review
In 1944, World War II was in full swing, and half of the earth was in raging war. In addition to suffering from the artillery fire of the war, also experienced varying degrees of famine on the battlefields in Europe, China, and North Africa.
According to statistics, the great famine that occurred in Henan in 1942 starved to death of three million people. Even European countries with developed industrial civilization at that time could not completely eliminate famine. Just like the great famine that occurred in the Netherlands between 1944 and 1945, caused the next generation of the entire country to suffer from health problems.
Against this background, a professor in the United States became interested in the study of human anti-hunger ability. He wanted to know how strong people's ability to endure hunger was, and what impact hunger would have on the human body. So he conducted an experiment.
Hunger Experiment
In 1944, a strange announcement appeared in the University of Minnesota , a famous public university in the United States, which attracted the attention of pedestrians and attracted great attention on the campus.
It turns out that this is a recruitment post about the "Hunger Experiment", which was sent by the well-known American nutritionist Ances Keys. After finally convincing the government to agree to the "starvation experiment", he planned to recruit volunteers at the University of Minnesota.
Logically speaking, hunger will definitely bring torture to people, so there should be very few people who want to be "guinea pigs". Unexpectedly, more than 400 people signed up for this experiment. Why did everyone sign up so enthusiastically?
A group photo of volunteers before the experiment
Although there is a reason for "dedicating oneself to science", the social environment of the United States at that time should account for the majority. You know, During the First World War, young people in the United States who refused to perform military service were sent directly to prison. Although it was not so harsh during World War II, these people were still classified as "cowards" by the government.
If you become a volunteer in a scientific experiment, you will not have such troubles, so many people signed up for the hunger experiment. In the end, Professor Case selected 36 people from the more than 400 applicants to become volunteers, all of whom were healthy adult males between the ages of 22 and 33.
Of course, even though these volunteers participated voluntarily, in order to avoid various unexpected situations during the experiment, volunteers also signed a "life and death certificate", indicating that no matter what the consequences were, Case and the experimenter would not be held accountable.
So, what exactly is the so-called starvation experiment?
Professor Case
stage experiment
In order to observe people's ability to tolerate hunger and their performance under different levels of hunger, Case divided the entire experimental process into three stages.
- The first phase - the preparation period
The first phase lasted for three months. During these three months, Case, a top nutritionist, customized rich and nutritious meals for 36 volunteers, ensuring that they could consume 3,200 calories per day. In addition, at Case's request, volunteers must achieve at least 22 kilometers of exercise every day.
Under these conditions, every volunteer feels very good, and even some people with poor physical fitness are getting healthier.
However, this was just the "appetizer" for the hunger experiment. The hunger experiment officially began after the physical fitness and eating habits of the 36 volunteers were basically unified.
The volunteers' diet in the first stage
- The second stage - the starvation period
Three months later, the experiment entered the second stage, which was the starvation stage that lasted for 6 months. According to Case's plan, at the beginning of the second phase, the volunteers' daily food intake will be halved. The calorie intake will be reduced to 1,600 calories, and the food will basically become potatoes, whole wheat bread, and lettuce. Completely replicate the diet of refugees during the famine.
In addition, volunteers must also maintain the same amount of exercise as the famine refugees. In other words, the volunteers ate very little every day but exercised a lot. In this case, their weight began to decrease, and the average weight of dropped by about 25%.
Gradually, each of the volunteers became sallow and skinny, with dull eyes. Some even developed symptoms of iron deficiency anemia.
Under these conditions, many volunteers could not hold on and quit the experiment. By the last month of the second phase, only 11 volunteers were still persisting.
At this stage, the volunteers could not have a full meal, and many times they could only drink water to satisfy their hunger. , but with firm willpower, these volunteers still persisted, and at this time they no longer looked much better than the people in the refugee camps during World War II.
Finally, the most difficult period of the starvation experiment has passed, and the experiment has entered the third stage - the recovery stage.
- The third stage - recovery period
The volunteers who have been hungry for 6 months can now eat a cow without any problem, but as a top nutritionist, Case knows that they must not let them feast, otherwise they will die from "gluttony".
Therefore, Case formulated a nutritious meal for everyone specifically for recovery. However, when allowed to eat freely, these volunteers also ate far more than normal people. There are many people who consume 5,000 calories a day, and some even eat more than 10,000 calories a day.
It is worth mentioning that this experiment did not measure how long a person can live without eating. After all, the answer to this question may really require the life of a volunteer. Not only is this completely against moral ethics, but the experimenter will also be subject to legal sanctions.
The horror of hunger
The hunger experiment only lasted for one year, but the experience of this year was enough to form an indelible shadow in the hearts of the volunteers for a lifetime.
Long-term extreme hunger has brought severe physical and mental damage to the volunteers. Most of the volunteers later suffered from serious psychological problems, and even suffered from "bulimia".
The torture of hunger prevented the volunteers from sleeping well at night. Once they fell asleep, they would have nightmares and even hallucinations during the day. What's even more frightening is that under the dual influence of hallucinations and psychological problems, one volunteer even cut off his own fingers with an axe.
Before the experiment, they were all young people with healthy bodies and normal mental states. Only 6 months of starvation completely destroyed them.
Therefore, after learning about the sequelae of the starvation experiment, the public condemned why the experimenter conducted such a cruel experiment.
However, the subjects of the starvation experiments all participated voluntarily and were not forced. Case and others did not take their lives in order to study the maximum survival time of people under hunger. On the other hand, some countries can completely trample humanitarian under their feet for the sake of experiments.
The typical representative is the notorious Japanese "731" unit. They built their experimental base in Northeast China. In this sinful experimental factory, they also conducted starvation experiments.
731 The hunger experiment of army is divided into "fasting experiment" and "water deprivation experiment". The experimental subjects of fasting experiment can only eat bread and cannot drink a drop of water, while the latter can only drink water without any food.
In the case of only bread and no water, the experimental subject can only live for about 5 days. The experimental subject who can only drink water can live for 60-70 days.
We cannot imagine how much pain these living people have experienced, but what is certain is that this is a crime committed by the unscrupulous Unit 731 against all mankind.
Conclusion
Human beings have been fighting against hunger for a long time, and it was not until the advent of hybrid rice that humans finally defeated hunger. Now, with the improvement of agricultural level and the advancement of science and technology, hunger seems to be a quite distant memory to us. However, the food issue is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, so we should not take it lightly. We must pay attention to food security and cherish every grain of food.
