Nutrition For Mortals The Minnesota Starvation Experiment
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May 3, 2023 A vivid retelling of the Minnesota Starvation Experiment and the extreme methods used to study semi-starvation. Packed scenes of physical decline, psychological food obsession, and the slow, surprising path to recovery. A clear link is drawn between wartime research and modern dieting myths and harms.
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Conscientious Objector Joins The Starvation Study
- Jim Graham volunteered as a conscientious objector and became one of 36 men chosen for the Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment.
- He reported arriving in November 1944, living at the University of Minnesota for a year, and undergoing intensive testing and confinement.
Study Diet Was 1,570 Calories Of Plain Staples
- The starvation phase cut participants to about 1,570 calories daily with mainly wheat, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and minimal meat or dairy.
- The research targeted a 25% bodyweight loss over six months and adjusted individual rations to hit that goal.
High Activity Requirements Despite Deepening Fatigue
- Jim described early energy followed by exhaustion, mandatory activity requirements, and creeping apathy as semi-starvation progressed.
- He had to walk 22 miles weekly, work 15 hours at the lab, teach folk dancing, yet soon felt like an old man and lost interest in laughter.