The role of food in providing energy for physical activity and heat production is often unappreciated during the chaos of cold weather military operations. The key to cold weather nutrition is providing hot, palatable food. Hot food and hot beverages help provide a warming sensation that improves morale and satisfies appetites made keen by hard physical work in the cold. Eating hot meals together in a group also improves morale. Eating food cold, just because soldiers are too busy to eat it when it's hot or too busy to stop and heat individual rations, may cause them to eat less food and miss out on the warming and psychological lift warm food provides.
Warm food tastes better and helps maintain body temperature and comfort in the cold.
Eating regular meals and hearty snacks at 2 hour intervals throughout the day help maintain higher skin and body temperatures and prevent excessive shivering. The practice of eating a small meal before entering the sleeping bag in the cold helps soldiers to sleep warmer and awaken less often during the night. Maintain Adequate Hydration 1. Soldiers must drink even when they are not thirsty. Leaders should establish a program of regularly scheduled, enforced drinking.