Human
Nutrition for the Hungry:
A 39 Year
Experiment on Least Cost Ration
by Paul VanRaden
© 2026
Topics
Goals of my
diet
Values of
individual foods
Nutrients
provided
History of my
diet (graphs are in
separate report)
Processed foods
(see separate report)
Goals of my diet
To hungry people, food is the thing needed most. Millions of
people are hungry because they are too poor to buy more food or better-quality
food. For hungry people, the goal of human nutrition is to get the nutrients
they need at the lowest possible cost. When money is very short, good taste is
a luxury. Any money that can be saved when buying food can be used for other
needs such as housing, clothes, and medicine or other luxuries such as
education. Billions of people, mostly in Asia and Africa, still must use half
of their income to buy food.
To remind myself of the needs of the hungry, I put myself in
their shoes. Each time I go to the grocery store, I buy only those foods that
provide me with the most nutrients per dollar. The foods that I eat are called
a "least cost ration" by animal scientists. Since 1987, I have eaten
only the cheapest foods available with little regard for taste. For the past 39
years, the total cost of my meals, drinks, and snacks always added up to less
than $3 per day except when away from home, rare visits to restaurants, or a
few leftovers from family members not on the diet. My costs ranged from $2.18
to $2.94 per day as some food prices increased or decreased and my shopping
skills improved after years of practice.
Daily cost of my food, drink, and snacks as listed in Table 1
was $2.86 in 2026 for 2,382 calories compared to $2.93 in 2025. I switched to 2
B-vitamin pills per week instead of 7 multivitamin pills which saved $0.10 per
day. I also decreased my bread intake by switching back from multigrain to
whole wheat with smaller, more affordable slices and wrote about the value and
safety of the processed
foods I eat.
Eggs are back in my diet after prices dropped 56% but still
cost more than other foods I buy. Carrot prices rose 39% but
I still buy them to get vitamin A and fiber. Most other prices changed by <
5%. Last year my diet cost increased by 13% partly from inflation but also
because prices in Florida were 9% higher than in Maryland. Previously, my costs
had decreased in 2023 when I found better prices by shopping at Aldi food
store.
Values of individual foods
Costs and caloric values for each food item in the diet are
in Table 1. Any shopper can select similar foods and sum up the nutrients
directly from the package labels. However, each shopper’s caloric needs may
differ depending on age, gender, body size, and activity level. Estimates from
USDA are available at:
EstimatedCalorieNeedsPerDayTable.pdf
(azureedge.us)
Average adults need about 2,100 calories per day whereas my
diet is balanced for about 2,400 calories needed for a 65-year-old male, 6 feet
1 inches (185 cm) tall, weighing 182 pounds (82.6 kg), and averaging 4 hours of
vigorous exercise per week. My actual cost of food for 2,382 calories averages
$2.86 per day which would convert to $2.61 for a 2,100-calorie diet.
Table 1. Foods included in the least cost ration as of April 2026 and calories
provided per dollar.
|
Food |
Price $ / package |
Net size (grams) |
Net size (U.S.) |
Servings / package |
Servings / week |
Calories / serving |
Calories / dollar |
|
Rice |
2.65 |
1362 |
3 pounds |
30 |
5 |
160 |
1811 |
|
Lentils |
1.39 |
454 |
1 pound |
13 |
2 |
130 |
1122 |
|
Macaroni/cheese |
0.58 |
206 |
6 ounce |
3 |
3 |
250 |
1293 |
|
Spaghetti |
1.89 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
3 |
210 |
889 |
|
Spaghetti
sauce |
1.65 |
680 |
24 ounce |
5 |
2 |
70 |
212 |
|
Dry noodles |
3.95 |
510 |
18 ounce |
24 |
4 |
190 |
1154 |
|
Hot dogs |
0.99 |
425 |
15 ounce |
8 |
7 |
90 |
727 |
|
Bologna |
1.65 |
454 |
1 pound |
14 |
7 |
110 |
880 |
|
Wheat bread |
1.95 |
454 |
1 pound |
16 |
14 |
60 |
677 |
|
Margarine |
1.24 |
454 |
1 pound |
32 |
5 |
60 |
1548 |
|
Eggs
(large) |
1.17 |
680 |
24 ounce |
12 |
2 |
70 |
506 |
|
Whole milk |
2.73 |
3901 |
1 gallon |
16 |
16 |
150 |
879 |
|
Shred wheat |
2.09 |
510 |
18 ounce |
9 |
5 |
210 |
904 |
|
Raisin bran
|
2.19 |
471 |
16.6 ounce |
8 |
5 |
190 |
694 |
|
Oat cereal |
1.65 |
510 |
18 ounce |
8 |
5 |
160 |
776 |
|
Ice cream |
2.95 |
792 |
1.5 quart |
9 |
7 |
210 |
641 |
|
Peanut
butter |
1.99 |
510 |
18 ounce |
16 |
9 |
180 |
1447 |
|
Peanuts |
2.39 |
454 |
1 pound |
16 |
10 |
160 |
1118 |
|
Carrots |
1.89 |
908 |
2 pounds |
12 |
2 |
30 |
190 |
|
Apple juice |
1.99 |
1890 |
64 ounce |
8 |
5 |
110 |
482 |
|
B-vitamins |
16.99 |
120 |
120 pills |
120 |
2 |
2 |
14 |
|
Average /
day1 |
2.86 |
|
|
|
|
2382 |
833 |
1Weighted by number of servings per week for each food
When buying groceries, poor people should remember one main point.
Foods that provide the most calories per dollar usually are the best deals.
Among high-energy, low-cost foods, those having more protein, vitamins, or
minerals should be selected as a secondary goal (see Table 2). At the grocery
store, multiply the calories per serving times the number of servings and then
divide by the cost of the item to obtain the calories per dollar (or euro, or
yen, or other local currency) in your marketplace. Happy shopping and dining.
The foods that I buy provide close to the recommended daily
intake of most nutrients and average 833 calories per dollar. Several foods
such as rice, lentils, dried noodles, macaroni and cheese mix, peanut butter,
and peanuts provide >1000. Since 1987, hot dogs and bologna have been the
only meats that qualified for my diet and they currently provide 727 and 880
calories per dollar, respectively. In 2026, 21% of the calories in my diet are
from animal sources and 79% from plant sources, and that ratio has remained
nearly constant for decades.
Whole milk with 879 calories per dollar is less expensive
than most breakfast cereals, but milk prices are higher in Florida than in
Maryland because of few dairy cows in southeast US. Still, milk is much more
nutritious and affordable than vegetables or corn flakes which were replaced in
my diet by shredded wheat in 2025. Dairy cows can very efficiently convert corn
leaves and corn stalks into nature’s most perfect food. Vegetarians do not eat
corn leaves or corn stalks, but cows love them.
The diet helps you avoid both starvation and obesity because
the nutrients are so affordable, and the standard meals prevent overeating. For
the last 30 years my weight has not increased or decreased by more than 5
pounds from the average of 185 pounds (84 ± 2.4 kg).
Breakfast is a rotation between the 2 or 3 cheapest cereals
with much milk and a half cup of apple juice. Lunch is a peanut butter and
bologna sandwich every day but was just a bologna sandwich for the first 30
years with peanut butter as an optional snack. Dinner is a 4-day rotation
between spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, noodle soup with lentils added, or rice
and lentils topped with margarine and a little spaghetti sauce. Each dinner
includes one hot dog, 1/3 of a carrot, and ice cream for dessert. Until 2025 I
had a glass of iced tea every day but now drink cold, filtered water from a
spout in the refrigerator door. No other drinks or snacks are included.
My serving sizes vary a little each day according to appetite
even while my food rotation remains constant, like clockwork. A trick to
maintain an exact breakfast rotation is to always eat from the cereal box on
the left side and return that box to the right side or, if empty, replace it
with a full box. My dinner rotation is listed on a small paper on the kitchen
counter. Just before preparing each meal, I move the marker (a small cow) from
the previous day’s meal to the next day's meal. That takes 2 seconds and avoids
wasting any time remembering what you ate or deciding what to eat. Then I watch
news while I cook and eat.
Grocery shopping takes about 8 minutes each week plus
checkout time. Price changes can cause a previous, higher cost item to be
replaced by a new, cheaper item but most weekly trips to the store take less
time than many people spend each day getting fast food.
Nutrients provided
A healthy diet can provide the nutrients you need at a
reasonable cost. Table 2 shows that all vitamins and minerals in the diet are
close to or above the recommended allowance. Your diet might also need vitamin
or mineral supplements depending on food prices in your neighborhood and if the
foods (such as cereal) are already fortified.
Table 2.
Nutrients per serving of foods in 2026 and total daily intake as percent of recommended.
|
Food |
Nutrients (g) |
Vitamins1 and
minerals2 (% of recommended) |
||||||||||||
|
|
Carb |
Fat |
Prot |
Fiber |
A |
B1 |
B2 |
B3 |
B6 |
C |
B9 |
Ca |
Fe |
Na3 |
|
Rice |
36 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
|
25 |
|
20 |
|
|
45 |
10 |
|
|
|
Lentils |
22 |
1 |
9 |
4 |
|
15 |
|
|
20 |
6 |
|
|||
|
Mac / cheese |
50 |
1.5 |
8 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
15 |
520 |
|
Spaghetti |
41 |
1 |
7 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
Spag. sauce |
14 |
1.5 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
6 |
400 |
||
|
Dry noodles |
27 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
760 |
|
|
Hot dogs |
3 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
2 |
410 |
|
Bologna |
4 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
2 |
280 |
|
Wheat bread |
13 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
|
4 |
6 |
110 |
||||||
|
Margarine |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
109 |
|
Eggs (large) |
0 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
5 |
|
|
2 |
3 |
70 |
|
Whole milk |
12 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25 |
|
120 |
|
Shred wheat |
50 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
90 |
0 |
25 |
25 |
15 |
|
50 |
|
|
|
Raisin bran |
48 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
35 |
60 |
50 |
40 |
50 |
90 |
2 |
60 |
200 |
|
|
Oat cereal |
30 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
|
50 |
50 |
30 |
20 |
50 |
15 |
80 |
200 |
|
|
Ice cream |
21 |
12 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
2 |
90 |
|
Peanutbutter |
8 |
15 |
7 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
2 |
120 |
|
Peanuts |
6 |
15 |
7 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
6 |
|
|
Carrots |
8 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
250 |
7 |
4 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
|
2 |
1 |
60 |
|
Apple juice |
29 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
120 |
6 |
6 |
35 |
|
|
B vitamins |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
125 |
131 |
125 |
118 |
167 |
|
|
|
||
|
Total / day |
304 |
103 |
85 |
27 |
107 |
200 |
118 |
146 |
105 |
108 |
199 |
109 |
193 |
2411 |
1Vitamin:
B1 = thiamine, B2 = riboflavin, B3 = niacin, B6 = pyridoxine, B9 = folate
2Minerals:
Ca = calcium, Fe = Iron, Na = sodium
3Sodium
in mg has a recommended maximum of 2300, others are percentages of minimum
Protein intake recommended for men is 56 grams per day and
the diet provides 85 grams (Table 2). Fiber intake recommended is 28 grams per
day for each 2,000 calories and the diet provides 27 grams but in a
2,380-calorie diet which is proportionally only 81% of the fiber that USDA
recommends. However, less fiber increases the digestion rate of protein and
energy by about 3% in low vs. high fiber diets:
USDA
Protein Requirements in Grams (sfgate.com)
How
much (dietary) fiber should I eat? (usda.gov)
Sodium is reported on nutrition labels,
but I did not track Na in my diet until 2026 because I eat few salty foods. My
main sources are hot dogs, spaghetti sauce, and the small flavor packet in
ramen noodles. Using only half of the flavor packet, discarding the other half,
and switching to a different flavor of spaghetti sauce with 10% Na cut my
sodium intake from 2.6 to 2.4 grams per day, close to the 2.3 recommended maximum
(all other nutrients list minimums). Finding low-sodium foods is easy by
checking if they have fewer milligrams of Na than calories per serving since
you need about 2,000 of both each day. My sodium intake is much less than the
averages of 3.3 grams in USA, >5 in China, and almost 4 globally. Lower
sodium reduces blood pressure and heart attacks, but eating <1.5 grams per
day as some recommend is difficult and might reduce health:
Sodium Intake and
Health: What Should We Recommend Based on the Current Evidence? - PMC
My diet helps consume less of earth’s resources, leaving more
for others. That is why I have dined on these foods since 1987. The only
imported item in recent years was apple juice bottled in USA from concentrate
imported from Ukraine, Turkey, or Poland. Food is easily available in America
and costs very little, less than 3 dollars per day. Hundreds of millions of
additional consumers could live and eat here if more of us dine on the VanRaden
ration. I recommend it. Enjoy each meal and its nutrients that help make your
life healthy and happy.
History of my diet
Examples of
my previous cookbooks and prices from 1987, 2012, and 2017 are in Tables 3, 4,
and 5 below. Graphs comparing historical costs are now in a separate report.
In 2025 I
enjoyed reading quotes from Ghandi (1869-1948) such
as after limiting his diet to no more than 5 ingredients per day for several
years: “Experience suggests that as we start leading a simple life and as we
become firm in our search for self-realization, our craving for variety in food
dwindles.” That agrees with my nutrition experience after eating 14,000 bologna
sandwiches for lunch every day during the past 39 years (bologna with peanut
butter added since 2020). Ghandhi defended the right of Indian people to move
to South Africa: “We have as much right to be here as the whites have.” That
agrees with my philosophy of letting people live
where they choose, such as letting people from India (or anywhere else)
move to these American continents that the whites took from the Indians. The
quotes above came from “Ghandi’s
Search for the Perfect Diet: Eating with the World in Mind”, a 2019 book by
Nico Slate. I got that as a nice farewell gift from
Interbull for service on their committees.
Table 3. Foods included in the least cost ration in 1987 and calories
provided per dollar.
|
Food |
Price $ / package |
Net size (grams) |
Net size (U.S.) |
Servings / package |
Servings / week |
Calories / serving |
Calories / dollar |
|
Rice |
0.28 |
454 |
1 pound |
10 |
6 |
160 |
5714 |
|
Macaroni/cheese |
0.39 |
206 |
7.25 ounce |
3 |
3 |
249 |
1923 |
|
Spaghetti |
0.73 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
5 |
200 |
2192 |
|
Spaghetti
sauce |
2.69 |
737 |
26 ounce |
5 |
5 |
70 |
130 |
|
Hot dogs |
0.99 |
340 |
12 ounce |
8 |
7 |
100 |
808 |
|
Bologna |
1.89 |
454 |
1 pound |
14 |
7 |
80 |
593 |
|
Wheat bread |
0.69 |
454 |
1 pound |
20 |
14 |
80 |
2319 |
|
Margarine |
0.45 |
454 |
1 pound |
32 |
8 |
60 |
4267 |
|
Eggs, extra
large |
1.00 |
851 |
30 ounce |
12 |
3 |
78 |
960 |
|
Whole milk |
1.63 |
3901 |
1 gallon |
16 |
16 |
150 |
1472 |
|
Corn flakes |
1.29 |
510 |
18 ounce |
13 |
7 |
150 |
1512 |
|
Raisin bran |
1.85 |
530 |
18.7 ounce |
9 |
7 |
200 |
865 |
|
Peanut
butter |
1.87 |
794 |
28 ounce |
14 |
7 |
200 |
1348 |
|
Potatoes |
0.23 |
454 |
1 pound |
1 |
8 |
120 |
522 |
|
Bananas |
0.43 |
454 |
1 pound |
2 |
3 |
100 |
465 |
|
Juice, 10%
real |
1.89 |
3780 |
1 pound |
16 |
5 |
80 |
677 |
|
Average /
day1 |
2.28 |
|
|
|
|
2215 |
971 |
1Weighted by number of servings per week for each food
Table 4.
Foods included in the least cost ration in 2012 and calories
provided per dollar.
|
Food |
Price $ / package |
Net size (grams) |
Net size (U.S.) |
Servings / package |
Servings / week |
Calories / serving |
Calories / dollar |
|
Rice |
4.59 |
2268 |
5 pounds |
50 |
5 |
160 |
1743 |
|
Lentils |
1.59 |
454 |
1 pound |
13 |
3 |
120 |
981 |
|
Macaroni / cheese |
1.09 |
206 |
7.25 ounce |
2.5 |
2 |
290 |
665 |
|
Spaghetti |
1.79 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
5 |
210 |
939 |
|
Spaghetti sauce |
1.19 |
737 |
26 ounce |
6 |
4 |
60 |
303 |
|
Margarine |
1.00 |
454 |
1 pound |
32 |
4 |
70 |
2240 |
|
Dry noodles |
1.69 |
510 |
18 ounce |
12 |
4 |
190 |
1349 |
|
Hot dogs |
1.09 |
340 |
12 ounce |
8 |
7 |
120 |
881 |
|
Bologna |
1.99 |
454 |
1 pound |
14 |
6 |
80 |
563 |
|
Wheat bread |
2.00 |
624 |
22 ounce |
18 |
12 |
100 |
900 |
|
Oatmeal pies |
1.79 |
459 |
16.2 ounce |
12 |
5 |
170 |
1140 |
|
Whole milk |
3.59 |
3901 |
1 gallon |
16 |
12 |
140 |
624 |
|
Corn flakes |
1.99 |
510 |
18 ounce |
18 |
6 |
100 |
905 |
|
Wheat flakes |
1.99 |
510 |
18 ounce |
17 |
6 |
120 |
1025 |
|
Juice, 10% real |
2.79 |
3780 |
1 gallon |
16 |
5 |
70 |
401 |
|
Ice tea mix |
3.49 |
85 |
3 ounce |
120 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
Sugar |
3.29 |
2268 |
5 pounds |
189 |
14 |
45 |
2585 |
|
Peanut butter |
3.69 |
454 |
1 pound |
14 |
7 |
210 |
797 |
|
Banana chips |
3.99 |
425 |
15 ounce |
11 |
5 |
210 |
579 |
|
Carrots |
2.49 |
907 |
2 pounds |
12 |
2 |
30 |
145 |
|
Eggs, large |
1.99 |
680 |
24 ounce |
12 |
2 |
70 |
422 |
|
Ice cream |
3.49 |
792 |
1.5 quart |
12 |
7 |
200 |
688 |
|
Average / day1 |
2.86 |
|
|
|
|
2220 |
776 |
1Weighted by number of servings per
week for each food
Table 5.
Foods included in the least cost ration in 2017 and calories
provided per dollar.
|
Food |
Price $ / package |
Net size (grams) |
Net size (U.S.) |
Servings / package |
Servings / week |
Calories / serving |
Calories / dollar |
|
Rice |
4.99 |
2268 |
5 pounds |
50 |
5 |
160 |
1603 |
|
Lentils |
1.69 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
3 |
70 |
330 |
|
Macaroni/cheese |
0.42 |
206 |
7.25 ounce |
3 |
3 |
240 |
1429 |
|
Spaghetti |
1.00 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
5 |
200 |
1600 |
|
Spaghetti sauce |
2.50 |
737 |
26 ounce |
10 |
4 |
70 |
280 |
|
Dry noodles |
2.00 |
510 |
18 ounce |
24 |
4 |
190 |
2280 |
|
Hot dogs |
0.89 |
340 |
12 ounce |
8 |
7 |
110 |
989 |
|
Bologna |
1.25 |
454 |
1 pound |
12 |
6 |
70 |
672 |
|
Wheat bread |
1.99 |
454 |
1 pound |
20 |
10 |
80 |
804 |
|
Margarine |
1.25 |
454 |
1 pound |
32 |
4 |
70 |
1792 |
|
Whole milk |
3.39 |
3901 |
1 gallon |
16 |
12 |
150 |
708 |
|
Corn flakes |
1.47 |
510 |
18 ounce |
16 |
7 |
130 |
1415 |
|
Raisin bran |
2.09 |
530 |
18.7 ounce |
9 |
7 |
190 |
818 |
|
Juice, 10% real |
1.89 |
3780 |
1 gallon |
16 |
5 |
80 |
677 |
|
Iced tea mix |
6.99 |
1420 |
50.2 ounce |
80 |
7 |
80 |
916 |
|
Peanut butter |
4.19 |
794 |
28 ounce |
35 |
7 |
200 |
1671 |
|
Carrots |
0.79 |
454 |
1 pound |
5.8 |
2 |
30 |
220 |
|
Eggs, jumbo |
1.99 |
851 |
30 ounce |
12 |
2 |
70 |
422 |
|
Ice cream |
2.39 |
792 |
1.5 quart |
12 |
7 |
180 |
904 |
|
Average / day1 |
2.18 |
|
|
|
|
2070 |
950 |
1Weighted by number of servings per
week for each food
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