Hungry?

Trying to keep my head considering different ideas, fields and stuff and my recently renewed interest in studying the events of the Second World War, I found this interesting book, "The Great Starvation Experiment" by Todd Tucker. I have been working some all-nighters all week and it has made me feel extra hungry all the time. I think it has been compounded by having just finished the book.

The book is an overview of the notable experiment carried out during WWII by Dr. Ancel Keys. During the war, numerous conscientious objectors were given opportunities to serve in non-combatant roles. Some were made medics and that sort of thing. Others, that were opposed to any sort of martial support at all, were given the opportunity to work in work camps.

Of these, some thirty-six men volunteered and were selected to participate in a starvation experiment. The idea was that they would live on a severely restricted diet so Dr. Keys and his crew could study the effects of starvation and hopefully assist in combating starvation in the post-war world.

It sounds like they had a miserable time of it. Some of the guys started to question their sanity, have dreams of cannibalism and one even chopped his fingers off with an axe as a means of escaping. A few of them cheated and were shamefully released from the program. Most, however, hung on and made it through the experiment to the rehabilitation phase.

By the way, the good Dr. discovered that, while nutrients, etc. are important in a diet, the only way to rehabilitate someone who is starving is to provide them with enough food so that they are no longer starving.

And, in an interesting side note, the majority of these men lived their lives at approximately the same non-overweight weight or a slightly lower weight than before they entered the program.

Whether or not the program helped in the fight against starvation was, to me, unclear. However, this study is still the definitive go-to study for anyone that is studying starvation.

Now I am going to get something to eat.