Thread: Just one food?

Is there a single food that the human can live (and thrive healthily) on? Would it differ by sex? Age? Race?

We buy a single bag/can of food for our pets, why isn't there a single food that would feed a human?

I am sure that there is someone else who has wondered this too so I am asking here.

Most animals we keep as pets have a fairly restricted diet- though the commercial food we give them is often a mix of many ingredients. The easy feeding is probably part of the reason why we still keep those species domestically. Cats are entirely carnivorous, dogs mostly so, birds like parakeets eat primarily seeds. By contrast, humans are omnivorous and require a wide range of foods. You could probably create some sort of human feed that incorporates all of the desired nutrients- would be analogous to dry dog food. Some sort of dried meat/veg mix fortified with multivitamins.

Thing is, any human used to a varied diet would quickly become bored with the feed. It might have a negative psychological or emotional impact on them.

SOILENT GREEN!

Originally Posted by Darius

SOILENT GREEN!

is people!

Well, I am not eating people. I am not sure that there would be psychological damage if you were eating something that was keeping you healthy. If anything it would help devalue the problem that most people have with food in general, eating too much of it.

Originally Posted by i_feel_tiredsleepy

Originally Posted by Darius

SOILENT GREEN!

is people!

brewers yeast: complete protein, b vitamins, electrolytes and iron

maybe pumpkins if you include the seeds: though don't eat too much in one sitting or you'll be bleeding out the o-ring.

some people live off of rice

I read about poor samurai clans who ate only rice, granted they didn't live long lives and I'm convinced they were mostly insane

some people live off of rice

I think that there are some problems with people living of rice, such as a lack of vit A.

Even if there was one food, would it be too rich in one thing, possibly causing problems of its own?

there is no such food.

It would be possible to blend such a food, which is what we do with pet foods. A mixture of animal protein, various fruits, veges, nuts, grains could be designed to cover all dietary needs. Put it all in a blender, press the result, and bake as biscuits.

Voila! The perfect food. Sadly, you would get very sick of it very quickly......

so far my perfect food is a mixture i made for ultralight backpacking

brewers yeast
olive oil
ground sea salt
ground celery seed
tomato powder
sweet pepper powder

this is plenty of everything you need in powder form, it tastes cheesy sweet... almost like you expect shit to taste if it was sweet

the only thing it lacks is b12

And iodine. And selenium. Etc.

There are a total of 50 vitamins and minerals so far identified as essential to good health. Add 20 amino acids in proteins (all 20 are found only in animal proteins) plus various anti-oxidants, and essential fatty acids, dietary fibre, starch etc.

You will need a lot more than 6 foods blended together to get everything. It can be done, but it would not be easy.

Much more interesting to eat a wide range of foods anyway.

I'm pretty sure there is some selenium in this at least, I will double check.

You get Iodine from milk and salt right? so maybe instead of sea salt, regular iodized salt. It has less variety in electrolytes, but between everything, there are already plenty

anyway, I don't intend to go backpacking my whole life, you can only carry so much at a time especially when trying to keep it under 30 lbs, thats about a weeks worth of food if your used to doing a lot with very little, which I am. I know it's not the most harmonious with a long life, but I have no reason to live long... id rather live now

yes, brewers yeast is a pretty good source of selenium
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/b...roducts/5130/2

please feel free to point out any other commonly missed nutrients, I would like to better this list as much as I can... i think i can get rid of celery seed even

so far a list of 5 things seems to be plenty for me... lets start a different thread shall we?