{"id":71049,"date":"2019-10-23T21:22:56","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T21:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/23\/meals-refusing-to-exit-scientific-study-backs-long-held-belief-that-mres-make-it-harder-to-defacate\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:00:40","slug":"meals-refusing-to-exit-scientific-study-backs-long-held-belief-that-mres-make-it-harder-to-defacate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2019\/10\/23\/meals-refusing-to-exit-scientific-study-backs-long-held-belief-that-mres-make-it-harder-to-defacate\/","title":{"rendered":"Meal, Refusing-to-Exit \u2014 scientific study backs long-held belief that MREs make it harder to defecate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Army study has confirmed a belief service members have known in their hearts \u2014 and intestines \u2014 to be true for generations: Living on a Meal, Ready-to-Eat diet contributes to a dwindling frequency of bowel movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry<\/a> study featured over 60 volunteers from military and civilian backgrounds who, over a period of 21 days, provided gastrointestinal data to the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volunteers were divided into two groups; one cohort was instructed to brave an MRE-only regimen of two to three meals per day, while the other was directed to maintain a normal diet of relatively equal caloric intake. Meal types were tailored to each participant to avoid significant weight fluctuation, and both groups were asked to maintain a preestablished level of physical activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\t