Nutrition

[TN Homesteader]

Nutrition, it is not just about the calories you know….

When people think about nutrition, food is what most likely comes to mind and it would correct to think so. However, in reality, nutrition is not about how much you eat but more about what you eat, i.e., ingest and digest. For SHTF, many preppers consider calories as a primary factor of the food preparations. Calories are indeed important since we normally need between 2,000 and 2,400 per day depending on level of activity. However, the nutrients that are included with those calories are critical for health. Yes, you may be satisfied eating 3 meals per day, but if one does not take in the proper levels of vitamins and minerals, healthiness may be compromised. As an example, commercially canned food’s nutritional value diminishes with time even though the contained food is perfectly viable and will provide sustenance and some level of nutrition based on age.

Within this topic, share and discuss your approach to nutrition during SHTF.

[TN Homesteader]

During SHTF, maintaining healthy body is important not only for ability to perform your activities but also to ward off common ailments which can be detrimental when medical facilities are not readily available. This is particularly critical for the very young, who have not established a robust immune system or the senior members of the group who are more susceptible. A common cold can turn into bronchitis or even pneumonia. A weakened immune system allows minor cuts or burns turn more serious. Oh sure, you can and must include meds in your preps but the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is extremely pertinent during SHTF since that proverbial pound cannot be replenished.

Of course, being able to grow and raise your own vegetables and protein, thus nutritional foods, is immensely beneficial. However, one has to consider crop failures, off season, and other impacts to available “live” foods. Thus, back to the SHTF Food preps. So, what does one do? Include nutritional supplements as part of your Medical or Food preparations, which one is really up to you.

Multi-vitamins – at this point, they are relatively inexpensive and can have a fairly long shelf life. To keep the cost down, look at store brands or bulk stores like Costco or Sam’s Club. Of course, on-line is always an option but make sure it is from reputable place. As example, I found Adult 50+ multi-vitamins (Men and Women) at $12 for 400 tablets. Read the nutrition content labels as there are differences for men and women.

Single vitamins – from time to time, you may wish to increase the dosage of a particular vitamin, B and C come. A purposeful “focused” version in addition to the multi-vitamin may be warranted. Example, before “cold and flu” season starts, beef up you vitamin C, look at Emergen-C which is a great way to ingest as a flavored effervescent drink. During winter, and depending on your location, sufficient sunlight may be an issue so you may wish to have doses of Vitamin D available depending on the daily volume within your multi-vitamin. Of course, vitamins is something the body flushes when it has has what it needs so what type or how many is really up to you.

Minerals – these are just as important to healthy a healthy body as vitamins. When you eat from your garden or your animal proteins, the minerals are obtained from their consumption via soil (vegetables) or meat/eggs from what those animals eat, i.e., grains, grasses, etc. Supplements are available and look for a well rounded version, the multi-vitamin version for minerals. One item that is packed with minerals are Kelp/seaweed based products, there is a reason these are used for garden “fertilizers”. For equine nutritional supplement, “Source” is a product that reaps the benefits of Kelp. Yes, it is for horses and of course you can, at a much, much higher price point, obtain similar for humans. However, buying in bulk (5 lbs. for $30) is a great option since for humans it would be about a teaspoon for 250 lbs. I recommend making your own gelatin filled capsules, single size “0”, or 2 size “00” will do. This will make it easier to take, particular with finicky group members.

So, remember that eating caloric foods will make you feel full but may not help making you feel good overall.

[PreparedMother]

TN, when looking at storage food, many people recommended buying bulk grains for storage from the feed store. Because it can be significantly lower in cost than bags of grain, corn etc that is intended for human use. Just as many people advised against this. their reasoning was that the food given to animals does not have to meet the same quality and chemical (additive, contamination?) guidelines. Your recommendation of “Source” for human consumption makes me think of this. I like the idea of being able to purchase more for less, but I am hesitant because of the contamination factor.

[TN Homesteader]

PreparedMother I can certainly appreciate the concern, and it is warranted. In the case of Source, it is just ground kelp so the general grains and other “feed” oriented products are not pertinent. However, like anything (everything?) else, consider the source… see what I did there? ??

[Guardian]

Thank you TN Homesteader for all of your helpful nutritional information. I’d like to suggest canned sardines in Olive Oil as a very economical, healthy, high protein, source that provides olive oil which can be used for other cooking purposes. Sardines can be any one of about 15 different fishes. The kind I use are boneless, skinless, don’t smell like typical sardines and have been used as a tuna substitute many times while company didn’t even realize what they were eating. I buy Castle Brand (4.4 ozs.), wild-caught, packed in olive oil, at Walmart for 1.16 FRNs per can. The best-by date is 3 years out. They are harvested in the waters around Morroco and are virtually indiscernible from a much better known brand called King Oscar, also harvested in the waters around Morroco. “Deo duce ferro comitante.”

[Author]

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