Is it possible to have a "Healthy" Diet with Bagels, Bread and Onions?

I guess no one can deny the Effects of Income Level on Nutrition and Health.

The importance of healthy and balanced nutrition is a subject that we have been told since primary school and we have grasped the importance of. When it comes to healthy eating, we should not think of only the food that will meet our daily needs in terms of calories. A healthy diet is expected to consume both basic and additional nutrients, make us feel good about the foods we consume, and give us the energy we need in daily life. Of course, while doing these, it is expected not to steal the money we need to spend in other areas of life, in short, not to make up a large part of our budget. Of course, healthy eating isn't just about exotic foods with fancy terms such as the «x diet». It is to buy foods that are suitable for our own culture and taste, as much as to meet our “daily needs”.

A healthy diet is not only important for doing daily chores, it is also a risk factor for many insidious diseases that have emerged over the years. For example, some cancer types such as diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, obesity, high cholesterol, colon and stomach cancer and osteoporosis are diseases closely related to nutrition. The first sentence that patients who encounter these diseases hear from their doctors is "Be careful what you eat." is happening. However, the extent to which this recommendation is followed is debatable due to the income level. It is clear that especially those who write about the "benefits of eating onion bread" or advise to eat simit have no idea about this situation. It is unscrupulous to advise a diabetic to eat onion bread or simit.

The relationship between economic level, nutrition and health, which is known worldwide, has been evaluated many times. «Nutrition quality of food purchases varies by household income: the SHoPPER study» conducted in the USA in 2019 examined those with lower incomes. As a result of this examination, it was revealed that the individuals mentioned were more obese, consumed less fruit and vegetables, and consumed more processed food. This confirms the hypothesis that if income falls, people turn to more energy-containing foods. This is what is meant by "not being able to even take bread home", which is constantly mentioned in our country. Unfortunately, bread is the basic food of our country due to its relatively cheap price and high calorie content. Whereas; The calorie value of 1 loaf of bread weighing 250 g is 665 kcal on average. 250 gr 1 salmon bread contains 8.25 gr fat, 19.1 gr protein and 126.55 gr carbohydrate and as you can see it is not a balanced food in any way. There is no need to argue that a person who takes such a high amount of carbohydrates is in an increased risk group for diabetes. In addition, roughly 30% of the daily average calorie needs are tried to be obtained from only a single substance. More interestingly, it appears on the bagel side. 1 sesame bagel consumed is 100 grams. This is worth 488 calories (kcal). The calorie value of 1 soft bagel is 488 calories. One large soft bagel contains 4.45 g of fat, 12 g of protein and 98 g of carbohydrates. If we come to the onion front, the king of the tables; 1 small onion is 30.00 calories. Dry onion contains 7.01 carbohydrates, 0.83 protein, 0.08 fat. In short, if a low-income person eats a bagel in the morning, a loaf of bread and a loaf of bread in the evening, and spoils himself and cuts an onion next to the bread in the evening, the total calories he receives will be around 1848 and will be relatively sufficient, but he will not have eaten anything other than carbohydrates in terms of nutrition. Unfortunately, this food, which he will take with only "10 TL" a day, will not benefit him other than the fact that his stomach digests itself due to hunger. This diet, which costs about 300 TL per month, will be 1200 TL for a family of 4 people.

In short, the literature of "bagel, onion, bread", which is put forward as economic problems are unfortunately not valid today. In this way, a uniform diet can only be a recipe for salvation for a few days. No one can suggest that their citizens should knowingly and willingly eat an unbalanced diet.