Oprah’s Diet Recommendations – Wartime Diets and Rations

The chart below is compiled from The Biology of Human Starvation. [i]

It lists the number of Calories people consumed, generally under conditions intended to cause discomfort, suffering, illness and death.

WARTIME DIETS AND RATIONS

 

 

 

Where

When

Daily Average Kcal

 

 

 

Dachau, Germany Concentration Camp

April 1945

533

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

January 1942

898

Dachau, Germany Concentration Camp

September 1944

1017

Paris Insane Asylum, April 1941

 

1436

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1944 III

1529

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1944 II

1585

Russian and British POWs in Tost, Germany, WWII

 

1611

Central Prison in Louvain, Belgium

July 1941

1647

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1944 I

1656

Central Prison in Louvain, Belgium

May 1941

1660

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

September 1944

1672

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1942 II

1699

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1943 II

1724

Paris Insane Asylum, December 1941

 

1740

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1942 III

1750

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

June 1944

1754

Paris Insane Asylum, September 1941

 

1759

Central Prison in Louvain, Belgium

October 1940

1775

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1943 III

1783

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1943 IV

1784

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

July 1944

1792

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

October 1944

1796

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1942 I

1810

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

May 1944

1814

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1943 I

1822

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1941 II

1828

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1941 IV

1828

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1941 III

1852

Central Prison in Louvain, Belgium

March 1941

1860

Paris Insane Asylum, October 1941

 

1862

Food Distributed in Netherlands - sedentary individuals

1942 IV

1876

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

June 1945

1892

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

August 1944

1911

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

November 1943

1916

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

January 1945

1921

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

April 1944

1940

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

November 1944

1975

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

August 1942

1981

German Civilians, WWI

April 1917

1985.4

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

March 1944

2006

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

October 1943

2009

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

February 1942

2010

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

May 1945

2015

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

February 1945

2029

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

April 1945

2034

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

September 1943

2046

Changi POW Camp, Singapore

March 1942

2060

Changi POW Camp, Singapore

April 1942

2060

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

September 1942

2068

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

October 1944

2069

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

January 1945

2070

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

August 1944

2071

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

March 1945

2079

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

January 1944

2105

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

March 1942

2138

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

February 1945

2147

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

July 1942

2151

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

July 1945

2161

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

December 1943

2164

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

May 1944

2173

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

June 1945

2197

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

April 1945

2209

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

March 1945

2211

Changi POW Camp, Singapore

June 1942

2222

German Civilians, WWI

July 1916

2232.5

French POWs Interned in Germany, WWI

 

2245

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

March 1944

2247

Changi POW Camp, Singapore

May 1942

2263

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

April 1944

2275

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

November 1944

2278

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

May 1945

2306

Changi POW Camp, Singapore

July 1942

2315

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

February 1943

2321

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

July 1943

2326

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

June 1944

2327

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

June 1943

2332

German Civilians, WWI

April 1916

2343

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

September 1944

2350

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

December 1944

2411

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

August 1943

2412

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

February 1944

2420

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

November 1942

2430

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

July 1944

2431

Changi POW Camp, Singapore

August 1942

2466

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

May 1942

2468

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

October 1943

2487

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

January 1944

2546

Changi POW Camp, Singapore

September 1942

2548

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

September 1943

2548

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

November 1943

2566

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

April 1942

2613

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

July 1945

2638

Internees at Pootung Civil Assembly Center Outside Shanghai

December 1944

2672

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

February 1944

2729

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

October 1942

2753

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

January 1943

2766

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

December 1943

2804

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

May 1943

2864

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

February 1943

2946

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

December 1942

2980

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

April 1943

2989

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

March 1943

3067

Central Prison in Louvain, Belgium

pre-war

3370

Canadian POWs in Japanese POW Camp Near Hong Kong

June 1942

4895



[i] Data compiled from Keys A, Brozek J, Henschel A, Mickelsen O, Taylor HL. The Biology of Human Starvation. Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press 1950:1239-1246.