Date: December 13, 1997 03:34 PM
Author: Happy Eater
Subject: Store Food On Body

Has anyone thought of this? In these times of cost concerns not all of us can afford to purchase a year's supply of food but we can use the body's own mechanism.

It is my intention, between now and y2k to gorge myself on high starch and fat foods with the intention of getting as fat as I possibly can get. Then, when y2k strikes, I'll eat very little each day, an extended diet if you will. In this way I'll conserve my supplies to last longer.

Happy Eater

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=7418)

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Date: December 14, 1997 01:25 AM
Author: Bugbite
Subject: living off your fat


Happy Eater, Be very careful with this crazy plan of yours. I have dieted and lost weight over an extended period of time. (I quit smoking and then had to lose a lot of baggage) When your body starts burning your own fat there are still nutritional considerations you must be aware of. If your intake drops below a certain level you may find your self in Ketoacidosis. This is not a pleasant condition. If your survival depends on your health and stamina then you do not want to be ill from diet mismanagement. I have found that without sufficient carbohydrates your body does not metabolize calcium and other nutrients. So stock up on vitamins to supplement what you would normally get from your diet. You can use your fat stores to supply energy to your body but that is ALL. It will not supply protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, or fluids. Stay well, Bugbite.

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=7450)

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Date: December 22, 1997 01:04 AM
Author: randyg02 (randyg02@sprynet.com)
Subject: Diet for survival


The people who seem to survive in starvation scenarios are the lean types. The longest fasters are all very lean. If you plan to survive without adequate food, you need to have you body at or near peak health. Obese people fare poorly on a starvation ration. Try to change now to a predominately raw or natural diet. Read up on the subject. It will make it easier if you have to live with no power, no supermarkets, no fast food, etc.

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=8155)

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Date: December 22, 1997 02:25 AM
Author: Eric Bringhurst (ebringhurst@worldnet.att.net)
Subject: thin folks outlast fat ones?


It seems counterintuitive that lean folks would survive starvation better than the fatter folks. I do know that fat people suddenly forced to lose weight are at a higher likelihood of developing gallstones, but otherwise I would think that in a low calorie environment they would outlast their leaner peers. It also depends on what you mean by a starvation environment. Please give me your references on the subject, I would like to read about it.

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=8159)

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Date: December 28, 1997 10:30 PM
Author: randyg02 (randyg02@sprynet.com)
Subject: Thin folks


Sources: American Natural Hygeine Society (ANHS@.ANHS.org) publications, any book on fasting by: Herbert Shelton, Arnold Ehret, N. W. Walker, Paul Bragg, John Tobe. This seems counter-intuitive because you approach health from a conventional viewpoint. I do not. I have been a raw food eater (75% fruit) for over 25 years. I have fasted (water only) on many occasions for up to three weeks. I am 5' 5" , 125 lbs. My point is that a person who is overweight is used to consuming an excess of food on a regular basis. If that food supply is curtailed, the mental process of reducing the amount and variety of food is very difficult. The physical effects of a change to a smaller quantity, simpler, mostly raw or natural food will cause a "healing crisis" to occur and the individual will become quite ill. Without the knowledge of why this occurs, the illness is attributed to the reduction or change in diet. In actuality, the illness is the body's attempt to rid itself of all the "packed on" waste material. It is better to be fit and in shape and be accustomed to eating simply than to change overnight.

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=8575)

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Date: January 18, 1998 07:42 AM
Author: J.C. Sage (ladysage@rocketmail.com)
Subject: ???


You are making the judgment that fat is the result of eating to much. In reality, someone who is over weight will consume less than some one of an average weight. Most obesity is the cause of an imbalance in the body chemistry, illness, or thyroid imbalances. You are right about the raw food, however. It is the only way to go and I have been slowly transferring my diet away from cooked food. J.C.

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=10728)

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Date: December 22, 1997 11:17 PM
Author: Lynn (hope1@breeze.net)
Subject: fat stores


I may outlast you in a blizzard because I am overweight. But if I had to walk to the next town to get help or save myself, I would sure have a hard time of it. Fat means more than food stores on the body, it also means poor muscle reflex and less energy. Neither of which is good for Y2k. I think I would rather carry my food on my back, than on my stomach. Spoken by a lifelong 'fatty'.

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=8178)

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Date: December 23, 1997 03:34 AM
Author: Eric Bringhurst (ebringhurst@worldnet.att.net)
Subject: 1 lb fat on hoof equal several lbs food in backpack


Pure fat is the most concentrated energy store that exists in the body. It has about 9 kcal per gram, versus 4 kcal per gram in glucose, protein or glycogen(liver). A ballpark estimate is that a pound of fat has about 5000 kcal. However, if you multiply 9 kcal/gm x 454 gm/lb you will get 4086kcal/lb. That is one reason oil is part of every complete food storage program, (one other reason being essential fatty acids.) The average American is used to getting about 30-50% of his calories through fats. A bona fide low fat diet (e.g. Pritikin) is almost unpalatable to most Americans. Some people tend to accumulate more fats than other folks. This is a disadvantage in everyday life and a source of continual consternation in social, work, and other things like sports activities. Nevertheless one may look at a thick layer of fat as a survival advantage in cold climates or in areas of periodic famine. For example, note that the northern sea mammals that are exposed to cold such as the Sea Lions have thick layers of insulating fat. Most hunters know that deer and elk prepare for winter by accumulating as much fat as possible. Also, you may speculate that in a famine prone area such as Europe the obese may have had more chance of survival, and the trait for obesity is strongly heritable. My best example of the advantage of fat is illustrated by the differential survival rates of men vs. women(more fat) in the Donner Party (1848?) Only one man survived, but many women made it down the mountain and ate off the *fat* of the land after their ordeal. Perhaps, in a foraging environment, such as the hunter/gatherer societies found in tropical or temperate climates, a thin body habitus might be preferable to increase mobility. Also, if you envision a post y2k scenario in which you are unable to stay in one place, and are unable to cache food, but can gather food in the course of your flight from one place to another, then a thin body habitus would be preferential, or if you envision hand to hand fighting to preserve your life.... (I am laying it on thick here) Another aspect of this discussion is that a lot of energy is expended in the course of digestion. The body has to chew the food, generate hydrogen gradients to produce hydrochloric acids, secrete digestive fluids, generate peristaltic activity to keep the bolus of food going, secrete numerous enzymes to digest the food, maintain a healthy intestinal mucosa with numerous villi to absorb the nutrients and resorb water and electrolytes from the large colon. The food must also be detoxified, and synthesized into biofreindly molocules in the liver. Therefore you may see that one pound of fat already in the body will sustain life (in terms of energy requirements) longer than the equivalent number of calories in a sandwich. Having stated this fact I must add that the obesity that we see in our society today can be termed a type of malnutrition, and these people with overnutrition in lipid reserves may, because of the imbalance of their diet, be nutrionally deficient in other non-stored nutrients. Such a person undergoing a fast may only aggravate the nutritional imbalance. Another factor is that sedentary types cannot always easily increase their activity levels without putting themselves at risk for sprains and shin splints etc etc. Of the three systems involved in physical activity, (cardiovascular, skeletal muscle, and connective tissue/skeletal structures),the connective tissue of the body is the most rapidly deconditioned and cannot be restored in a day. Perhaps this is why someone would argue that fat folks would suffer in a survivalist scenario- they have to take it easy on the physical activity at first.

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=8194)

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Date: December 28, 1997 11:58 PM
Author: Lynn (hope1@breeze.net)
Subject: fat


Well, Eric, my Dr would shoot you, but I may be the last 'man' standing in a Donna Party scenario. I am not sure what to make of that thought. But you have added to my list of things NOT to concentrate on for the Y2k. I'll just worry about it for TODAY!

(http://garynorth.entrewave.com/forums/Index.cfm?CFApp=16&Message_ID=8582)