5 replies to this topic

[Riceater]

I knew nothing about fasting or CR until I started seeing Survivor a couple months ago, a search on this forum turned up nothing so I thought I'd start a topic asking what you guys thought about it. In most seasons all they have to eat is a serving of rice a day, water, and MAYBE some fish, one of the medics of the show was asked about this and said at most they consume 900 calories a day and that it's dangerous for people at home to try it.

Does anyone else here watch Survivor? Even Courtney from China lost weight lol she was 97 pounds when she started and at the end weighed 89.

Edited by Riceater, 01 August 2010 - 03:38 AM.

[Trevor]

There is a wealth of info on CR on these forums. 900 calories of rice won't cut it, though. The problem is that a good idea gets warped in people's minds by the media. The short answer is that CR is wonderful if you are 100% dedicated to it. If not, don't even think about it. Personally, I don't have the discipline.

[pmcglothin]

There is a wealth of info on CR on these forums. 900 calories of rice won't cut it, though. The problem is that a good idea gets warped in people's minds by the media. The short answer is that CR is wonderful if you are 100% dedicated to it. If not, don't even think about it. Personally, I don't have the discipline.

Excellent response, Trevor. One more point: rice is a high glycemic food -- likely to send glucose and insulin soaring, even if calories are limited. That is not CR, it is just a misguided low-calorie diet.

Paul

[ReiMomo]

Is there really 900 calories in a serving of rice !?!!!

[Mari]

Cron: Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition. You need to be getting at least most of the required nutrients. Rice is ok in small amounts, but ideally should not comprise a significant part of ones diet, especially if they're doing CR.

[scottknl]

I knew nothing about fasting or CR until I started seeing Survivor a couple months ago, a search on this forum turned up nothing so I thought I'd start a topic asking what you guys thought about it. In most seasons all they have to eat is a serving of rice a day, water, and MAYBE some fish, one of the medics of the show was asked about this and said at most they consume 900 calories a day and that it's dangerous for people at home to try it.

Does anyone else here watch Survivor? Even Courtney from China lost weight lol she was 97 pounds when she started and at the end weighed 89.

This is the best I could do with Cron-o-Meter with things available on a desert island:

Rice, brown, long-grain, cooked 300 g, 333.0 calories
Nuts, coconut meat, raw 50 g, 177.0 calories
Nuts, coconut milk, raw (liquid expressed from grated meat and water) 100 g, 230.0 calories
Crustaceans, crayfish, mixed species, wild, cooked, moist heat 50 g, 41.0 calories
Fish, cod, Pacific, cooked, dry heat 200 g, 210.0 calories
Spinach, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt 200 g, 46.0 calories
Kale, raw 150 g, 75.0 calories
Cassava, raw 60 g, 96.0 calories
Salt, table 2.2 g, 0.0 calories
Bananas, raw 2 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long), 210.0 calories
Mushrooms, shiitake, cooked, with salt 80 g, 44.8 calories
Vitamin D from sun per hour 1 hour, 0.0 calories

This is 1462 calories and is still deficient in Vitamin E(37%), Zinc(80%) and Calcium(50%). The fat balance is very heavy on saturated fats(37.4 g) and light on n-3(1.2 g), n-6(1.8 g) fatty acids. Allowing spinach and kale on a desert island is a big stretch too. On 900 calories, you'd be seriously deficient. One could argue about the choice of fish... but really with only rice and fish only you're heading for malnutrition. It'd probably take a survivor most of the day to catch the crayfish and find the mushrooms.

My wife is from China, just like Courtney. She's 88 lbs right now and very short (5' 0") doing a CR diet and very healthy. Thanks to chairman Mao, she's very familiar with forced dietary restriction.

Edited by scottknl, 10 April 2011 - 06:03 PM.