Is there a recommendation limiting the number of consecutive days one could live on MREs alone

When your colon turns to concrete, you'll know you've reached your limit.

When I was USMC, we could get by with eating just one full MRE a day. They are filling to say the least. You need lots of water when eating those.

 





Is it because they're loaded with sodium

i ate them for 7 months straight for breakfast and lunch and t rats for dinner... we didn't get the t rats in for a about 2-3 months ....u can eat these for quite a while
t rats are giant mres basically that come in a tray and they dunk em in boiling water to heat em up.

I've lived on only cold MREs, water, coffee and hot chocolate for more than a week while camping and had no troubles of any sort. This was eathing 3 a day.

GL

No its because they are designed to stop you from shitting so you don't have to stop in the middle of operations to shit often

They have 5-9 thousand calories per meal depending on the meal of course and they have a very high fat content

That calorie count sounds high. This is the brand I get at a local Military Surplus store. The average calories per MRE are 1,058.

GL

5-9 thousand calories?  Holy crap, what MREs are you eating?  Everyone I ate (.mil and civvy) average 1200 calories.

Please cite your source.

No way (1) MRE has 5000 calories in it.

I went to Ranger school in the winter and we were alotted up to (2) per day.  No way we were eating 10000+ calories per day.

4073

The only ones that come close to that are the cold weather MREs.  Those are yummy!  But they still dont get close to that number.





 

The above is true if you don't drink enough water.  Keep you water intake up to stuff - i.e. clear pee. and you'll have no problems.

I've lived on them for weeks, months at a time, more then I care to remember while in the Corps.  They get boring, but when your hungry you'll eat the ass-end of a dead rhino.  God lets hope that don't make that a new flavor.

Do they still have the beef ravioli?  Those things were great cold.  That, ham slice and a few others were all I'd eat when we'd CERE.

MREs aren't intended as a long term food source.  They keep you fed until hot chow is available.  That being said, I did live on about two a day during Desert Storm and I had no intenstinal/digestive problems.  But then again, I was 20 years old.

To answer the question, I wouldn't recommend more than a couple weeks at a time. I mean, if you don't have a choice.. then you don't have a choice. But if you can avoid it, I'd avoid anything over two weeks. They're just so high in sodium, fat, and calories.. just not good for you. Definitely tho, make sure you drink a ton of water. You'll definitely need it if your trying to survive just on these things alone.

MREs would be just fine if they provided a packet of metamucil powder. Fiber is really the only thing missing.

mre are designed as expeditionary food and not meant to be eaten as a lone source of sustenance for more than 30 days. they are intentionally formulated to decrease bowel movements as it is very inconvenient to have to shit while you are busy killing. The tray rats are designed to be used up to 90 days I believe. I was a logistics officer in The USMC and food service was a class we had to take, but I never personally ran in to a situation where I needed to worry about it because the supply of reqular food and field kitchens was pretty well accounted for. I know that during the march up some of the grunt units had some signifigant intestinal issues with some of their guys eating mre's for 50 days or more with less than adequate hydration. Turds like bricks supposedly. I believe it considering Ive gone to the field before and didnt shit for 7 days.

Does anyone actually have a link to some credible info from a credible source that actually supports the "no-shitting by design" theory of MREs? I'm old enough to have been enjoying C-rats back in the '70s, and I don't recall there ever being a problem with the bowels because of them. Its seems like as soon as the '80s rolled around, and the MRE came about, it seemed like TPTB decided that they didnt want the GI to be crapping in the battlefield? All I know is that I could easily build a log cabin with all of the hammer handles my sphincter has endured from eating MREs.

They do inhibit bowel activity somewhat, but I think the 7-day claim is pushing it - something else must have been going on... I think at my worst stoppage I've gone maybe 2-1/2 days or so. They don't want you to have to shit in the middle of a mission, but they don't want you to have a fucking rock the size of Gibralter sitting in your colon, either. I've never actually had a problem dropping a duece when I needed to eating them for extended periods, but I've also rarely had to while in the middle of something that just can't be interrupted.

Assuming you stay well hydrated you can live off of them for quite a long while - far more than 30 days. That is given for an active lifestyle, though... Eat them while sitting on the couch all day and that will be one hell of an unhealthy diet. They are nutritionally adequate, even more balanced than most of the crap that most people eat if the entire meal is eaten, though they are very high on the carb side (for obvious reasons - high energy requirements), as well as calories (roughly 1200 calories, same reason). If you really enjoy them and don't get bored with them (or sick of eating the same menus over and over), and provided you stay hydrated, then I see no reason why you couldn't eat them pretty much indefinitely. Although you might want to find a way to add some greens to the diet...

Personally I love MREs - not all of them, but a decent chunk of the menus I can eat for a long time and not get tired of it. But I am not basing my long term food plans off of them for one main reason: they are relatively expensive.

uh,,no on all accounts

You stop defecating becuase you are usually dehydrated as well as the extra sodium, if you get enough water you will do fine.

no they don't have that many calories, while some entrees are high in fat others are not.

I know your new, but at least post reliable "facts"

I just spent 16 days on San Clemente Island, eating an MRE (sometimes 2) per day with a meal from the galley every other day. If you keep your hydration level high, bowel movements will stay close to normal.

I think the 'no bowel movement' thing is similar to the rumor we heard about 'C-rats' containing saltpeter to induce impotence.

I am trying to imagine being in the middle of a firefight and also being constipated.... seems like a lose-lose.

"Quick private, run over and toss a grenade in that house"
"Uhhh, gee sarge, I can't....  I'm uhhh, you know.... all backed up".

Thanks to all to for your replies, I learned some things