# What food has the highest caloric density that you can eat straight (w/o refrigeration) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927 "2019-06-02T22:34:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927/41 "2019-06-05T05:27:52Z")
Sure, and you need shelter and water anyway. But you’ll live 72 hours longer with the hardtack than you would have without any food whatsoever. PS I tried one of those bars once. They’re not bad. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927/42 "2019-06-05T10:40:28Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > If the OP is interested in true compact sustaining nutrition, he should try lembas. For easy storage wrap them in a leaf. While it covers basic nutrition, it has the unfortunate side effects of making people whiny and irritable after even just a few days of eating it to exclusion, so it might not be the best choice. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927/43 "2019-06-06T02:41:24Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’m pretty sure I can survive 72 hours with no food, if I have shelter and water. I won’t be happy, but I’m not going to die of starvation in three days. I’m pretty sure I can survive a month with no food, if I have shelter and water. I won’t be happy, but I’m not going to die of starvation in thirty days. A lot of people find that they get slower and dumber after even 1 day without food. I think you’re body can adapt to that kind of regime, but I think that most of us here aren’t adapted that way. If you are staying at home, you can conserve energy, and getting slower and dumber doesn’t matter much anyway. If you are hiking or working, getting dumber can put you in life-threatening situations. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927/44 "2019-06-06T03:32:21Z")
Cacao butter would be solid at room temperature/easy to transport and eat. I do not know the calories. Cocoa butter is the processed version. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927/45 "2019-06-06T04:07:34Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Mediterranean people have decent life expectancies as compared to Americans. It’s unlikely to be “the magic of the Mediterranean diet”, as Finns and Japanese and Canadians do, too. But check out this graphic: > > [World Development Indicators - Google Public Data Explorer](https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&hl=en&dl=en) > > (It works better in Chrome than in Explorer) > > In “world development indicators”, select health, and then life expectancy. In “compare by” select some countries, such as Spain, Italy, US, Finland, Canada, … If you do that, an option to compare for just males or just females should pop up. What about if you adjust for obesity? [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222401/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222401/) You might also try the gini coefficient and the average number of miles driven in a year. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927/46 "2019-06-06T05:15:50Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I’m pretty sure I can survive a month with no food, if I have shelter and water. I won’t be happy, but I’m not going to die of starvation in thirty days. > > A lot of people find that they get slower and dumber after even 1 day without food. I think you’re body can adapt to that kind of regime, but I think that most of us here aren’t adapted that way. > > If you are staying at home, you can conserve energy, and getting slower and dumber doesn’t matter much anyway. If you are hiking or working, getting dumber can put you in life-threatening situations. Yes, yes,. I just thought, “keep you alive 72 hours” is a bizarre claim. A more useful claim might be “keep you well fed for 72 hours”, or, “contains 3 days of recommended USDA nutrition” it something. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927/47 "2019-06-08T09:37:55Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Sure, and you need shelter and water anyway. But you’ll live 72 hours longer with the hardtack than you would have without any food whatsoever. > > PS I tried one of those bars once. They’re not bad. One of my old books describes how to make a chocolate-and-oat bar, (for people who want to have something on hand). The author observers that > [@](#): > > “At first it won’t appeal to everyone, but after a few days, it won’t appeal to anyone” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-has-the-highest-caloric-density-that-you-can-eat-straight-w-o-refrigeration/834927.md?page=2)