Finally got around to seeing The Martian, there’s a scene in it where Matt Damon laments the fact that he ran out of ketchup for his potato crop and is reduced to using Vicodin as a condiment.
In his situation, is this a good idea? Will it give him a few precious extra calories or will the body processing it reduce the calorie intake?
It’s not about the Calories, for the ketchup (which has very few) nor for the Vicodin (which has essentially none). It’s about keeping his life bearable enough that he doesn’t commit suicide.
Yeah, that line’s about self-medicating, not nutrition.
A lot of pills contain excipients (binders, etc.) with some trivial but non-zero caloric content. Some excipients are simply sugar, starch, or gelatin.
Still, I agree that the scene is more about self-medicating than a non-traditional condiment.
That’s exactly the sentiment in the book. He eventually found any variation of potatoes barely edible. He saved one prepackaged meal for his “last morning on Mars” if he made it to the escape rocket.