You don’t want a headache you could prevent on top of your other problems. Surviving is stressful enough without thinking about sugar and caffeine withdrawal on top of everything else. Luckily survival candy can help you out in more ways than one. If you’re not familiar with this delightful staple, I’ll happily explain why you need a little sweetness, even in the event of an apocalypse. Hopefully, your emergency situation won’t be quite that bad. Regardless, you can afford to add some tasty treats to the most dire preparations without guilt.
Why You Need Survival Candy
What is survival candy? It is candy or gum that serves as comfort food but should provide additional calories, boost one’s energy level or keep you alert and awake. If this is your first time hearing the term, then you’ve been missing out. Although you may not technically need sugar or caffeine, you don’t have to leave them out of your emergency preparedness plans. Plus, candy tastes better than freeze-dried coffee.
Candy should never be your only source of calories. However, when SHTF and you can’t get or carry large quantities of other foods, subsisting on sweet and tasty treats will certainly keep you alive. More importantly, the right candy can do a lot more than give you calories.
Classic survival candy was little more than sugar and corn syrup, but things have come a long way. Now you can get caffeine and even vitamins in your treats. More importantly, it’s a ready source of energy that doesn’t weigh too much or take up a ton of space.
How Sugar Affects Your Brain Positively
You already know that too much sugar is bad for you, but there’s an upside to survival candy as well. Sugar activates the mesolimbic dopamine system. That’s a lot of big words that mean it makes you feel rewarded and happy.
If you need an excuse to do your inventory, or you want to make sure you practice a survival skill every day, promise yourself a small sweet reward. Over time, you’ll notice that it becomes easier to get up that motivation. Also, you may note that not having any sugar makes you feel crummy because it’s addictive.
You’ll want to brush your teeth and eat very healthy if you use this technique. For diabetics and those who are overweight, you may want to substitute a non-sugar candy instead. Whatever the case, that sweetness will help you prepare, and you can store it for a future date when you may have to survive a much worse situation.
Choose a candy that has a long shelf life and gives you more of what you need. I recommend Kabang Energy Candy from Amazon because it also gives you a vitamin boost. In an emergency, a pick-me-up that also stimulates the pleasure center of your brain can help keep you calm and moving forward even when things are dire indeed. Plus, Kabang is low in sugar and provides a natural, crash-free energy boost. Learn more by clicking here.
Don’t Go Ham on Survival Candy
All survival is a balancing act. You don’t want to wreck your teeth and pack on pounds just to make it to tomorrow. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean going without for the rest of your days. With enough survival candy stocked away, you can have a little sweetness in your life even if society crumbles down around you.
Try adding honey-sesame candies to your stock as well. Not only does honey have a lower glycemic index, but it also has some health benefits. You’ll find the sweet crunch of this classic treat also satisfies your sweet tooth.
How Long Has Survival Candy Been Around
When asking what survival candy is, you have to look at how long people have been making candy. According to Candy History, sometime around fifteen thousand BC people in Egypt started making candies. They used honeycomb, spices, figs, and nuts to create these early delicacies.
Although it’s been attributed to many cultures, the reality is that anywhere people had honey and fruit or nuts, a similar treat probably existed reasonably early on in history. Was it considered a survival food at that point? It’s hard to know for sure. However, anyone who needed a quick pick-up to make it through the day likely survived on a little candy.
Sugar in various forms is integral to human history. Modern candies came about more slowly. The candy cane didn’t begin as a Christmas treat. Instead, it was invented in Cologne, Germany, around 1670.
Likewise, chocolate bars are courtesy of an Englishman named Joseph Fry. He came up with the process of using cocoa powder, sugar, and cocoa butter pushed into a mold for shape in 1847.
By the time WWII rolled around, candies were a part of soldier’s MREs. The addition of the sugary treat gave them a boost for fighting or trekking long distances. Doubtless, it also released dopamine and other happy chemicals that helped them feel good about going to war.
Survival Candy Lasts Longer Than You Think
Anyone who has ever found a half-melted jolly rancher at the bottom of their bag is probably wondering what survival candy does differently to prevent this. Honestly, it’s the wrong question. The thing that makes candy excellent survival food is the packaging.
Individually wrapped, vacuum-sealed hard candies last the longest, along with honey candies. However, the humble chocolate bar can also store well for quite some time. The trick is to keep them sealed, moisture free and in a cool, dark environment.
I recommend keeping your survival candies with moisture remover packets, just like other survival foods. Mylar bags and light-proof buckets or jars will help you hoard your sugary treasures for two to four years in ideal conditions.
Sugar, like honey, technically doesn’t spoil. If it gets wet, it will dissolve. However, the dry powdered form will remain sweet crystals indefinitely. Those who plan to DIY their treats may want to keep powdered sweeteners, freeze-dried fruits, and some corn syrup in their long-term survival supply caches.
Another great alternative is MEG – Military Energy Gum. Not only is it made in the USA, but it won the 2005 US Army’s Greatest Invention of the Year Award. Civilians can get MEG from Amazon, but it’s also used in several MREs to help soldiers keep up their endurance. Check the reviews right here. Please be aware that this gum is loaded with caffeine. Having personally tasted this gum, one will definitely notice the caffeine flavor. The taste may not be for everyone but the gum was created to keep the user awake and alert when it may be urgent to keep watch for the safety of others during a life or death situation.
Uses for Survival Candy
No one wants sugar withdrawals, but that’s not half as bad as scurvy. Fortunately, many long-term storable candies have citric acid, and vitamin C included. Survival candy will keep you from suffering the nasty side effects of either condition as long as you ration correctly and pick the right type. At least until you can find an alternative source, a little sugar might make a big difference.
Additionally, many candies are available with an added vitamin boost or caffeine. Plus, any hard candy can help keep you from dry mouth and calm a cough in a pinch. Survival candy also tastes a whole lot better than chewing plain elderberries or drinking pine needle tea, which will help with cough and scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), respectively.
The calorie-dense, attitude-improving treats might seem like an indulgence at first, but nothing is further from the truth. You need to add some sweetness to your long-term survival storage. Lightweight and energy sustaining survival candy can mean the difference between life and death if you use it correctly.
Survival Bars Are Similar to Survival Candy
In addition to your survival candy, a meal replacement bar can help you get vitamins, protein, and sugar your body craves. Though survival bars weigh a little more and take up slightly more space, they are still an excellent addition to your preps.
You’ll get a lot more protein from these bars. Furthermore, they’re still small enough to pack plenty easily. Plus, you’ll feel fuller than you would from the same number of calories in sugar-candy form.
I prefer the Redcon1 MRE Bar from Amazon. They come in several flavors, like s’ mores and iced carrot cake, and pack a substantial twenty grams of protein per bar. That will keep you on your feet for a long trek. Furthermore, you’ll appreciate the real-food ingredients and fast shipping times from Redcon1. Get a box by clicking here.
The best thing about good survival bars is that they’re meant to replace a whole meal. You can find them in gluten-free, sugar-free, and vegan options for those with special dietary needs.
If you can eat healthy, fresh food, do that. However, when lives are on the line, stores are closed, and you’re lost in the woods, things are a little different. A good survival candy or bar can help you make it to your BOL, or evade roving hordes of zombies without collapsing from exhaustion.
Final Thoughts
You’ll never find a better excuse to pick up a bunch of sugar than survival candy. It’s okay to eat ’empty carbs,’ if your life depends on it. Because your body will use them instead of storing them as fat, it’s not a terrible backup plan.
That said, you need to pack a toothbrush. Moreover, survival candy is only a temporary fix or a small pick-me-up. Luckily, as long as your self-control holds out, you can still buy them in bulk because they’ll store for years if you keep out moisture, light, and pests.