You don't need to eat as much as you think you do.

Posted by reeeeeeeeb@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 7 comments

In the event of food not being readily available, why not make your preps really last the distance and forget eating 3 times a day? The food industry has conditioned us to constantly eat. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, sweets, sweets, sweets. Our paleolithic ancestors would be besides themselves in jealousy right now if they saw the calorie rich lives we lead. Those mother jammers probably had to live days without food. During those days, they would be in a fasted state. A fasted state means you:

are burning fat for energy.
are in a state of autophagy where damaged cells are recycled and newer and better cells can be made. This may even offset neurodegenerative diseases, prolong life, and cut your risk of cancer.
are more alert.
are stronger, faster, and probably smarter.

Why? Because you're fucking hungry and you need energy to hunt or forage, so you're using your fat. Evolution did us a solid on this one, guys. We can go days without eating.

If you live in a developed country, chances are, you are not underfed. There's a decent chance you, reading right now, have an excess amount of fat on you. I know I do. Am I saying you should start living a trendy OMAD KETO diet right now? No. Fuck, have your McDonald's while you can. All I am saying is, if you're bunkered down with your family playing monopoly in candlelight for the 50th time while the covid rage zombies are pulling down statues of Lincoln and your stomach starts a howlin', rethink your decision to boil up water for that Mountain House breakfast skillet. You can probably go without.

All joking aside, it's best to practice going without food while you have it. It'll make preserving your soon to be meager supply that much easier.

Obviously, if you're malnourished and see the ghost of Iggy Pop in your mirror, you should probably have that can of spam.

edit: wording

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Metastasis3@reddit

As someone who fast and has enjoyed health benefits from it I really agree. Humans haven't evolved to have 4 meals at the same hours everyday.

However, and a very big however: this is something you need to train/experience beforehand and make a part of your lifestyle if you plan on relying on it at some point. Kicking your body into ketosis for the first time (and that's what fasting or a strong calorie reduction will do) is an absolutely brutal experience, you WILL piss all your electrolytes and get sick. Think of the worst sugar crash ever.

In a survival situation, it is crucial to not disrupt your habits. Reducing your calorie intake if you have never done it will add a lot to the already gigantic stress you will already experience, may cause you to get sick more easily, and will have a load of unpleasant consequences all around.

It's the same problem as hoarding massive amount of canned food if you don't eat canned food in your everyday live. The day you need to rely on it, you will have to go through a brutal lifestyle & alimentary change in an already bad situation and that can be really dangerous.

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TheUserAboveMeIsCute@reddit

Wait, changing the type/amount of food you eat in a short period of time can fuck with you that hard??

Bro I thought my body just couldn't stand certain diets, turns out I was just an idiot for trying to instantly go from the "typical american" diet to the "keto 1500" diet overnight.... that explains a lot.

Any tips for changing eating habits?

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kickinrock5@reddit

Look into the bacteria that inhabit our gut biomes also. It's a great way to understand why changing your diet too fast will mess you up until the biome adjusts.

Basically, there are billions of bacteria in your gut that eat the food you ingest and convert it into a form that is bioavailable to out bodies. Each bacteria eats only certain types of foods, so if you eat burgers and fries(or anything) all the time, you will have a plethora of bacteria needed to digest those burgers, but you will be lacking in the bacteria needed to digest many other things, so when you change your diet to say, fruits and greens, all that burger loving bacteria won't be able to digest all the food you give it. You will have to wait for enough of the fruit/green loving bacteria to grow in your gut before your meal will become totally bioavailable to your body.

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MagicalWitch24@reddit

Wow i never knew this. They never taught me this in anatomy class. Thank you!!