could a single person sustain them self indefinitely by Spearfishing?

[slimjim]

I saw a repeat of Castaway the other day and now I'm wondering that

[Kilgharrah]

I guess yeah, but only if you ARE the fish...

[LtColCarter]

I don't see why not.

[Goose]

As long as you get all the nutrients you need, sure!

[slimjim]

I don't see why not.

I was wondering if there's a limited fish population around any given beach?

[jelgate]

For a short time. As the months and years go by the lack of fruits, vegetables, and grains would have a negative effect on your health

[Gormagon]

Its been many moons since I saw the movie but I thought he found some melon type fruits as well....or perhaps I am confused with another movie memory.

Yes, he could have lived off a diet of fish/crustations/mollusks for that...4 years was it? But his teeth would have been gone, he would have had parasitic infections possibly... his health terrible in general......although...he did look pretty bad l.o.l. People can live on a diet of pure processed junk food/fast food for decades if you can really call it living. They are not healthy but they are alive. His diet would have been better then the Supersize me way.

[WingedPegasus]

I suppose that depends on if they catch anything.

[The Flyattractor]

Of course you can...*chucks a spear at the Wendys Drive Thru Window*

[Womble]

There would have been a need to supplement fish with plant foods in order to stay healthy, but yes, fish, crustaceans and molluscs would work very well as a source of protein.

He'd have to be good with a spear, though, and careful to not eat poisonous species.

[slimjim]

Its been many moons since I saw the movie but I thought he found some melon type fruits as well....or perhaps I am confused with another movie memory.

Yes, he could have lived off a diet of fish/crustations/mollusks for that...4 years was it? But his teeth would have been gone, he would have had parasitic infections possibly... his health terrible in general......although...he did look pretty bad l.o.l. People can live on a diet of pure processed junk food/fast food for decades if you can really call it living. They are not healthy but they are alive. His diet would have been better then the Supersize me way.

I eat more less the same thing everyday and it really confesses me how other people can bare the experience of eating being so different one meal to the next, that would drive me crazy

[SoulReaver]

For a short time. As the months and years go by the lack of fruits, vegetables, and grains would have a negative effect on your health

how do eskimos do it?

[SF_and_Coffee]

Actually, grain is completely unnecessary in the human diet. Fruits and vegetables are useful, and I have no idea how the Inuit or anyone else in an Arctic environment manages, but certainly someone on an island would have access to edible plants along with the fish.

Think about the Polynesians, or the New World tribes living on Caribbean islands prior to the arrival of Columbus. Sure, the Polynesians had pigs (I think somehow they'd managed to import those by boat along with themselves, and I'm not sure whether the Caribbean tribes had anything similar) and certainly both groups could hunt wild fowl as well, but then again, so could the Hanks character in Castaway if he'd wanted to. But even if fish had been his only protein source, that would've been sufficient. Many Japanese, at least in historic times, had fish as their only real protein source. All those fishing villages...

Side note: Honestly, I think I'd go crazy if I had to eat the same thing for every meal. Most people would.

[Goose]

It doesn't really matter what you eat, as long as you get all the nutrients you need. As natives of the Arctic have proved, fruit and vegetables are not a necessity, as long as you can find other foodstuffs as a substitute source of nutrition. I'm writing my MA dissertation on the Sami, a type of people who live in the north of Scandinavia, and traditionally their diet consisted mostly of reindeer meat and fish, with very little vegetables or fruits to compliment that.

[slimjim]

Side note: Honestly, I think I'd go crazy if I had to eat the same thing for every meal. Most people would.

I've just never been able to get that, for me not eating the same thing would be like having to move house everyday or something

[SF_and_Coffee]

I've just never been able to get that, for me not eating the same thing would be like having to move house everyday or something

For most people it's the exact opposite. Eating the same thing every day is boring and eventually induces stress. The exception is people who live in places where the food supply is very limited in its variety and who are therefore accustomed to a diet with little variation. The average person living in a modern nation with a varied food supply would find it extremely odd to eat the same thing every day.

[slimjim]

For most people it's the exact opposite. Eating the same thing every day is boring and eventually induces stress. The exception is people who live in places where the food supply is very limited in its variety and who are therefore accustomed to a diet with little variation. The average person living in a modern nation with a varied food supply would find it extremely odd to eat the same thing every day.

I acknowledge this is something weird about me, but I also don't think it particularly matters or is something I should try and change