[kev]

Lets start with - Do you really read the labels?


While trying to figure out a food stockpile, or what kind of foods you should store, how big of a factor is calorie intake per day? Or is it along the lines of, "oh, I need some more canned soups, or some more canned veggies?"

Each person should have at least 1500 calories per day, in a survival situation, a person might need more then that. So how much of a factor is this on your decisions? Are you buying high calorie foods? In the foods you are buying, do the calories come from sugars, carbs or meats - or a mixture of both?

 

[Per Ardua]

All very good questions. It is important to look the overall nutritional value of the food. Once must have enough calories, but one must also balance the protein, carbs, minerals, vitamins, etc.

For example, if you are stuck in a shelter for two months with little exercise you can lower your protein intake. If you are active, a higher protein intake is called for. If your protein intake is higher, be sure to also increase B6 in order that the protein can be processed. If the protein comes from plants, be sure the mix of plants provide a complete protein (animal protein is already complete).

I think a really good approach is to try and narrow the gap between what you eat now and what you would eat if surviving off long-term food storage. Besides being less of a shock to your body (since your diet won't be changing as dramatically) it gives you the chance to tune your long-term food storage under conditions that are 'friendly'.

-Per.

 

[Ammo]

Good advice, about the B6.
Actually, to me at least, a good supply of QUALITY supplements, will be very important.

 

[bigsol81]

I wanted to state an important point about "complete proteins". Several popular survival foods are already complete proteins.

A complete protein is a protein source that contains all of the essential amino acids. These are amino acids needed by the human body that it does not synthesize on its own. While all animal protein does contain all of these acids (it has already been processed by the animal's body, after all), several vegetable sources also contain all of them. If you're going with vegetable sources and do not want to be bothered with finding a good balance, the following vegetables contain all of the essential amino acids, making their protein "complete". This is not an exhaustive list, mind you, just a few examples:

• Potatoes. This includes sweet potatoes as well as freeze-dried or dehydrated.
• Black, Navy, Kidney, and Lima beans. Pinto beans are close, but are slightly lacking in Phenylalanine and Tyrosine. However, the lack of balance here is so incredibly small that you'd have to live off of them exclusively for years to suffer any protein deficiency, if possible at all.
• Most nuts are a near-complete source of protein, though many are slightly lacking in Lysine. Cashews are a good example of nuts that are a complete protein, however.
• Several leafy greens, including spinach, kale, and turnip greens are complete proteins. Yes, people, there ARE green leafy veggies that are just as 'complete' in protein as meat, if not as overall nourishing.

It should also be noted that most pasta (and grains in general) are only lacking in Lysine, which is found abundantly in leafy greens and root vegetables (radishes, carrots, etc). This is one of the reasons why the concept that a meat-free diet is deficient in complete proteins is a myth, and why we as survivalists need to learn to appreciate the fact that full, nutritious, complete food can be grown if the situation demands it. Our ancestors survived for generations when you were lucky to eat meat one or two days a year, and despite common preconceptions they were no more likely to die of protein deficiency as the nobleman that ate meat at every meal. That's why the potato famine hit Ireland so hard. The common potato is practically a miracle food, and humans can survive and remain healthy for quite a long time on a diet consisting entirely of potatoes.

As for your initial question, meat is a good idea if you can store it effectively. Survival storage is usually more about space and weight, and meat is a more concentrated, more compact source of protein than vegetable sources. Freeze-dried or dehydrated meat is a good idea, but if you cannot get hold of the right stuff or would rather not run the risk of spoilage, I recommend canned beans, dehydrated or canned potatoes, and pasta. These are foods that can be stored for a very long time and provide adequate nutrition for their weight and volume.

My survival room is stocked with two months' worth of these very foods. I also have some vacuum-packed freeze-dried beef for extra protein if it becomes necessary.

Hope this helps.

 

[Rockyriver]

I know this is an old thread, however the older I get the less I need in calories.
I can go out in the morning with a 300 calorie breakfast and work my rear off and then eat a 400 to 500 calorie lunch and work my rear off. and then eat a 400 calorie dinner. I won't gain weight, however I can still maintain my size.
When I was young I would need at least twice that amount to stay active and be productive. If the SHTF also, you may be doing alot of work to stay alive, or you may just be laying low in your house and not need alot of calories, you just need to keep an eye on your weight and not lose to much if your already thin, however if you are a little thick, it's probably a good time to start cutting back on the food and lose a few pounds, while conserving food for future use.
And as stated by others have some multi vitamins to take to stay healthy and get all your minerals and vitamins.

 

[seawind]

There is a real learning curve when it comes to food storage. When I first started I went with something like this (short term) 1-2 packets of instant oatmeal, can of veg.soup for lunch and a MH 2serving FD dinner. Then read about calories and went back and added it all up. I was going to be one skinny survivor. It can be discouraging, main thing is not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I may end up skinny but I won't starve. Taking the time now to fill in the gaps. Still have a way to go but consider myself still ahead of the game.

 

[QnsConcrete]

Some things to consider:

fat - 9 calories per gram
carbohydrate - 4 calories per gram
protein - 4 calories per gram
alcohol - 7 calories per gram

Therefore fat is the most space-efficient macronutrient.

Excluding all canned goods, here are the best items to store without refrigeration:

Fats - almonds, peanuts, olive oil, walnuts, dried coconuts
Proteins - jerky, whey protein, preserved quail eggs and duck eggs
Carbs - any dried fruit such as raisins, apricots, bananas, papaya, pineapples, also honey (never spoils), sugar

Another thing to consider is that if your plan is to merely survive, the average person has enough calories stored on them in fat to walk hundreds of miles. Think of this, even if you are a very lean 150 lb male with 10% bodyfat, you still have 15 lbs worth of fat on you.

15 lbs = 6803 oz
9 calories for every ounce
= 61227 calories on your body

Also, if you regularly consume carbohydrates (e.g. you are not an Inuit or on the Atkins diet) and you have not recently done a highly strenuous endurance activity (such as running a marathon) then you also have glycogen stores. Efficient athletes can store up to 3000 calories in here, although most people will have 1800-2000.

So, 61227+2000 = 63000.
Now assuming you need 2000 calories daily in order to survive, in theory you could last a month before your organs started to shut down. Which is about how long it takes for people to starve.

So, I would say if you are trying to survive a short term disaster, you need much less food than you think you need. If you plan on mostly staying inside and not moving around, you could get away on eating nothing but fat with the occasional bit of protein to get essential amino acids.

Carbohydrates are not necessary for survival. There is no such thing as an "essential" carb. If you plan to be fighting or otherwise doing some strenuous activity, then they will be beneficial.

 

[JoeKan]

I think you should also consider that when the stuff hits the fan, you'll need more calories due to stress and for many people, hard manual labor.

 

[JeremyIsraeliPrepper]

as someone who get the opportunity to talk with people who survived the Shoah( i dont like the term Holocaust) , one of the toughest situation a man can deal with , i can conclude that fat people will survive . by fat i dont refer to 600 lb beasts who can hardly move themselves, but to people with a little higher fat percentage like 19% to 25% . most guys with this amount of fat still are in shape to do aerobic activities like an average guy , but in long term they will remain healthy for longer than the slimmer people.

 

[woodsy]

I lived off off two meals a day for 6 weeks. Breakfast was egg and toast, lunch can of tuna. Lost 25lbs in the month of Feb. and 10 more in Mar. I live on about 1,500 calories a day now. I work construction so I do burn a lot in a day. 30 lb jackhammer, 20 ft up. 10hrs= 11.5% BMI

 

[Grevlin]

I'm currently in an exercise and weight-loss plan so I eat maybe a 1000 calories per day along with hitting the gym. I do take around 60 grams of protein per day to keep the muscle mass.

Been dropping like 3.5 pounds a week for a while now. (adding muscle mass messes with the numbers)


Now for survival, I would stick to the fatty/protein foods and veggies that I have stored.


It's amazing how little food you need if its quality food, and you run your body light and lean.



PS
Don't Army Rangers eat once a day while bookin' it in the field?

 

[QnsConcrete]

I'm currently in an exercise and weight-loss plan so I eat maybe a 1000 calories per day along with hitting the gym. I do take around 60 grams of protein per day to keep the muscle mass.

Been dropping like 3.5 pounds a week for a while now. (adding muscle mass messes with the numbers)

You can't add muscle mass while on a caloric deficit. Just not possible.

 

[bigsol81]

You can't add muscle mass while on a caloric deficit. Just not possible.

He didn't say he was adding muscle mass, he said he was eating protein to maintain existing muscle mass, which is entirely possible on a caloric deficit as long as you have fat stores to provide adequate compensating energy.

I'm not sure what the "adding muscle mass" comment he made at the end was in referral to, however, so his entire post is either contradictory or requires clarification.

 

[QnsConcrete]

I just assumed he meant that he was losing 3.5 lbs per week but still gaining muscle.

 

[Grevlin]

I take size measurements as well as body fat percentage and overall weight. I am adding muscle and losing body fat at the same time. It's hard to do but possible. I eat high protien foods and little else. I take a full set of quality vitamins plus protien. The reason I said adding muscle messes with tracking is that it weighs more than fat so it's harder to track what's going on. This is the second time I've done this. Fell off the wagon last time, but that will not happen again.

 

[bigsol81]

Ah, that's different. Losing fat while gaining muscle is very possible, and usually difficult to avoid unless you're dowing a ton of carbs.

However, the previous statement about gaining muscle on a calorie defiency is accurate. You have to eat more calories than you burn to build muscle, otherwise your body will consume the protein you eat for energy rather than using it to build muscle with.

The common misconception is that you have to have a calorie deficit to lose fat. The truth is you just have to have a deficit to lose WEIGHT. That's not just biology, it's pure physics. A caloric surplus will increase weight, but trading (for example) 10 pounds of fat for 12-13 pounds of muscle is an excellent tradeoff.

 

[firepoint]

I often eat more than 3000 calories / day. In a SHTF event, I'll be on a significant diet. I'm 5'11" and 225lbs and it takes a lot of fuel to keep this much moving.I certainly won't die on a 1000 calorie a day diet, but I'll be a lot slimmer after a month.

Good luck to those that like a pure fat and protein diet during an emergency. Those concentrated fat/protein bars or the high salt preserved dehydrated rations back up my plumbing for a week after just a few days.