# is there any nutrition in leather?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-nutrition-in-leather/565393>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 26, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-nutrition-in-leather/565393 "2010-12-26T00:56:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-nutrition-in-leather/565393/1 "2010-12-26T00:56:54Z")

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could you survive off of your shoes for a while

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**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-nutrition-in-leather/565393/2 "2010-12-26T02:30:02Z")

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Very little. The type of fiber in dried leather simply resists digestion. There are stories that people near starvation (such as the sailors of Magellan’s cross-Pacific voyage) ate leather out of desperation, but it’s not something you would want to try if you could avoid it.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-nutrition-in-leather/565393/3 "2010-12-26T03:17:54Z")

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[It’s been known to happen.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtZTIwSIuGw)