When figuring out how many weeks or months worth of food you have stored, you need to make sure you include “calories per person” in you calculations. Different members of your family have different calorie needs. Although the traditional recommendation from the FDA is the 2000 calorie diet, it is likely that it does not fit the needs of any of your family members precisely. Younger children will need fewer calories and people who do physical work will need more. Overweight people can handle a reduced calorie intake to lose weight and a slightly higher one to maintain their health weight.
You don’t have to have the full amount of calories you need every day. People can survive weeks without food. However, you do need to know your limits and your family members’ limits. Going without sufficient food for too long will cause dizziness, headaches, stomach aches and, ultimately, malnutrition. A starved organism eventually begins to break apart the fat tissue to fuel itself. When all of that is gone, it will move on to the rest of the tissue types. A starved human body has to be slowly returned to the normal amount of food. Try to not dip below 1200 calories per family member to avoid crashing and debilitating effects of malnutrition.
To figure out how many calories your family needs daily (and subsequently to figure out how much food to store), you can use 2 methods. You can either estimate the calories at, say, 1500 calories across the board per family member and multiply that by the number of family members or you can calculate the needed calories scientifically by using what is called the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation. The equation calculates the basal metabolic rate, which means that it is assumed that the person stays at rest the entire day. Keep in mind that these rates are just the basis and add calories for each family member based on the amount of energy they exert. The equations for men and women are below. Keep in mind that you need to express weight in kilograms, height in centimeters an age in years to arrive at the correct answer.
For men: (9.99 x weight) + (6.25 x height) – (4.92 x age) + 5
For women: (9.99 x weight) + (6.25 x height) – (4.92 x age) – 161
To convert inches to centimeters, go here: http://www.convertunits.com/from/inches/to/cm
To convert pounds to kilograms, go here: http://www.convertunits.com/from/pounds/to/kg
When figuring out how much food to stock, keep in mind that when it comes to nutrition, it is not just the number of calories that counts, but where the calories are coming from. For example, you don’t want to stock only noodles and oil, despite the fact that they come with a high number of calories. Good nutrition involves a balance of protein, and complex carbs, with a little bit of simple carbs (or simple sugars). You also want to make sure that you provide your family with a diet that offers at least the minimal necessary amount of fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Try using both estimation and calculation to figure out how many calories your family needs daily. How many calories worth of provisions will you need in your first year?
To your survival,
Richard Marshall
P.S. Consider planting a vertical garden to grow food for your whole family and you’ll enjoy an unlimited supply of nutritional meals during a crisis.
