Last Updated on September 25, 2020 by
There are many questions that revolve around meals-ready-to-eat (MREs). One of the biggest ones centers around how healthy they are and can you survive strictly on a steady diet of MREs in an emergency situation. The simple, quick answer to that question is a big NO.
Below you will find the information that you need about using MREs as a food source during an emergency situation.
Let’s go ahead and get started!
MRE Nutritional Information
One of the first things you should do to find out if MREs are food you can survive on, is to look at the nutritional information. Each complete MRE package provides an average of 1,250 calories (13% protein, 36% fat, and 51% carbohydrates) and 1/3 of the Military Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins and minerals. A full day’s worth of meals would consist of three MREs.
The biggest downfall of the MREs is the sodium content is extremely high. There are other negatives such as the low fiber (which causes constipation – more on that later) and high fat.
The high-fat and high-salt content are not good for sedentary situations. MRE’s are designed for soldiers who expend lots of calories out on the field. Although MRE’s are used around the world in different branches of the military, as well as in refugee camps, using them for any other purposes can have serious health consequences as you’ll soon learn.
When an MRE gets eaten, whether it’s a solider in the field, a natural disaster, an unforeseen emergency situation, or camping, MRE’s are quickly split up the minute the outer packaging is opened.
The best parts are eaten or hoarded, the second-best parts traded, and the unappealing or inedible parts are simply and quickly discarded. The reason I tell you this, is because of that behavior, the MRE does not properly equate to the fully balanced nutrition (coupled with heavy physical activity) that MRE’s are designed for.
You can buy some of the best MREs online or you can go down to your local army surplus store and see if they have any.
Are MREs Healthy?
When talking about whether or not MREs are healthy or not, we have to look at some of the myths that have infamously surrounded this food item. The first one is that if you eat MREs for more than 21 days straight you can die.
Then there’s the one about turning the MRE into a weapon (LOL!) using the tabasco sauce and the heater, which is also a myth.
And then the last one you’ll hear is about how the MREs are designed to make the eater constipated to keep them from having to go while on an operation and how the gum is a laxative to use when the op is over. These are myths as well, but might make sense to some.
While I won’t say this can never happen, these ailments are not the norm apparently, and there’s even a new study to prove it. Although the soldiers have been trying to tell the army how constipation is a normal occurrence with the MREs, this new study finds a little different result.
As you learned above, MREs aren’t the most healthy thing in the world to eat, but they come in handy if it’s all you have laying around. I will say that MREs aren’t as prepper-friendly because the shelf-life is only 3-5 years compared to the 25 year shelf-life of freeze-dried survival food kits, but they can help mix up your the menu so you don’t get bored.
What Can Happen To Your Digestive System
There can be some serious problems from eating too many MREs. Our stomachs are responsible for the auto-immune functions of the body, and if you upset that balance it can really throw your body into a state of turmoil.
According to Medical News Today, “Gut health refers to the balance of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. Looking after the health of the gut and maintaining the right balance of these microorganisms is vital for physical and mental health, immunity, and more.”
Therefore, as soon as we start feeding the body highly processed, high-fat, high-sodium foods that are laden with sugar, such as the MRE, it upsets the microorganisms that live in our digestive systems.
This is why MREs should only be eaten as a supplement to other freeze-dried emergency food or natural food you can find in a survival situation.
Do MREs Cause Constipation?
The simple answer to this question is yes and no. If you want to test out an MRE just for fun and eat only one, it more than likely won’t do anything to your body. If you try and eat them on a regular basis, you might have some problems.
There’s a few reasons why MREs can make you constipated. It’s mostly due to the fact that it has a high-fat, high-caloric, high-sugar count and barely any fiber. Again, these food items are designed for active military in combat in the field, not for someone like you or I.
The ingredients are slow-digesting in order to give the soldiers enough energy to get them through the harrowing days of whatever comes their way. They are meant to be consumed in one sitting and to be digested and used for extremely high levels of physical activity.
As you can guess, the entire concept of the MRE would pose a problem for the average person because according to Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only 53.3% of people over the age of 18 meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for aerobic physical activity.
How Many Days In A Row Can I Eat MREs?
Back in 2015, the U.S. Army was recruiting for civilians to come forward voluntarily to become a test subject on the effects of MREs on gut health. Essentially they wanted to find out what would happen to someone’s gut if they ate MREs for 21 days straight. I’m sure this is where the myth that you can’t eat MREs more than 21 days came about.
The army constantly does tests on MREs and the effects of eating MREs for too long. You can read an article about what happened to a civilian who ate MREs for 21 days straight. As you can tell, it definitely isn’t the greatest experience to be eating a consistent diet of MRE.
But the great news is that there is now scientific evidence that shows MREs don’t cause as severe constipation as once believed.
The study, called “A diet of U.S. military food rations alters gut microbiota composition and does not increase intestinal permeability,” used 60 volunteers, both military and civilian who were tested through their feces, blood, and urine samples.
Fifty-percent of them ate only MREs two to three times a day while the other half ate traditional meals with a similar number of calories. They were both only allowed to drink water and black coffee. Three weeks later, here’s what they found out:
The MRE eaters reported one fewer bowel movement per week than the regular food group. The reason is that the MRE doesn’t promote the growth of stomach bacteria that fresh foods have, especially lactic acid bacterias, while promoting bacterias that actively prevent the smooth moves human beings are accustomed to.
But even though the participants ate the MREs for longer than the dreaded 20 day threshold (remember the myth that 21 days of MREs would kill you?) participants’ bowel habits went right back to normal as soon as their food went back to normal.
How To Eat MREs for more than 21 days Straight
In the end you still may be wondering what would happen if you got stuck in a situation where all you had to eat was MREs. There are a few things you can do to help protect your digestive system and stay clear of constipation.
Take vitamins and fiber supplements
Taking extra vitamins and fiber supplements is probably one of the easiest ways to help protect your gut when eating MREs. The only way this would work though is if you had planned for this and had a stash of the fiber supplements on hand during the survival period.
A good daily multi-vitamin will aid your body by filling in the nutritional gaps that might occur with a diet that is not well diversified. Most multi-vitamins have a shelf life of at least two years so it is not that difficult to keep a spare bottle or two on hand.
Water down the MRE
When I say “water it down” I don’t mean literally. If you find yourself in a survival situation you can try and go out and forage for wild edibles such as mushrooms or edible plants so that you can get more natural ingredients infused into the meal.
Try to think about any way that you can supplement the MRE with a natural food source. This will cut down the concentration of the high-fat and high-protein going into your body all at once.
Divide It Up
As I mentioned earlier, MREs are supposed to be eaten in one sitting to get the most energy into the soldiers on the field. But at the same time, a very common practice is to split each of the food items up in the MRE up because they are packaged separately.
The Final Word
The final word on the big question of whether or not you can survive on MREs is an astounding no! As you’ve learned above, there are horrible digestive issues that can happen and even death can occur.
MREs should only be used as a supplement to your survival food preparation and nothing more.