# Benefits of a hot meal **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 3, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891 "2008-11-03T17:36:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/41 "2008-11-04T15:55:17Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > I think this answer is the winner here. Fatty savory foods don’t serve very well at room temperature or colder. Doubtless the other factors such as the perception of internal warmth are valid factors too, though. Well, cold MRE’s are pretty lousy. Heat them up on the HMMWV engine, and they’re pretty damn good. It also seems that these days, every MRE comes with an exothermic chemical reaction heater pack, whereas in my day, they were shipped separately and sometimes we had 'em, and sometimes we didn’t. I can say my morale was considerably approved when we had hot MRE’s versus cold ones. Also my morale was vastly improved when I was assigned to the flight following unit and we were able to hook up with a battalion-sized encampment, and have hot, fresh made food with proper service. (The alternative was being with my company at the improvised air field, all on our own, eating MRE’s only for two weeks straight.) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/42 "2008-11-04T16:10:54Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > On the other hand it just seems to me that troops should be trained to expect a certain level of hardship. Fighting a war is not a nine to five job and if soldiers require hot meals or their morale suffers then they are at a clear disadvantage when their enemy can eat cold shit and keep fighting. It may explain a lot about Vietnam and other conflicts. Soldiers do expect and endure hardship. It’s a point that should not be overlooked that during the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese never defeated the US in the field. Their ability to “eat cold shit” didn’t lead them to victory. The US loss of morale had nothing to do with the troops’ ability (or lack of it) to endure physical hardship in the field. It had everything to do with the political/social situation back in the US. Hot meals were not, IMO, a key factor in the Vietnam war. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/43 "2008-11-04T16:23:27Z")
> [@Szlater](#): > > What’s the typical fare at a British field kitchen, and how does it compare with other nation’s catering, in your experience? > > Incidentally, I’ve heard that US sailors like being invited onto RN ships for food because of the beer ration. Well despite what **Lust 4Life** thinks, I was not in the ACC, I did in fact serve in The Royal Signals. Typical fare at a British field kitchen: Starters: Pate de Foi with hot toast or a choice of home made soups. Main Course…take your pick from… Sirloin steak Roast leg of lamb Lobster and hot melted butter Roast duckling in any sauce you wish Partridge or Pheasant Gently poached fresh Scottish Salmon A selection of vegetarian dishes. All of the above are of course served with the usual trimmings Dessert, again a choice… Tirimasu and ice cream Poached Apricots with a delicate brandy sauce Baked Alaska Hot apple pie and fresh dairy cream Fruits of the Forest again with a delicate brandy sauce. To finish: Cigars and brandy with either tea or coffee OR Bacon Butties with brown sauce and a cuppa char ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/44 "2008-11-04T17:51:12Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > I want to be the fly on the wall when **Hazle Weatherfield** tells a bunch of cold, tired soldiers that they’re having cucumber sandwiches for dinner. Well, I would submit it depends on who’s serving. A scruffy cook in a stained apron, nope. Some sweet young French waitress in a short skirt and a low top to display her cleavage? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/45 "2008-11-04T18:15:03Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Not necessarily true at all: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57799](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57799) While I agree with you that the answer is complicated, the key qualifier in my statement was “or else core temperature lowers” If core temperature lowers, body shuts down blood flow to extremities. Shell temperature lowers. If it’s a cold day, you feel bad. Any heat needed internally to warm up cold food means less “waste” heat goes out. Less waste heat out means less heat reflected/trapped by clothing. Shell temp lowers, bringing on the onset of shivering sooner (whether or not its 20C or not I dunno, as I seem to shiver pretty often when the room is just a little chilly). Anyway, I appreciate your cites in the earlier thread. Would’ve liked to have seen swyves come through, however. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/46 "2008-11-04T18:39:17Z")
> [@Szlater](#): > > What’s the typical fare at a British field kitchen, and how does it compare with other nation’s catering, in your experience? > > Incidentally, I’ve heard that US sailors like being invited onto RN ships for food because of the beer ration. To be quite honest,piss taking apart,some of the best food I’ve ever had has been A.C.C. at Hereford and in the M/E. On R.N. ships it was usually pretty good but on their shore bases it was what I can only describe as cooking by sadists. The R.A.F. was always pretty good but not like what many people raved about. At the International Long Range Reco.School in Weingarten,Germany. the food was deliberately dreadful ,so bad that you didn’t eat it but instead went upstairs to the German equivalent of the N.A.A.F.I./P.X. and paid for edible foods which interestingly enough were cooked in and by the same cooks that had served up the inedible slop in the Cookhouse. The difference was that they got a cut of the profits for themselves personally. When you went out in the field it was a pleasure to eat German compo.though I must admit that I never knew that there were so many different varieties of sausage. U.S.food was always pretty good as well,probably up to the standard of the R.A.F.s I must apologise to **CHOWDER** ,I knew that you were an ex scaley but thought that you’d transferred to the A.C.C. so that you could kill more people. Sorry mate was only taking the piss out of someone I consider a Doper mate. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/47 "2008-11-04T22:10:32Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > In many conditions the body is, by sweating and/or sending blood to surface capilliaries, voluntarily dumping to the environment heat created as a byproduct of normal activity. The heat to warm a cold meal may simply be derived by your body utilizing (ie refraining from dumping) byproduct heat, rather then by “spending extra effort”. > > That is not to say that your body _won’t_ spend extra calories warming a cold meal. If you are cold and inactive, your body may well do so. It just depends on the conditions. Thankee kindly. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/48 "2008-11-04T22:54:40Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Soldiers do expect and endure hardship. It’s a point that should not be overlooked that during the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese never defeated the US in the field. Their ability to “eat cold shit” didn’t lead them to victory. > The US loss of morale had nothing to do with the troops’ ability (or lack of it) to endure physical hardship in the field. It had everything to do with the political/social situation back in the US. > Hot meals were not, IMO, a key factor in the Vietnam war. Well, we are agreeing then. A hot meal can help raise morale a bit but a soldier who believes in what he is fighting for, even if he is eating cold shit, has much more morale than a soldier who does not believe in what he is fighting for, even if he is eating three hot meals a day. Many (most?) Americans did not believe that Vietnam was worth fighting while the Vietnamese were fighting with all their might for something they believed in. In other words the hot meals were just slightly masking the main problem. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/49 "2008-11-04T23:41:08Z")
**Lust4Life** : S’matter of fact no need to apologise old bean. Didya know I was seconded to RAF Cardington as a special operator? Not a 007 type yunderstand, oh no! Muggins here had to train for parachute drops so that in the event of hostilities they could dump me behind enemy lines in order that I could transmit info about troop movements and the like. My arse ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/50 "2008-11-05T12:21:59Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > **Lust4Life** : > > S’matter of fact no need to apologise old bean. > > Didya know I was seconded to RAF Cardington as a special operator? > > Not a 007 type yunderstand, oh no! Muggins here had to train for parachute drops so that in the event of hostilities they could dump me behind enemy lines in order that I could transmit info about troop movements and the like. > > My arse But the ACC still kill more people. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/51 "2008-11-05T12:49:27Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > But the ACC still kill more people. So a good idea would be to put them in charge of catering at mould trafford;) ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891/52 "2008-11-05T18:58:54Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > Yannow, I must have a really filthy mind;) Thanks for that…you’re filthy mind is infectious. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/benefits-of-a-hot-meal/470891.md?page=2)