In the previous nutrition parts protein, carbohydrates and fats (lipids) were covered. The importance of each to include using ratios as a guide only based on the survival conditions were discussed.
Diabetes, Type I (insulin dependent) and Type II (which can be reversed thru weight loss and diet) was briefly covered. I included it because Type I will present major challenges because of insulin and I wanted anyone with Type II to think hard about lifestyle and diet changes with weight loss as a goal before progressing to Type I. Type I will be extremely dangerous if insulin stocks vanish in a national emergency. The goal in bringing up diabetes was to make those with Type II avoid the progression to Type I; unfortunately, those with Type I since childhood will face incredible challenges, like anyone who depends on lets say cardiac medications as an example.
The only two items to cover are vitamins and minerals. I’m just going to highlight what you need to know based on a survival situation then a fixed site situation will be expanded upon from what I covered previously.
What you need to know about vitamins is that A,D,E and K are fat soluble vitamins. Doses exceeding the daily requirements will cause toxicity. You don’t want to overdose these fat soluble vitamins.
Water soluble vitamins are all your B vitamins and Vitamin C. Vitamin C is critical in preventing scurvy. Recommended dose is 60mg a day-like any Vitamin, you don’t want to exceed and mega dose on Vitamin C regardless what some research has shown based on mega doses and cold prevention. Vitamin C is found in many vegetables such as tomatoes and citrus fruits.
A survival situation will be stressful, and stress will cause you to lose your B Vitamins first through your urine. Alcohol and caffeine will aggravate Vitamin B loss further. So keep Vitamin Bs in mind when stress is involved.
Minerals and trace minerals to include trace metals can be found in water and in various foods we eat. Again, I stress variety, even in a fixed position.
A good link on Vitamins is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin
Vitamin food sources:
http://www.cnn.com/FOOD/resources/food.for.thought/vitamins.minerals/faqs/vitamins.html
Mineral food sources:
http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/food.htm
Again, minerals and trace metals must be carefully dosed. The best and easiest way is to have a good multi Vitamin a day plus a Vitamin B complex supplement. It’s best to take an extra dose of Bs per day when stressed.
Minerals and trace metals can be found in many foods we eat. So variety is important and eating food is better versus taking in Vitamin supplements.
If you have to take Vitamins supplements because the conditions dictate their use they are easy to store and last a long time. However, watch for that expiration date on the bottle.
Urban Fixed Site Nutrition:. I have slowly brought up this subject by noting that besides your basic stock of food you will need to also have a large supply of seeds and have the ability to hunt.
Urban living has difficult and limited conditions such as storage space, ability to grow plants and hunting. Urban living presents the most challenges so I will start with a fixed site living in an urban area.
I grew up in New York City so I’m familiar with the lay out of urban living. People live in apartment complexes, some quite large housing hundreds or thousands of people. These people are completely dependent on water, gas and electricity supplied by the city’s infrastructure. Driving within a large city is time consuming and in an emergency, impossible. Furthermore, transportation dependence is on subways and buses, subways fueled by electricity, buses by diesel fuel. To me, a city is a trap because people are so dependent on an infrastructure which could break down catastrophically.
Having a fixed site such as an apartment in an urban area eliminates the need for long term food storage such as rice, dried beans, canned goods, etc., which would depend on water and power to prepare. Rice will be worthless if you have no means to cook it.
The plan for urban living is radically different than let’s say living in the country or suburbs in a house with some land to cultivate. Any urban plan would include getting out of the city as fast as possible and access a wilderness site identified on a map as your first emergency location.
Emergencies can present suddenly like in the novel One Second After
Urbanites should have a very well stocked large back pack, tent, and sleeping bag, all packed and ready to go. Food should consist of emergency rations such as Mainstay rations (One packet lasts one person two days, two people one day) or ER Food Bars available through Quake Kare. You should have forty days of rations per person. You should also have a good water filter and water canteens packed in your back pack.
Don’t forget your seed collection-you will need it later. Your bug out plan should be extremely well thought out and mapped with alternate routes as well. You should rehearse your avenue of escape as if an emergency actually happened all the way to your primary camping site. From there you should have secondary, tertiary and more planned with alternate sites.
You will need transportation initially to get out of the way. You will need something fast which can weave in and out of traffic and take short cuts. The best transportation is a motorcycle. You can load what you need on it and be gone.
Now lets pause for a moment; from a fixed site (city apartment) to bugging out with emergency rations to a field location. Now Ed, this is a little extreme!
Not really. Remember what I said of cities being a trap. I have 20 years of military experience, retired, and cities are huge traps to me. Urban warfare is one of the toughest engagements the US Army has to face in combat. If you lose water, fuel, electricity and the capacity of getting water from a water source, a city becomes a huge Venus Fly Trap, and you’re in it. Every instinct tells me to get out early in an emergency; the longer you wait, the more difficult it will become to extract yourself.
Let’s take New York City as an example. There are major highways that go north, with branching roads going north west. Your first jump could be the Catskill Mountains and your second, the Adirondack Mountains. Now for many city dwellers, anything outside the city is mysterious, lacking the familiar “comforts” that a city provides.
What I want you to do is to begin thinking outside the box, realizing that the “comforts” a big city provides may be rapidly extinguished in a national emergency. Second, by venturing “out” on day trips will develop a comfort level to include a knowledge of the routes. Those dry runs will build self confidence and when the time comes, you will be able to move quickly, smoothly and with laser like precision. This precision will give you an edge over everyone around you. You will be out of the way before reality starts sinking in with those left behind.
What happens next falls in the category of Field Nutriti
on which will be discussed later.
With Suburban/Rural Fixed Sites; I would like to plant a “seed” so to speak relating to a quick and dirty way to start a garden.
You won’t have much time so the quickest way to establish garden plots is to lay out squares of heavy black plastic (from one square foot to four square feet) on the ground. Construct boxes with wood beams eighteen inches high then fill the boxes with high quality soil. The heavy black plastic on the ground will deter weeds from invading your plots.
In the book Square Foot Gardening
Next time, specific issues relating to nutrition at a Suburban/Rural Fixed Site will be discussed keeping in mind what was covered already. As you can see, I’m hinting heavily at garden plots and seed collections because good nutrition depends on a huge variety of different types of foods to achieve the right balance.
My concern with prepared survival rations available for sale is that they may not provide a broad spectrum of nutrients. Some I have examined are carbohydrate heavy, others have a higher ratio of fat. Examine the proposed protein/carbohydrate/fat ratios in my last post while examining your level of activity based on survival scenarios. Be familiar with protein, carbohydrate and fat requirements.
Until next time, Ed signing off.
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