for ONE person anyway. It’s depressing. I often end of eating pretty lousy, though I try not to drink soda anymore etc. I drink milk and orange juice and eat whole wheat toast. Too much white pasta and too many trips to McDOnamds when i just don’t feel like cooking. ..At any rate, I met a few Vermonters in yahoo regional chatrooms, and met a few cooks, and I asked them to think about freezing 4-5 entree plates of food I could purchase per week, but it never materialized. Next I jokingly said at my paren’t dinner table, that I thiink it should be every retired housewifes duty to cook for their particular towns bachelors. (not a week ago i brought this up half kiddiing of course. So I look forward to such a product seriously! I feel every day I am posoning myself or am not getting enough food food and vitamins. Good luck friend ! Scott
Wayne // Jan 13, 2007 at 9:51 pm
I’ll take two 50lb. bags
One in Cool Ranch another in Zesty Stir Fry
John // Jan 13, 2007 at 10:30 pm
What a fantastic idea. The “equivalent of pet food” got me laughing.
I’d be very interested in this…
Except. Requirement Three (time to serve) seems a bit excessive.
As of now a roommate and I prepare three (different) meals for about a week to 10 days of food, store it in large plastic containers and heat it in the microwave or oven. A bit of variety, but certainly not the healthiest stuff around.
Best of luck with this. Would love to see it.
Fred T // Jan 13, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Bachelor chow reminds me of the DIY energy bars made by Matisse & Jack’s. Lots of healthy proteins and healthy fats on the cheap! Easy on the taste buds too… http://www.matisseandjacks.com
anonymoustroll // Jan 13, 2007 at 11:02 pm
It’s called an MRE… and yes, they cost about $7.
David // Jan 13, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Ever hear of the dilberito? (http://dilberito.com/)
Greg // Jan 13, 2007 at 11:32 pm
I really think you’re onto something here. Even if you can’t get this stuff from a can in the store, the list of foods is a good start. I lived for three months after my freshman year on 1 bowl cereal, 2 PB&J sandwiches, and 1 pack ramen per day. I could’ve used some advice on how to get the necessary food intake cheaply and with minimal preparation.
Josh Wilson // Jan 13, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Does anyone know of a usergroup / mailing list together about this specific topic?
I’ve tried a single recipe in the past - and would love to do some experiments on the couple of day / week time frame of other recipes in the future.
A couple of buddies I have who are interested in taking better care of themselves but lead overworked lives would probably also be interseted in knocking around a mailing list.
If anyone knows of a mailing list or two with relevant discussions - please post here.
LV // Jan 14, 2007 at 12:12 am
For a portion of the meal, one serving of irish oatmeal mixed with two tablespoon flax seed mix, and a touch of cocoa. Heat until water for the oatmeal is gone. Serve with blueberries, and perhaps with an apple or a vegetable such as celery, or mushrooms.
Looking forward to seeing your Part 2 and the calorie counts, for fat, protein, etc.
stan // Jan 14, 2007 at 12:43 am
throw in blender, enjoy
whatever the blend, it also has to taste ok,
dogs would not eat dog-food if they did not
find it appealing.
The moment you try to arrange these foods into
pleasant combinations, you will get “cuisine”,
which neither cheap nor quick.
great idea. look forward to part 2.
Dave // Jan 14, 2007 at 12:55 am
dude, “Bachelor Chow” was used in Futurama. Great idea though.
Mike Bryan // Jan 14, 2007 at 12:56 am
I suggest the first requirement you drop be no refrigeration needed. You are going to lose a lot of micro-nutrients, unsaturated fats and proteins very quickly if you require a shelf-stable formula. Probably better from a nutritional and palatability standpoint if you aim for something akin to a chopped salad or granola rather than a kibble.
It might require a bit more in the way of planning and up-front prep time, but if you assembled a list of foods and amounts which could provide complete nutrition for a week or so, then batch process those items in various combinations into palatable servings, you could realize considerable cost and time savings on the back-end. Such an approach would allow much greater variety and nutrition in the diet without sacrificing too much convenience.
To decide what to include in your ‘ape salad’ I would contact a nutritionist interested in helping out to assemble a list of versatile foods to use and the amounts of various nutrients to provide complete nutrition for a 150 pound geek.
Thomas // Jan 14, 2007 at 1:58 am
Seems to me that you could live off of “Seattle Sutton” prepackaged food or an enhanced version of Nutrisystem or other prepackaged diet food. It’s healthy, nutritious, sensible calorie-wise & tasty. I think it could be the future
george // Jan 14, 2007 at 4:08 am
yeah Mike Bryan is onto something with the batch prep. I usually make about a weeks worth of granola at once (takes 3 hours at home, but only about 20 minutes of attention on the food), I buy a gallon of milk I can’t finish and make the rest into yogurt (along with some powdered milk) once a week. Add frozen blueberries heated in a toaster oven and it’s a good meal that takes one night to make, but you can eat it with 2 minutes prep all week.
Same with rice - make 3 meals worth every time. Then steam some frozen veggies, which cost less than fresh, won’t go bad, and are preserved at the peak of freshness rather than shipped all over the country. Frozen salmon patties or fillets are great with that.
loquacious // Jan 14, 2007 at 4:12 am
While I enjoy cooking and I’m not at all terrible at it, and while I love food in general - I love the concept of bachelor chow.
I eat a lot of cereal - whole oats, raisin bran, cheerio-analogs, granolas. I absolutely love complex carbos and whole grains. I pretty much only use nonfat milk now, but that’s only because it doesn’t disagree with me and it’s cheaper than rice or soy milk. I like soy and rice milks, perhaps just as much as regular dairy. I’ve eaten cereal with just plain water, and found it lacking but not insufferable.
A lot of the stuff I eat is pretty much already “bachelor chow” - comes in a huge bag, it stores well on a shelf, prep time is essentially zero as is cleanup and packaging waste is minimal if you avoid boxed, branded cereals or buy in bulk.
Which is the point which some of you are missing about “bachelor chow”. There are some key aesthetic qualities for it to indeed be bachelor chow.
While MREs come darn close, they’re way too high-falutin’ and complicated to truly be “bachelor chow”. They have honest to Bob “entrees” and “sides”. They’re packaged with napkins and accessories. Some of them even have disposable one-shot heating elements!
“Bachelor chow” comes in a bag. It is indeed kibble by it’s very nature and purpose. It is eaten from a bowl or cup - not a plate, and neither knife nor fork are required, nor is heat or any form of cooking.
My personal hope is for some kind of magic kibble or cereal that’s a complete meal.
Granolas and muesli come close but aesthetically they’re too raw and natural - not that there’s anything wrong with that but it doesn’t exactly scream “Scientifically advanced nutritionally complete but extremely inexpensive kibblized foodstuffs”, which is totally what “bachelor chow” is all about.
I could see some kind dried of fruit/nut/grain meal in a kibble form. Coat the kibble with rice-milk powder. Pour water over it and stir.
It shouldn’t be hard at all to achieve a complete nutritional balance - so long as the blend was chosen with health first and cost last. A mix of whole grain oats, rice and wheat for fiber, micronutrients and proteins. Nuts like almonds, sesame seeds, for essential fats and other proteins. Dried fruits (or even creatively applied vegetables) for vitamins, flavinoids and other nutrients.
Heck, do two versions - Breakfast and Dinner. One is a sweetish fruit/grain blend that makes soy or rice milk when you pour water on it, the other one is more of a savory veggie/grain blend that makes it’s own soy “gravy”.
Me? I don’t mind having cereal for dinner.
Sam // Jan 14, 2007 at 6:23 am
As a personal chef (now) who was once the “Ramen King” in college, I can perhaps give some good pointers on a good meal plan, repleate with great spice additions that can make a simple can of chick peas go from blah, to double-Viking yeah!!! P.S. I was able to eat on $3 a day while in college… I felt I owed it to myself to be innovative, clever, and to seek out better methods to eat albcore tuna straight out of the can. Can be really good. Cheers!
Sam // Jan 14, 2007 at 7:40 am
Hope this wasn’t just a kid posting a joke blog. Dog food? If on the real, get roomates to buy the food and learn how to cook it!
John Smith // Jan 14, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Your plan is a great one but has one possibly fatal flaw - taste. People will quite simply get bored of the food, even if you produce 10 or 20 flavors of BC (bearing in mind that people will choose only those they like a lot). In fact, choice is a double-edged sword — too much choice and people will only choose those they like and disregard the rest (even if they taste great); too little choice and people will get bored very easily.
So here’s an idea. Make your recipes include an element of randomness. Sometimes one particular ingredient is strong than the others. Sometimes the BC tastes perfect, sometimes it’s not as good, sometimes it’s frankly awful. But the main thing is that you’re adding variety. You’re giving people’s tastebuds something to think about!
Brian // Jan 14, 2007 at 2:24 pm
You should consider some lean beef. I checked and there’s less fat than chicken.
Jim // Jan 14, 2007 at 5:50 pm
When we have our replicators, bachelor chow won’t be necessary. Just tell the computer to replicate a random meal based on your tastes and nutritional needs.
Of course, some of us will still simply have the thing replicate a big mac for us.
Why can’t we make bachelor chow a reality? [part 1 - new research!] | evsh.net // Jan 21, 2007 at 1:54 am
[…] My quest is harder than I thought, so I thought I’d give a progress update. […]
Steph // Feb 1, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Everybody who’s interested, check out
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bachchowdev/
and join the group
also tell others about it… I just started it a couple hours ago. I don’t recommend using the invite feature because people’ll think it’s spam.
Just Like Hitler » Blog Archive » the “Health Nazi” in my circle // Jun 11, 2008 at 3:00 pm
[…] Link […]
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