Malnutrition of a junk food/roadkill diet

[Nalliah]

I am wondering if anyone else has thought about the characters/survivors in TLD dying of malnutrion in reality, if they were to try to survive on a diet of junk food, road kill, and rabbit/venison. Apparently in real life the human diet requires more fat than would be available on eating rabbits and venison. https://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-starvation.html

Maybe all of the junk food offsets this and would provide enough fat in the diet.

 

Aside from that, however, there seems to be a severe lack of vitamin C-- so that scurvy would be a risk. And rickets--due to the lack of sunshine, no Vitamin D source and the never ending winter.

 

Maybe if a char survives on a fish diet, the lack of fats and perhaps Vitamin D is offset?

 

I realize that this is a game and so not all features are true to real life. But the junkfood/roadkill diet just seems very far from realistic.

 

Just interested in what others think.

[Leeanda]

As I don't go out I suffer with vitamin d deficiency  every winter. However as the game still has seasons of a sort the sun should be strong enough (so to speak) that it shouldn't be a problem. You still get vitamin d even through clouds even though its reduced somewhat.

As for the vitamin c etc I'm sure the rosehips, tinned peaches ,beans  and even the birch bark contain a certain amount  of needed nutrient's. But I have to agree that they should suffer some nutrition loss!

Edited August 2, 2021 by Leeanda

[hozz1235]

I actually see the sun quite a bit in the game - I worry more about snow blindness.

[Leeanda]

You're obviously not spending much time in PV then! 😁

Maybe we should ask for some sunglasses!

[odizzido]

Rabbit starvation happens when you don't eat the organ meat. I have always assumed we eat the organs. Scurvy can be solved with pine needles I believe. From what I remember from school at least.

[peteloud]

Innuits manage to survive on a what I assume is a very narrow range of foods.  How do they do it?

 

[stratvox]

Innu survived by eating the organ meat, the offal. It contains many of the trace nutrients humans require to survive (and which mark us as an omnivorous species and as predators). Also, wrt scurvy; rosehips are a very strong source of vitamin c. When it comes to the overall nutrition question, I've assumed that the game elides over the fact that our survivors are eating things like heart, liver, kidneys, etc from the animals they hunt.

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

6 hours ago, peteloud said:

Innuits manage to survive on a what I assume is a very narrow range of foods.  How do they do it?

 

this link may explain (see table one):

Vitamin C in the Diet of Inuit Hunters From Holman, Northwest Territories (ucalgary.ca)

so fish, deer (caribou) and even bear contain some vitamin c. In terms of our survivor's diet, rosehips are full of the stuff- rosehip tea is an old folk remedy for colds etc.

Turn of the century Antarctic explorers relied on fresh meat from their dogs (huskies, comparable with wolves in game I suppose), Amundsen especially got there and back without any scurvy this way.  Campbell's stranded Northern Party also managed to survive overwinter stuck in an ice cave with little more than the odd fresh seal carcass.

I have read somewhere that high carb diets need more vitamin c to be able process it, so someone eating very few carbs (apart from the odd box of crackers or packet of crisps) may need far less vitamin c intake to remain healthy, as they would find it easier to process.  Don't ask me whether that last bit is true though, something to do with mind boggling amino acids and enzymes. 😵

[Leeanda]

You're putting me off my bear meat!!maybe I'll eat hay instead😀

[piddy3825]

Actually, the survivor has lots of food options that would more than adequately provided the required vitamins, minerals and fat content necessary to sustain human life for the long haul.  Considering the amount of salvageable food stuffs on the island and access to fresh meat and fish, life could be sustained for an indefinite period all things considered.

Vitamin C is prevalent in Rose Hibs and the Reishi mushroom packs a walloping amount of Vitamin D as well.  Considering that the weather isn't always blizzarding the amount of sunlight available to the survivor also provides sufficient exposure to help the body to synthesize it's own Vitamin D.  The visceral fat on both the bear and the moose are also packed with nutrients providing our survivor with more than adequate amounts of both calories and vitamin D.  Not to mention omega 3 fats and acids from the multitude of fish that our survivor can catch in order to supplement their dietary requirements.

Canned  goods like peaches also provide a ton of vitamins, not just C but also vitamin E which is essential for healthy vision and also acts as an antioxidant reducing negative environmental effects.  Canned beans for example besides being high in fiber also provide Iron and Magnesium, both essential nutrients for optimal health.  Tomato soup although low in overall caloric content is high in potassium and vitamins C, K, and A. It also provides a great deal of lycopene, the compound responsible for most of the health benefits of tomatoes.  Peanut butter also provides salt and oils to further augment our survivors dietary options.  Another not so well known fact is that the inner bark of birch trees is edible, making it an important survival food.  You can actually cut the bark into strips and boil like noodles to add to soups and stews or simply eat it raw.  However, in game besides being used as a fire starter, it does make a very potent and powerful pain reliver as a tea while also providing caloric content.  Not even gonna bother with talking about what the soda pop, beef jerky and canned sardines bring to the table, besides saying there's plenty of sugar, salt and fatty oils to further bolster our survivors dietary necessities.

Yeah, so if you were just gonna try to survive on a diet of rabbit meat alone, you wouldn't last nearly so long.  

[Leeanda]

Your body needs calcium to process vitamin D , without it all the sunshine will be wasted! I'm speaking from personal experience!

[piddy3825]

@Leeanda  , Well it's a good thing then that you can find condensed milk and sardines on GBI which just happen to be decent sources of calcium!  Not to mention but most crackers also contain significant amounts of calcium and some brands are fortified as well. 

I think one of the Dev's is/was dating a nutritionist!

[Leeanda]

2 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

@Leeanda  , Well it's a good thing then that you can find condensed milk and sardines on GBI which just happen to be decent sources of calcium!  Not to mention but most crackers also contain significant amounts of calcium and some brands are fortified as well. 

I think one of the Dev's is/was dating a nutritionist!

Yes it is rather convenient isn't it! Fancy knowing exactly what we need to eat in a balanced diet! Wish I was dating a nutritionist!😀

[hozz1235]

Get calcium from bone marrow as well.

[piddy3825]

21 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

Get calcium from bone marrow as well.

“Tonight I will suck the marrow from your bones!”
 “I will dry them and work them most cunningly into instruments of music! Whenever I play upon them, your spirit will writhe in bodiless agony!”
“You burn prettily,” I said.”

― Roger Zelazny, The Guns of Avalon

[Leeanda]

So we can have a munch on all those corpses lying around then? Just for nutritional needs of course!😁

[hozz1235]

Nothing like a "bone marrow snack" when sitting around the campfire!  🍖

[desertedone]

Diet is more accurate in Green Hell where you have to make sure you have enough protein, fats, water and carbohydrates. All from different foods.

Edited October 3, 2021 by desertedone
More info

[Bimbobjoejr.]

I didn't think I'd get a health lesson when I looked at the forums today.

[piddy3825]

1 hour ago, Bimbobjoejr. said:

I didn't think I'd get a health lesson when I looked at the forums today.

                                       **** DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE WHAT YOU LEARN IN THE LONG DARK, IN REAL LIFE.  DOING
                                                                      SO COULD RESULT IN INJURY, ILLNESS or even DEATH ****

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by piddy3825
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