I asked ChatGPT:

"If I had to eat 4 things every day for the rest of my life, what foods should I choose?"

ChatGPT:

ChatGPT said:

If you had to narrow your diet down to just 4 foods forever, the trick would be choosing ones that together give you most of the nutrients your body needs (protein, fat, carbs, fibre, vitamins, minerals). No single food does it all, so you’d need a balanced set.

Here’s one strong combination that would keep you fairly healthy and cover most bases:

Eggs – complete protein, healthy fats, vitamin B12, choline, selenium.

Spinach (or another dark leafy green) – iron, calcium, vitamin K, folate, vitamin C, fibre.

Sweet potatoes – slow carbs, beta-carotene (vitamin A), potassium, fibre.

Salmon (or another oily fish) – omega-3 fatty acids, protein, vitamin D, iodine.

This quartet covers nearly all essential amino acids, fats, and most vitamins/minerals. You’d still be short on a few things (like vitamin E, some trace minerals, maybe enough vitamin C if spinach isn’t eaten in big amounts), but it’s one of the more “survivable” minimalist diets.

Alternative approach if you wanted more balance and less monotony:

Eggs or beans (protein)

Leafy greens (micronutrients, fibre)

Whole grains like oats or brown rice (carbs, B vitamins)

Fruit (like blueberries or oranges) (vitamin C, antioxidants)

Sure beats the Lefty 69'er diet.

Interesting meister.

Before looking I thought
Eggs
Avocados
Bananas
Salmon.



And I do grow a ton of sweet potato .
I would have said 🌽 corn but the cockatoos shred my crop

We went on a bushwalk up the tallebudgeta valley once and camped with an old guy on a banana farm who said he eats very little other then weetbix, bananas, honey , peanut paste, milk, eggs and chicken
Said it made up 99 % of his intake,
And this guy was super healthy
Ran up hills like a mountain goat

Food for thought , literally, when chat gpt was asked about the cigarette companies. >:(
RFK is onto this



Yes — that’s true.

After cigarette companies came under increasing legal and public pressure in the 1980s–90s, several of the big tobacco firms bought food companies and applied their expertise in nicotine research, sensory science, and consumer psychology to food.

A few examples:

Philip Morris (now Altria) bought Kraft in 1988 and General Foods in 1985, merging them into one of the world’s largest food companies. Their internal research overlapped with tobacco science — they had deep expertise in how flavors, additives, and textures drive craving and repeat consumption.

RJR Nabisco was created when R.J. Reynolds (the tobacco company) acquired Nabisco. Again, this brought tobacco scientists and marketers into food.

Scientists who had studied nicotine’s addictive properties were moved into roles studying fat, sugar, and salt “bliss points”, texture, and the psychology of overeating.

Internal documents released during tobacco lawsuits show that these companies saw parallels between nicotine addiction and food cravings, and deliberately engineered foods (especially processed snacks) to maximize consumer “hooking.”


Michael Moss’s book Salt Sugar Fat (2013) lays out a lot of this history in detail, showing how tobacco industry strategies were transplanted into food to drive consumption.

👉 So yes — the cigarette companies pivoted into food, and they took their scientists with them, applying addiction and sensory research from tobacco to processed foods.

Would you like me to give you some direct examples from internal memos where they compared nicotine to sugar and fat?

aquascoot wrote on Aug 16^th, 2025 at 9:05am:

Interesting meister. Before looking I thought Eggs Avocados Bananas Salmon. And I do grow a ton of sweet potato . I would have said 🌽 corn but the cockatoos shred my crop

Yep... I guessed eggs, avocados, multigrains and salmon... that's a major part of my diet if I have to make breakfast and lunch myself.

I'd bet you could live on those four without too many issues.

Stay off processed food and sugar...

Sugar's hard to avoid... so many restaurants and takeaway joints add sugar to their menu items and don't advise/warn customers.

B O R I N G

My fave foods mentioned!

Salmon
Eggs
Sweet potato
Chicken

Last night the movie Martian was on… about an astronaut stranded alone on mars.
He had to ration food for 4 years… but it wouldn’t last that long… being a botanist, he eventually grew potatoes.
Then that was all he ate. He started suffering with malnutrition.
I couldn’t finish watching the show as I got a FaceTime phone call from Italy. I had to put my brain in Italian speaking mode  ;D
2 pm in summer arvo there, was 10 pm winter here.

Anyway, I didn’t get to finish watching if he was rescued.

In a survival situation it would be-
Fish ( bream , flathead, whiting) because I catch them every second day.

Banana ( easy to source up here)

Lettuce ( grow my own)

Rice.

I know Rice, it’s not particularly healthy but it’s  very filling so whatever.

I would prefer to go to bed without  still being hungry.

Daves2017 wrote on Aug 17^th, 2025 at 5:18pm:

In a survival situation it would be- Fish ( bream , flathead, whiting) because I catch them every second day. Banana ( easy to source up here) Lettuce ( grow my own) Rice. I know Rice, it’s not particularly healthy but it’s  very filling so whatever. I would prefer to go to bed without  still being hungry.

both lettuce and rice have little nutritional value. You're better of with silverbeet or spinach

Beef, sweet potato, lentils, spinach

Lettuce is hard to grow.

Jacques Cousteau claimed that we had to look after our fish reserves in the oceans,
as fish was a vital food for proper nutrition.
It is very difficult to replace it with other foods.

freediver wrote on Aug 17^th, 2025 at 7:30pm:

Lettuce is hard to grow.

I've never had trouble with it

Bobby. wrote on Aug 17^th, 2025 at 7:33pm:

Jacques Cousteau claimed that we had to look after our fish reserves in the oceans, as fish was a vital food for proper nutrition. It is very difficult to replace it with other foods.

Dijon mustard

Cucumber

Coles frozen veges

Tomato sauce

:-/

John Smith wrote on Aug 17^th, 2025 at 5:45pm:

[ You're better of with silverbeet or spinach

Good to know, Im just about to harvest my lettuce so I’ll get some seeds and re plant with both silverbeet and spinach .