Is it actually advantageous to ration food?
I posted this question on the Outdoors SE site. There were some good points regarding morale and such, but I'm curious about this question from a purely biological/nutritive perspective.
Copying from other question:
What is the difference between eating a little bit of food at an interval and eating enough to be full at once?
I'm getting the same amount of calories/nutrition** regardless of when I consume it, so who cares? Why not just eat whenever you're hungry to the point of satiety?
Is that an overly-simplistic view?
** I suppose there could be a difference in the percentage of nutrients absorbed. If I get too much of a nutrient, perhaps my body will excrete it, so, in that case, it's better to consume it periodically when your body needs it.
The scenario is being stranded somewhere not knowing when rescue will come - so generally no activity.
** is the only counter argument I can think of, but then again, if you're hungry, that tells you that your body needs the nutrients, so maybe it's better to just eat now rather than wait.
P.S. before my question on OutdoorsSE was edited, I was also asking about hydration, so comments on that would be nice too, though maybe that warrants a separate question.
(1)1 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
This answer was initially written to describe different effects of few/frequent meals in everyday life. The part about rationing foods in a "being stranded" scenario is at the bottom.
1. Eating vs working time.
Eating until full means you will probably have only few meals per day, so you will be in the "digestion mode" only for some time around the meals. During digestion, the blood flow partially redirects from the muscles toward the intestine (Journal of Surgical Research), so you will have less energy for work around the meals, but more energy between the meals. On the other hand, frequently munching something will constantly keep you in the digestion mode.
2. Blood glucose spikes
Having large meals will likely result in high blood glucose spikes, which may not be optimal, at least not for diabetics (American Diabetes Association).
Individuals with reactive (postprandial) hypoglycemia frequently experience profound fatigue and sleepiness ("crash") after large meals.
3. Nutrients absorption
In a healthy person, the difference in a meal size should not importantly affect the absorption of nutrients. (There may be several interactions between iron, calcium, zinc, phytates, tannins, etc. that can affect the absorption of a particular nutrient, but this is more the question of the meal composition than size).
4. Hydration
If you drink a large amount of water at once (let's say >0.5 L), the water will enter the blood and expand its volume quickly, which will signal the kidneys to excrete some water. This way your drinking will be less efficient and you will need to urinate more frequently. If you drink smaller amounts, water has more time to get from the blood into the cells, before being excreted.
In summary, in the scenario when being stranded somewhere:
Regarding the efficacy of the nutrient absorption and their utilization, I don't see any significant difference between eating small portions or eating until full if the amount of nutrients/calories is the same in both cases. The exception is water, as described above.
Rationing food when stranded could make sense, if you eat smaller amount of food per day (low-calorie diet). Then your body will start to burn its own tissues (mostly fat but also muscles), you will lose weight and consequently your daily calorie needs will decrease. This is just to theoretically answer, when rationing food intake can actually work.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.