Performance nutrition for cold-weather military operations

Abstract

.High daily energy expenditure without compensatory increases in energy intake results in severe energy deficits during cold-weather military operations. The severity of energy deficits has been proportionally linked to declines in body mass, negative protein balance, suppression of androgen hormones, increases in systemic inflammation and degraded physical performance. Food availability does not appear to be the predominant factor causing energy deficits; providing additional rations or supplement snack bars does not reduce the severity of the energy deficits. Nutrition interventions that allow greater energy intake could be effective for reducing energy deficits during cold-weather military operations. One potential intervention is to increase energy density (i.e. energy per unit mass of food) by increasing dietary fat. Our laboratory recently reported that self-selected higher energy intakes and reductions in energy deficits were primarily driven by fat intake ( r = 0.891, r 2 = 0.475), which, of the three macronutrients. Further, soldiers who ate more fat lost less body mass, had lower inflammation, and maintained net protein balance compared to those who ate less fat. These data suggest that consuming high-fat energy-dense foods may be a viable nutritional intervention that mitigates the negative physiological effects of energy deficit and sustains physical performance during cold-weather military operations.

Development of technology of cooked sausages with a changed fatty acid composition for military personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine

“…Work [4] reports the study of energy supply issues for Norwegian military personnel under cold conditions. It is noted that physical exertion in cold weather leads to a serious energy deficit during military operations.…”

Human performance and medical treatment during cold weather operations – synthesis of a symposium

“…Cold-weather military operations, such as those described above, result in high daily energy expenditures. Based on results obtained from winter military exercises in Norway, Margolis and Pasiakos [ 31 ] noted that soldiers failed to achieve energy balance, resulting in severe energy deficits, which caused negative physiological effects that ultimately lead to reductions in physical performance. They concluded that higher-fat energy dense food products are a viable nutrition intervention to minimise the severity of energy deficits to sustain physical performance.…”