Calories, Survival Rations, Coconut Fat

FYI:

http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showthread.php?t=295872

Calories, Survival Rations, Coconut Fat

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I was just writing some posts to another chat board
about survival eating and food storage. I wrote some
things that I think some of you may find interesting.

The context was that I was arguing for the idea that
calories are an important consideration when it comes
to survival food. We are not accustomed to thinking of
calories as good guys, since in our "normal" world they
generally are not. We get too many calories, and there
are not enough demands on us to burn them up (not
enough exercise). Hence we tend to get fat. But in a
survival situation, that is reversed. Obtaining ENOUGH
calories, or energy, is critical, and cannot be assumed.
Starvation is principally a matter of lack of calories,
not protein or micronutrients. Not to say that protein
and micronutrients are unimportant, but only to say
that first things come first. CALORIES come first.
And the richest source of calories is fat.

So, with that as context, here goes:

....................

A basic survival ration suitably rich in protein
and micronutrients, AND rich enough in calories to
support a lot of vigorous activity (e.g. fighting
off competing Road Warriors, running away from
fascist gubmint agents, etc.), AND quite cheap
even for us people of modest means, might consist
of something like this:

-- 1 lb green peas (1600 calories)
-- 4 oz bacon or beef fat (1000 calories)
-- 8 oz rice (800 calories)

.... about 3400 calories, very filling and sustaining,
and obtainable now for under $1.50. Maybe even
$1.25.

Yet another idea, as an alternative to bacon or
beef fat: Coconut milk! Most brands of canned
coconut milk are almost pure fat. If you shop
at Asian food stores (common, these days), you'll
find many brands, some of them as cheap as $1 per
can. You have to read labels to get the highest-fat
kinds (a few of them are more coco-milk than fat,
with lower fat content). The high-fat kinds are
about 800+ calories per can -- a good deal for
$1 or a little more.

Coconut fat is unique. It is a saturated fat,
but it is different from meat or dairy fat. The
fatty acid chain lengths are much shorter, making
for saturated fat that burns more readily than
meat fat. This sat fat (from coconut) does not
raise blood cholesterol or get deposited on the
body as fat; instead, it gets burned by the liver.

These qualities are both good and not-so-good.
They are good in the health terms which we are
most familiar with, living in a society that (as
of now) is drenched with excess fat and calories.
In a survival situation you would actually WANT
fat to get burned more slowly, and for it to tend
to accumulate on the body -- for obvious reasons.
In a survival situation, obtaining and storing
enough energy is a critical thing, and you want
the foods that are best at that (which are the
foods that are *worst* from the standpoint of
weight control and health in a calorie-replete
environment). So, actually, meat or bacon fat
would be somewhat better than coconut fat for
survival purposes.

HOWEVER, I still suggest coconut fat for two
reasons:

1) It is very inexpensive, easy to obtain in
quantity, and is neatly pre-packaged in cans.
Canned coconut fat should last (since sat fats
are very stable) for many years, even decades --
hence it is a good choice for long term food
storage. Plus, being pre-canned, it is very
convenient. You don't have to do the canning
yourself. (There is such thing as canned bacon,
but it is expensive; and there is no pure
canned bacon or meat fat available, as far as
I know.)

2) This is a something you would actually want
to eat, in moderation, under "normal"
circumstances. Coconut fat has, as I said, some
very desirable characteristics. It is metabolized
much differently than other sat fats, and this
is desirable in our current (calorie-loaded)
"normal" situation. It also reportedly has
numerous health benefits, including help for
hypothyroidism, and much else. You can look these
up on google. They are overstated, I am sure,
but probably do exist to some extent, due to
the unique metabolic character that I mentioned.
Whereas, meat fat has no such special metabolic
attributes. Meat fat is a pure, heavy, slow-
burning, stick-to-your-ribs, put-fat-on-your-body
food that might be great in a survival situation,
but under "normal" circumstances (too many
calories that are too easy to obtain, plus not
enough exercise) is not something that you need.
Hence, how much of it do you really want to
store-away? It is always a good idea to rotate
stored food, and of course to "store what you
eat, and eat what you store". If you are like
me, you do not think it very wise to eat much
*extra* meat fat.

And -- oh-by-the-way -- coconut fat is delicious!
Coconut fat is smooth and creamy and luscious.
You can add it to anything (any cooked food)
and it will make the food tastier. Like butter.

For those who want more info, google for
coconut fat and medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs).
MCTs are those shorter-chain fatty acids I was
talking about. Coconut oil is composed mostly
of MCTs. MCTs are a unique kind of fat that is
not stored as bodyfat, but is converted readily
to ketones in the liver. Ketones are fatty acid
derivatives that are quite brain-friendly (the
brain likes them), and that have other advantages
such as helping to stabilize blood sugar.

PS: I am not saying that coconut fat is BAD
for survival purposes. I am saying that, when
and if you actually are in a survival situation,
where securing and storing maximal ENERGY
(including energy stored on your body, in the
form of fat) is the name of the game, you would
be somewhat better off with slow-burning,
easy-storing meat fat, all else being equal.
But in such a situation, coconut fat would be
far far better than nothing: it is a great
calorie source, and it will help spare and
extend all other food/calorie supplies. And
it has the other benefits I noted, like being
cheap and easy to obtain, and being pre-canned.
Plus delicious.