Posted on 12/31/2015 4:08:46 PM PST by BenLurkin
The U.S. Army Institute of Environmental Medicine is looking for volunteers (PDF) to eat military food rations for 21 consecutive days for a study of the impact of Meals, Ready-to-Eat, or MREs, on gut health. Researchers want to learn how MREs influence the millions of bacteria in troops' digestive systems.
"Interactions between the millions of bacteria living in our gut and what we eat is a very important factor in gut health, but we don't know how MRE foods interact with those bacteria to impact gut health," Holly McClung, a research dietitian working on the project, said on the Army's website. "Ultimately, discovering how eating MREs influences gut bacteria and gut health will help our efforts to continually improve the MRE."
Much like on the battlefield, one of the main obstacles in the study is finding people to commit to a steady diet of ready-to-eat meals. MREs are generally regarded as tasteless, if not bad, which is perhaps understandable considering the wide battery of requirements they must meet to guarantee shelf life and meet strict nutritional benchmarks.
MREs must be capable of withstanding parachute drops from 1,250 feet, and the packaging is required to maintain a minimum shelf life of 3.5 years at 80 degrees Fahrenheit or nine months at 100 degrees.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Been there, done that, don’t want to do it again. At least not without adding fiber tablets to the MREs and some probiotics might not be a bad idea.
When I was a kid in the 50s (USMC dad) my brother and I thought the K rations we got our hands on were uber cool and yummy.
“must be capable of withstanding parachute drops from 1,250 feet”
“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” Funniest show ever. I laughed for days.
I thought MRE’s were specifically designed to cause constipation in order to reduce the number of times a soldier has to respond to a call of nature.
Never had one. I’m from the C-Rations era.
If they’re so worried about gut bacteria why don’t they pack probiotics with the meals?
CC
Uh, there’s already hundreds of thousands in the service that have to do what they tell them. Why don’t they just tell some of them to do it?
I’d volunteer, if I didn’t have to eat the whole thing! Those meals are LOADED with calories; though the one time I tried them they weren’t that bad tasting.
-JT
Perfect opportunity for a starving grad student
I last dined on MRE's courtesy of an Airborne buddy's PX privileges, back in the 80's. I thought they were pretty tasty. Have they gotten worse since then?
They need to feed a control group C Rations.
Suggestion - cut a deal with Sheriff Joe letting him pick some volunteers from his jail who have been well behaved and would like a treat for a few weeks.
I think that is what they are trying to find out.
Tell us, did they have a tendency to bind one up so to speak?
That could and should be corrected with supplement tablets added directly with the meal. Just an added package.
“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.†Funniest show ever. I laughed for days.
Dude it is still funny as Hell!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3mgmEdfwg
I ate MRE’s for twelve days while my Seabee unit was deployed to 29 Palms for desert warfare training. We were out in the boonies with no hot food for two weeks. Never really finished one off in one sitting, too much food. I lost about 20 lbs while out there, mainly to dehydration by the environment and getting a couple layers of skin sandblasted off.
It’s not just a job, is $89.50 a month.
They haven’t figured out wording for a reg that would exempt REMFs?
Enlisted would probably volunteer their family members- if it wouldn’t count against their food stamp allowance.
Eat some dirt. Problem solved. Most meals in the field have plenty of dirt and mud mixed in anyway.
I bought some surplus a few years ago - the spaghetti and chili macaroni were pretty good.
Ham & Lima Beans.....Pork Slices in Juices
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