How Many Calories Do You Need To Survive?

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Don't starve yourself slowly...know how many calories you need to survive.

Dying of Hunger. Starving to Death. How many times in your life have you thought or said those phrases, knowing full well that you were no where near that point? We say those things for effect; very few phrases can communicate such desperation to those around you as those words. It is likely that none of us have actually ever experienced starvation, but every single one of us knows it is not a path we want to go down. However, most people are setting themselves up to do just that should our food supply ever be interrupted.  Those of us who are “prepared” may not fully understand what being prepared actually means. Just because you have a case of canned food tucked away does not mean you are prepared. How do you know how much food you actually need? How much food can you survive on? How many calories do you need in order to perform basic tasks such as hunting, gathering water, foraging for food or protecting your family? The answer is different for each of those questions and varies widely between individuals. Things such as genetics, basal metabolic rate, and body size all influence these answers. However, although it is a somewhat complex question, we can draw some generalities across broad lines that should serve as good starting points for those of us trying to anticipate caloric needs in a survival situation. For instance, The USDA estimates caloric needs as follows:

Based on the information above, we see that the caloric needs of people in the same age bracket and activity level can vary by as much as 25% between individuals. In addition, climate can influence caloric needs: If it is winter time, you are going to need more food to keep your body warm. You will need to use your own judgement for where you and your family lie and base your estimation of how much food you will need accordingly.

Having talked a little about how much food you need in order to survive, we would be well served to examine the consequences of what happens when you are unable to consume enough calories to supply your body with adequate energy.

At one time or another, most of us have decided to lose some weight. In order to do this, we need to burn more calories than we take in. Ordinarily, the body responds to reduced caloric intake by burning fat reserves first, and only consuming muscle and other tissues when those reserves are exhausted. Specifically, the body burns fat after first exhausting the contents of the digestive tract along with glycogen reserves stored in muscle and liver cells. After prolonged periods of starvation, the body will utilize the proteins within muscle tissue as a fuel source. The body uses glucose as its main metabolic fuel if it is available, and about 25% of the total body glucose consumption occurs in the brain, more than any other organ (about 120g per day, or the equivalent of 3 cans of soda). The rest of the glucose consumption fuels muscle tissue and red blood cells. After several days of fasting, all cells in the body begin to break down protein. This releases amino acids into the bloodstream, which can be converted into glucose by the liver. Since much of our muscle mass is protein, this phenomenon is responsible for the wasting away of muscle mass seen in starving people. Starvation ensues when the fat reserves are completely exhausted and protein is the only fuel source available to the body. Thus, after periods of starvation, the loss of body protein affects the function of important organs, and death results, even if there are still fat reserves left unused. (In a leaner person, the fat reserves are depleted earlier, the protein depletion occurs sooner, and therefore death occurs sooner.) The ultimate cause of death is, in general, cardiac arrhythmia or cardiac arrest brought on by tissue degradation and electrolyte imbalances.

There are hundreds of books written about the process of starvation, but what is hidden in the above information is something that most people do not realize: You can die of starvation while you still have food to eat. For instance: During The Siege of Leningrad in WW2 in which 462,000 people died, rations were reduced to approximately 800 calories per day. People died by the hundreds of thousands of starvation, not to mention from the illnesses their bodies could no longer fight off. The food they were given did not provide enough energy to satisfy their basic metabolic needs and therefore their bodies eventually stopped working.

In subsequent articles, we will examine the caloric value of food items you can commonly expect to find in nature so that you will have an idea of what nutritional value these items provide. But right now, you need to take steps to keep you and your loved ones alive during crisis situations where the food supply is interrupted. There are a variety of ways to do this: MRE’s, Dehydrated Food, Canned Food, Planting your own, or a combination of all of these. Whatever you choose, don’t choose to starve.

Places to get your survival food.

Buy MRE's from American Family Safety -  all meals are based off of number of calories.

Buy MRE's from Amazon - largest selection of MRE's I can find.

Buy Freeze Dried and Dehydrated food from Honeyville Food Products - These guys are the gourmet foods of survival foods.  They have everything you could want to eat comfortably during times of trouble.  If you are looking for Kosher survival food, these are you guys.

Buy Dehydrated food from Amazon - Largest selection of dehydrated food suppliers I can find.

Buy MRE's or Dehydrated food from 1800Prepare - Great family emergency packs for families if you don't want to take the time to buy individual items.

Buy Food insurance for survival foods - All they do is survival food.

In a perfect world we are all able to and enjoy growing our own food.  Learn more about organic gardening.

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