# Army looking for volunteers, for MRE study



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

http://www.armytimes.com/story/mili...eers-eat-only-mres-21-days-straight/78011512/


> Military wants volunteers for 3-week all-MRE diet
> 
> By Kevin Lilley, Staff writer 11:03 a.m. EST December 31, 2015
> 
> ...


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*How to apply*

http://www.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/418620.pdf



> A research study at the US Army Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, MA is being conducted to determine the effects of eating the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) military ration on gut health. To be eligible, you must:
> - Be 18-62 years old.
> - Be willing to eat and drink only MRE items for 21 consecutive days.
> - Not be trying to lose weight.
> ...


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

I remember back when the Army transitioned to MRE's from C-Rats. They were supposed to be the next great thing, and after trying a few, we started trading our MRE's for C-Rats to unsuspecting units who didn't have them yet. Some of the individual items were better, but most weren't. 

You could get pretty creative making meals out of C-Rats, not so much with the early MRE's. They're better today than the first one's, but I'd still prefer something else if I could. They do beat an empty belly though.


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## backlash (Nov 11, 2008)

In 1973 on the USS Constellation we had an emergency battle feeding drill.
Everyone got a box of C-Rats.
Never had happened before.
Turns out the C-Rats were going to expire that month so the Navy fed them to us instead of throwing them out.
They had Lucky Strike cigarettes in them.
I still have my P38.
MREs have to be better but I don't think I would want to eat them every meal for 3 weeks.


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## divemaster19631 (Dec 29, 2015)

I went on a research trip to a little island for 2 weeks back in 2005. We ate mres for the whole time. I thought that they were not that bad. Reminded me of school food back in the sixties but better. I did loose 5 lbs. But it provide enough calories for all the activites we were doing. ( 6 hours of diving on the island's reefs each day.) 

John


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

And here I thought that MREs were already weaponized. Who knew?


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I hear people say all the time that MRE's are "not that bad" or "actually pretty good". It really makes me wonder what kind of food they are eating on a regular basis, for comparison. Makes me confused and a little bit sad at the same time.

Don't get me wrong, I will eat it, but that doesn't even necessarily make it food, let alone good. 

Glad they are still trying to improve them though, and finally getting around to the idea that micro-organisms are an essential part of human beings, which we have known for ages. Sterile food certainly presents a problem, but it can be made better.


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

The cold weather ones are good. They come in a white package and have a higher calorie count.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

This is actually a 21 day study on constipation, they are just trying to make it sound better.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

Sentry18 said:


> This is actually a 21 day study on constipation, they are just trying to make it sound better.


It could go the other way and see if they can survive 21 days on a laxative.


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## Foreverautumn (Oct 25, 2010)

cnsper said:


> It could go the other way and see if they can survive 21 days on a laxative.


MREs : Meals Rejected by Ethiopians :laugh:


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## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

Unless things have changed drastically. It was always a balancing act between eating too many mre's and field rations (the crap they "cooked" in the MKT's). If you ate too many mre's you could pop a vein in your forehead trying to poop!, Too much field rations and you weren't going far from a porta john or your E-tool and tp....... Out of a box of 12 meals there were only I would say 6 that were "good". Everyone seemed to have their favorites. I always liked beef stew, spaghetti, omelet with ham, but i'm a gluten for punishment the 4 fingers of death wasn't that bad either.

This is just another research project to fix something that isn't broken. I seriously doubt anyone conducting this study has spent more than a day or two in the field and done anything more than taste test the mre's...

I still have a ton of p-38s around the farm, in the bob's and storage.


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