# Hypothetical: Would you give up eating for perpetual nutritional health? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372 "2013-03-30T19:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/1 "2013-03-30T19:56:29Z")
Our hypothetical posits that you would no longer need to eat, and you would no longer be able to eat. You’d get the same level of nutrition/energy/etc as what you’d consider a healthy diet via magic. You’d maintain an ideal weight. Whether you were strong and athletic would be up to you, you’d still need to work to maintain muscular fitness, but you’d never become fat or take on diet-based health problems. You wouldn’t be immortal, you’d just have the health benefits of eating whatever you consider to be a balanced, healthy diet for the rest of your life. Nutrition would become a non-issue. Other benefits are not needing to cook, having spare time at lunch hour, etc. And of course you save a decent bit of money on food that could be spent on coke and hookers. The cost is that you cannot eat anything. You can’t go to your favorite restaurant, you can’t eat your favorite foods, you’d never again experience the sensation of eating. For our hypothetical, let’s assume that you wouldn’t drink food-like items either like milkshakes or smoothees or whatever. You could still get the effects of alcohol, just to rule that out of the equation. To me, this is easy. Of course I’d take it. Eating for pleasure isn’t that big a deal for me. I enjoy a good meal from time to time, but most of the time I just invest the minimum effort needed to scratch my hunger itch. I also get fat when I’m not making any special effort to control my diet, and it’s a whole lot of effort to fix that. But I’ve asked a few people out of curiosity and it seems a much harder decision for them. Part of the factor is probably how much they care about fitness and how fit they already are, so how much of a change it would be for them to be automatically fit. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/2 "2013-03-30T20:07:47Z")
It would be a tough choice, but I’d give up eating. I like eating well enough, but food preparation is tedious and inconvenient, and I’m getting more and more to the point where I can’t really eat what I’d like for health reasons anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/3 "2013-03-30T20:15:33Z")
I assume hunger is not an issue in the hypothetical. I’d miss food, but fuck it, I don’t need it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/4 "2013-03-30T20:16:02Z")
Fuck that! Nutrition is easy. Anybody who can’t eat nutritiously in America isn’t trying or is in extremely dire circumstances. Barring that, they are just lazy fucks. Food is fun. Food is sensuous. Food is bonding. Food is culturally necessary. Food is Life. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/5 "2013-03-30T20:17:36Z")
I’m not a very sensual person. But I do get pleasure out of eating food. Sometimes a lot of pleasure. Take eating away and I’d be angry and bitter about my boring life. I’m an active person who’s never had a weight problem or an eating problem, though. So food is not my Achilles’ heel. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/6 "2013-03-30T20:18:33Z")
> [@Yorikke](#): > > I assume hunger is not an issue in the hypothetical. I’d miss food, but fuck it, I don’t need it. Yeah, of course, you’d never feel hungry. Constant unfixable hunger would be awful. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/7 "2013-03-30T20:30:47Z")
Not a chance. Perfect nutritional input is already available to me, without giving up on eating. I don’t really understand people who want food pills, or human chow, or who eat the same thing every day, or who in general find eating to be a nuisance. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/8 "2013-03-30T20:33:34Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t really understand people who want food pills, or human chow, or who eat the same thing every day, or who in general find eating to be a nuisance. I don’t think these are the same thing. I don’t get why people want food pills or human chow either, because if you’ve got to eat, you might as well eat something. But this is a different level - this frees you from the hunger and hassle of eating and any consequences from sub-optimal eating, it’s an entirely different question from whether or not you’d want human chow. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/9 "2013-03-30T20:43:25Z")
I’d do it just for the time saved. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/10 "2013-03-30T21:15:13Z")
Time _eating_ may be wasted, but time _dining_ never is. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/11 "2013-03-30T21:19:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Time _eating_ may be wasted, but time _dining_ never is. Time eating isn’t my problem. Time fixing what I eat and cleaning up afterward is. An eating/dining distinction isn’t relevant (or real) to me. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/12 "2013-03-30T21:57:00Z")
I’m Italian. Eating for pleasure is the whole point. You might as well say give up sex, music, and reading while you’re at it. Does not compute for this _ragazza_. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/13 "2013-03-30T22:00:50Z")
A secondary qualm would be - what do I do when everyone else is eating? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/14 "2013-03-30T22:05:52Z")
Masturbate under the table. Same as you’d do if you were eating a one handed meal anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/15 "2013-03-30T22:21:39Z")
I can’t imagine never again eating a juicy, rare steak. Nope, I like food too much to give up eating. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/16 "2013-03-30T23:10:56Z")
When you said it would save time my first thought was that I could cook more in that saved time :smack: I’m as fit as I want and I could not give up eating. I dunno what that saved time would be _for_. Or the saved money. If I think of saved money I think spending it on better produce to cook nice food. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/17 "2013-03-30T23:46:53Z")
No way would I give up eating. It’s one of the greatest pleasures in life, and there’s no way I wouldn’t feel deprived and unhappy if I couldn’t eat. And I like to cook, too, so the whole ‘hassle of prep and cleanup’ really doesn’t come into the picture for me. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/18 "2013-03-31T00:08:07Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > And I like to cook, too, so the whole ‘hassle of prep and cleanup’ really doesn’t come into the picture for me. I like to cook because I think it’s fun to create things that are worth eating. But if I didn’t want to eat, cooking wouldn’t be at the top of any list for what I want to do. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/19 "2013-03-31T00:16:14Z")
I’m fit, I pretty much eat for fuel but I’m also human. I [think I’d live to regret it.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i28UEoLXVFQ) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![happycamper\_5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@happycamper\_5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happycamper_5)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372/20 "2013-03-31T00:18:10Z")
If someone had asked this last year, my answer would have been a resounding yes, but now, no flippin’ way. For the past month and a half, the wife and I’ve been keeping track of our calories & nutrients and I’ve found it surprisingly easy to do. So, I’d rather continue to be conscious of my diet and keep eating, I think. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-would-you-give-up-eating-for-perpetual-nutritional-health/654372.md?page=2)