USAMRMC
Military
Operational
Medicine
Research
Program
Lab Locations and Capabilities
Environmental Medicine and Bioenergetics
| Nutritional Optimization of Warfighter Mental Status |
MOMRP Task Area: V
Problem
Deployed personnel often encounter situations where infectious agents are endemic and malnutrition is common. Military operations under such conditions will strain the individual’s capacity to maintain health and sustain optimal performance due to stress-induced immune suppression combined with contact with disease vectors including malnourished indigenous populations susceptible to measles and other significant diseases. The effect of specific nutritional countermeasures to sustain soldier resistance to disease has not been systematically explored and current popular press claims are unproven.
Medical Research Solution
Conduct biomedical research, including lab and field studies on metabolism and performance, modeling of the results, and testing hypothesis-driven concepts in military training and operational environments, to identify nutritional strategies to increase disease resistance and enhance survivability under all battlefield conditions.
Products
Specifications for an amino acid and protein food bar to increase resistance to infectious agents in stressful deployments and undernourished refugees.
Last Update: April 2, 2003