Douglas Robertson was 18 when his father, Dougal, a former businessman navy officer, motionless it’d be fun for a family to sell his farm, buy a 43ft wooden schooner and cruise around a world.

“Every day was an journey – life was idyllic,” says Douglas, of a 1971 voyage. Indeed, it was all going swimmingly until a pod of torpedo whales – nearby a Galapagos Islands – pounded a boat. Forced to desert a falling vessel, a 6 of them finished adult adrift on a Pacific – divided from any shipping lanes – onboard a 10ft dinghy.

With minimal rations to hand, to stay alive a sea would have to provide.

On their sixth day of being shipwrecked, they managed to locate a Turtle – that valid to be their shelter – and tack diet.

“A dish would be a swig of turtle meat, followed by celebration a blood. The blood is a tiny formidable to splash as it congeals – so we have to hit it back. We’d drain a turtle into a tiny crater and pass it around. It’s a bit like black pudding we have during breakfast,” Douglas says.

As time upheld flapping during sea, a Robertsons’ turtle recipes became some-more inventive.

“We done soup out of turtle eggs – and we chewed on a skeleton for days on finish to get a marrow.”

Shipwrecked by whales: a presence story

Sustained by a reptiles – and whatever sushi they could land – a family survived for some-more than 6 weeks on a Pacific. After 38 days, they were discovered by a flitting Japanese ship.

“It’s extraordinary how civilisation is usually a skinny veneer – underneath it we are hunters, gatherers, innovators.”

Doomsday diets

I’d been researching Douglas’s innovative suggestion for a new BBC podcast, All Hail Kale, that explores what would be a many healthful approach to tarry a canon – what would be a ideal doomsday diet.

As a Robertsons’ presence story suggests, turtles aren’t bad on a nourishment front, nutritionist Jo Travers says.

“Turtle beef has a lot of protein yet really tiny fat and roughly no carbohydrates,” she says.

It is also a source of several micronutrients – including selenium, vitamin B12, iron, potassium, thiamine, riboflavin and zinc.

However, turtles are lacking when it comes to essential omega-3 greasy acids, vitamins A and C, and fibre. So, in a end, something like shabby would get you, Ms Travers says.

Although turtles were once a sweetmeat in a US – President Taft is pronounced to have employed a cook who specialised in turtle soup – today’s doomsday “preppers” seem to be stuffing their bunkers with dusty duck and rice, soups, stews and oatmeal, according Sharon Kuhlman, during The Bunker store, in Leander, Texas.

So, we canvassed some other dietary experts to find out what other dishes they competence recommend. Of course, any nutritionist value their salt will contend we need a offset diet, blah, blah. But, if we could collect usually one food…?

Mushrooms

Edinburgh-based nutritionist Dr Laura Wyness picks mushrooms. “They are one of a few dietary sources of selenium and vitamin D – that has prolonged been famous for assisting a physique catch calcium for healthy skeleton and teeth – yet investigate now also suggests vitamin D is critical for a clever defence complement as good as controlling mood and preventing depression.

“There is even an succulent fungus called Laetiporus that apparently tastes like chicken. Also, ancient Egyptians believed mushrooms were a plant of immortality.”

As to how prolonged she could final on usually mushrooms? “Probably about 4 weeks. Mainly due to a dullness from eating one form of food, ensuing in a detriment of ardour and afterwards eventually starvation.”

Spam

Summoning some retro-Blitz spirit, Nantwich nutritionist Liam Brown is branch to a comforting can of Spam. “Whilst it isn’t something we would customarily suggest eating daily, canned baked beef is a good source of both fat and protein – and we like a taste.

“You could live a prolonged time on canned beef – however, a miss of vitamins, minerals and healthy fats will shortly lead to illness – and a miss of twine competence outcome in problems on a toilet. Tinned salmon is a healthier choice yet reduction appetite dense. Sadly, too many of any one food will never finish well.”

Ginger and quinoa

Some attempted to hide dual equipment equipment into a checkout. Bristol medical students – and founders of nourishment preparation heart Nutritank – have left down a clearly reduction Spammy track of ginger and quinoa. “We are going to need something that will jazz adult a lives and a food that will really means us nutritionally. So, we have quinoa porridge for breakfast with uninformed cut ginger, boiled ginger sprinkled on boiled quinoa for lunch and ginger-and-quinoa meal for tea – bliss.”

Pizza

Flouting a one-food regulations nonetheless further, dietician Lucy Jones is streamer true to a solidified pizza aisle. “Vitamin C from tomatoes; a bottom for energy, twine and B vitamins; cheese for protein and calcium; and toppings with of march copiousness of vegetables and maybe some anchovies for omega-3 greasy acids. we competence not live perpetually yet I’d suffer a few meals.”

Potatoes

Nutritionist James Collier says a spud is a “one food that contains many of a nutrients humans need, despite some in usually tiny amounts, yet (if stored correctly) potatoes could assistance keep we going for some time”.

“Potatoes are abounding in carbs, potassium, vitamin C, folate, magnesium, protein and some essential greasy acids.”

Plant-based diet proponent Dr Michael Greger, from NutritionFacts.org, also plumps for potatoes. “If we usually had one food and we had to go months or a year, substantially white potatoes – even yet they’re not a healthiest food. You’d go blind from vitamin-A scarcity and all sorts of terrible things would happen, yet you’d be alive.”

Download BBC Sounds to listen to All Hail Kale.