The latest Survivor series is, once again, enthralling – not only because of the conniving, backstabbing and pure mendacity of the contestants, but also because of the amazing insight this show gives into humanity's relationship with food.
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Low-energy intakes
All the Survivor series have been characterised by monotonous diets and a general lack of food.
But in some of the series the contestants become more emaciated than in others.
The reason for this is that the basic foods that are readily available on the islands, namely coconut and fresh marine animals (crabs, sharks, fish and giant clams) are actually quite energy dense, so the survivors are at least getting a reasonable amount of energy, some fat and plenty of protein from their food.
For example, 100 g of raw coconut meat contains 1480 kJ, 3,3 g of plant protein, 33,5g of fat (unfortunately 88% of this fat is saturated), 6,2 g of carbohydrates and 9 g of dietary fibre (which should cater for regularity).
The crabs, fish, sharks and clams are high in protein (7 to 23 g/100 g) and low in fat (1,3 to 2,5 g/100 g), but contain no carbohydrate, so that the Survivors Palau participants are basically being starved of carbs. One could say that they are practically on a primitive sort of Atkins Diet!
This carbohydrate deprivation and what it does to human resolve was illustrated by last week's immunity challenge (see below).
Dietary monotony
Dietary monotony also plays an important role. Recently, I had a reader proudly confiding that she had eaten 'nothing but popcorn, popcorn and more popcorn' for weeks on end and that she had lost large amounts of weight.
It is a well-known fact that if you choose to eat only one or two types of food all the time (not Big Macs – they represent a whole variety of food), you will lose weight. But this is a very unbalanced way of eating and will rapidly lead to deficiencies.
In some of the series, participants may be in for developing vitamin C deficiencies. Coconut contains only 3 mg of vitamin C per 100 g and seafood contains no vitamin C at all. Slow wound healing usuallysome of their wounds and scratches don't seem to be healing as well as they should.
In my opinion, the Survivors should be sending out foraging parties to look for plants and fruits that are edible. The best way to determine if a wild fruit or plant is edible is to observe what the local wildlife eats.
In Africa, it is a well-known fact that if you watch what vervet monkeys consume, you will be quite safe if you eat the same fruits and plants.
Elsewhere, I would keep an eye on birds and those rats that scurry around the camp all the time, to lead me to edible plants which would ward off scurvy.
Deficiencies of a variety of vitamins and minerals will of course cause lethargy, lack of energy and eventually also affect mood and purpose. So watch out for further deterioration in performance as the monotonous diet takes its toll.
One man's meat...
The food challenges usually illustrate very clearly the fact that what some people see as delicacies, are found positively revolting by others.
I take my hat off to all the participants, because there is nothing more horrifying than to eat food that you find repulsive. No doubt the local inhabitants enjoy these delicacies with relish, but for western people who have not grown up eating dead baby ducklings, this must have been an awful experience.
The food challenges in the various Survivor series illustrate how important familiar food items are in our lives. We all know how travellers in foreign countries will rush off to the nearest Macdonald's or Pizza Hut after a few weeks of eating local treats. There is comfort and a feeling of "coming home" when you are able to eat familiar foods.
Carbohydrate starvation
Survivors are usually badly in need of carbohydrates which they need in order to do many of the challenges.
But the temptation of the treats that sometimes are unveiled by a Machiavellian Jeff to break their resolve, prove too much for all many of the the contestants.
Among them are usually the following irresistable snacks:
Doughnuts and milk (a combination of carbohydrate and fat, with both items representing well-loved, familiar foods – even childhood foods closely associated with comfort).
15 chocolate-chip cookies and milk (once again, carbohydrates and fat, plus the lure of familiar, childhood foods).
Pizza (carbohydrate and fat and as American and familiar as can be).
Imagine a scale with a huge amount of money on one side and a pizza on the other. Which would you choose, keeping in mind that you would have been eating a monotonous, carbohydrate and-fat deprived diet for three weeks?
This just goes to show how powerful our needs for carbohydrates, fat and familiar foods are. It also shows that people on the Atkins Diet, who restrict their carbohydrate intake, are doomed to eventually give up this artificial way of eating.
At some stage or the other, a diet of protein and fat will literally drive the user crazy and he or she will succumb to the lure of carbohydrates. And most dieters don't even have the promise of a million dollars to keep their resolve alive! (Dr Ingrid van Heerden, DietDoc)
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