Civilian MRE's

bubbykong · Post by **bubbykong** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:14 pm

Had a few quick questions regarding MRE's. I was just seeing how healthy MRE's are and if they are safe to consume on a day to day basis. I have recently been reading on MRE's as a quick food and seems like something I might consider purchasing. I myself workout often and am pretty much looking to order a large supply of MRE's and do a bulking workout plan with them for 3 months. Most have a decent amount of calories with good protein intake. Eating them 3 times a day on top of more food would give off good results and gains if followed correctly. I was wondering on some good tasting MRE's companies. Recently I have been looking at Readymeal.com. I haven't had an MRE since I was young so not sure on the taste of these. Based off the pictures it looks pretty gourmet. I was wondering what other people think about this company and if they would be able to consume them for 3 months continously or if there is a pretty good MRE company out there. I'm 23 living the bachelor life and this would make cooking a lot easier with good nutritional values and ordering bulk would save me money in the long run.

rationtin440 · Post by **rationtin440** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:02 pm

First of all bubbykong, welcome to forums! I served in the national guard, reserves, and active duty for a bit over 15 years, and ate many MCIs, RCWs, and MREs, and this is what I found out after years of research: first of all, rations are highly concentrated and are normally used for a period of time not to exceed 21 days, due to possible digestive/intestinal/colon issues from excessive consumption. Secondly, they are highly nutritious, but you need to drink a whole lot of water when eating them, due to the large amount of sodium in them and their bulky nature in general. As for the taste, the MCIs were ok but are no longer issued and would likely be unsafe to consume; the RCWs and MREs have (had in the case of RCWs) more variety and lack the congealed grease and metallic taste of the canned MCIs. Many folks with more nutrition training than I would tell you to supplement the MREs with fresh fruits and veggies to keep a balanced diet. These are my thoughts, and there are many folks here who I'm sure would be willing to offer their advice and thoughts as well. Not sure how well your system would be able to handle MREs at 3 times per day since they were designed for soldiers in extremely high stress environments who would be doing even more physical activity than working out. All I'm saying is there are risks to eating these rations 3 times per day involving bowel, intestinal, and regularity issues so please be careful. Anyone else have thoughts?

biscuits brown · Post by **biscuits brown** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:12 pm

Welcome bubbykong

RT has hit all the major issues there. I would suggest you discuss it with your physician first.

There was once a Canadian guy, did a diary blog with him eating just I.M.P.s (individual meal packs, Canadian equivalents of MRE) for a month or more. I dont have the link now but I bet its on the web still somewhere. It was fascinating, even down to mood swings. The guy did have a physical before he started, and every week IIRC, so even a month is quite an undertaking from a physiological point of view.

I will try and hunt it up and post it.

rationtin440 · Post by **rationtin440** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:31 pm

Yes biscuits, I can imagine him having mood swings----severe irregularity would certainly do that to me, lol!

That being said, thanks for compliment, and you may have a different opinion on this, but from everything I've read, I think that British rations are more nutritious, better tasting, and just better for the body than MREs (and biscuits must be at this point thinking, "riiiiight, he obviously has not tried them yet, especially the cheese, possessed!"), lol!

cavguy · Post by **cavguy** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:10 pm

rationtin440 Hit the nail on the head! I would not advise eating MRE's for long periods or using them as your primary food source (unless absolutely necessary). They have preservatives and additives that are not particularly beneficial to a healthy workout plan or diet. Some also have trans fat and high amounts of sodium. You should stick with lots of organic fruits, vegetables, beans and tons of white meat and lots of water!

rationtin440 · Post by **rationtin440** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:29 pm

Thanks cavguy, excellent advice from you and biscuits. I recall an incident while on weekend training where 2 soldiers drank a ****-load of coca-cola over the two days we were out in the woods, while consuming MREs because they did not want to have to dig catholes in the woods. One of them suffered a bowel impaction and the other one collapsed from dehydration. Of course my company 1st sergeant chewed me out because I was the medic and I should not have allowed these 2 to drink anything but water. After explaining to him my error in assuming that they were old enough and mature enough to use common sense, I had to take a bag and collect all soda and other "junk" from the people in the platoon I was covering! moral: you can lead soldiers to water but you cannot make them drink!

LogDayFreshHots · Post by **LogDayFreshHots** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:30 pm

Welcome aboard bubbykong -

I wouldn't recommend this due to the sodium content of the individual meals. Ive seen meals hitting upwards of 1500mg's of sodium and thats not the entire MRE. I know I did a review here of a Chicken with Salsa MRE and the main course was over 1000mg by itself. I forget what the entire meal came too when I added the sodium for each component together but I know it was extremely high. If you take just the main entre and average 1000mg's of sodium x three entrees a day I don't think your system is going to appreciate the sudden influx of 3000mg's of sodium. Thats just the main entrees! Add in the sodium content of the other components and you could be in for some real trouble! You may feel alright at first but once you start hitting the squats you're probably gonna feel it in the chest. If you're into hindu squats/ push-ups it won't be long before you're hitting Malox or Pepto!

Also, take the cost into account. We were all 23 once and I'm sure a lot of us were backelors. I was. Let's say a "safe" average price per MRE is $5 x three of those per day, thats $15. Average that out over a 90 day period and you'll be shelling out $1350 just for the meals. Throw in the shipping/ handling and the price per meal goes up. Now add in your 'supplemental' meals and the cost goes up further.

What you could do instead is check into memberships at bulk food places like BJ's, Costco, Sam's Club, etc. Also look at local discount places like Walmart, Dollar General, Aldi's, and even K-Mart. These places usually stock quite a bit of canned meats and increasingly they are stocking retort pouch meats just as you would find in MRE's. With a little investigating you should be able to come up with a system of knowing when each store is likely to have these on sale at '2 for $1', '3 for $4', or even '$1 each'. The only shipping/ handling you pay at those places is the fuel you burn driving back and forth.

I usually hit BJ's for their 3-packs of DAKs hams, Sams' Club for their 5-packs of chicken chunks in water, and other places. As for ease of cooking it doesn't get much easier than slitting open a retort pouch of tuna or diced chicken, squirting in some mayo or mustard and chowing down. As for the canned stuff if I don't feel like being civilized about it I just remove the label, open the tin, drop it on the burner! You can assemble your own "MRE" from readily available foods you can buy in bulk and with a lot less sodium!

Keep in mind food researchers do lots of extensive testing with soldiers at the peak of physical fitness, including blood/ chemistry work-ups, etc. While this testing will never sufficiently replicate the actual combat conditions a soldier will live under while eating MRE's it at least provides a base line from which to try and work from. When they say 21 days should be the maximum length of time a soldier subsists on MRE's, its definitely for a reason! Remember, not just intestinal/ digestive issues but the potential for mood swings.

Lastly, as for 'bulking' let me tell you there is no better place than here for comments on MRE's and bulking up. Many here have spent a portion of their lives surviving on MRE's at one time or another and many will tell you 'bulking' isn't a problem. Unfortunately, while you may start bulking, chances are that won't be muscle baby! If the consumption of MRE's for any extended length of time resulted in beneficial muscle gains most of us at one time in our lives would have looked like Hercules!

Look for off-the-shelf supplies. You'll be healthier for one thing, so your body will thank you. Take in large amounts of good, lean proteins and fresh veggies low on the glycemic index and you'll get the gains you seek. You also won't go into debt.

Hope this helps in some way. Look forward to hearing how you make out!

Treesuit · Post by **Treesuit** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:48 pm

LDFH,

I would agree and so would many here that when you say that you should not go over 21 days subsisting on MRE's alone. I was one of those people back in Desert Shield/Storm that had to endure the 30+ days of MRE's. And we had only the 12 menu versions back then, to a case. That was very hard and the menu boredom set in very quickly.

As for supplementing retort foods. That is a excellent way in my mind. I have a "Dollar Tree" store near my house and they have interesting retort pouches for only a $1 there from time to time. Going the economical way is best in this day and age.