Development and biomedical testing of military operational rations

This article gives a brief history of military nutrition research in this century and reviews recent advances made through field testing. Although modern rations are nutritionally complete, ration developers are challenged to improve palatability to promote increased intakes in held training and combat settings. The principal goal for military nutritionists is to identify the optimal macronutrient mix and specific ration components that sustain a soldier's performance in the face of operational stressors such as sleep deprivation, intense physical activity, climatic extremes, and hypobaric hypoxia. Energy expenditures during typical field-training exercises average approximately 4000 kcal/day, whereas energy intakes are usually 3000 kcal/day or less when operational rations are consumed. One way to ameliorate the effects of this shortfall is to provide soldiers with a carbohydrate beverage supplement.