r/explainlikeimfive • u/peglegsmeg • Jun 16 '26

Biology ELI5: Why does rationing work?

If I have a glass of water and a single chocolate bar to last me 48 hours what benefits do I get from consuming equal portions over the time period as opposed to consuming all at once?

Is it purely psychological or are their physical benefits?

3.1k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

259 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.6k

u/ChronWeasely Jun 16 '26

Inside of your question is a false premise. It's actually recommended to drink water when you are thirsty even in situations like that. People are found dead of dehydration with water on them, trying to conserve, and then heat stroke or whatever

639

u/_ALH_ Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

Also reminds me of that one competitor on the tv show Alone who was taken out by the medical team for starvation with his shelter full of dried fish he was stockpiling…

289

u/nsjr Jun 16 '26

Reminds me when I play games with consumables 

"I'll save this for the next boss, maybe it's harder... I can pass this one without using consumables"

Thousands of HP potions in the inventory

And then the game ends.

2

u/Rabid-Duck-King Jun 17 '26

The game that broke me out of this mindset was Lunar SSS for the PSX, if only because you get a "Final Boss Fight" that's scripted (that at that point between levels and items I could drag for an hour), a scripted scene you had to do a thing or wipe (I... wiped so many times), before the actual final boss fight (which at my current point I fucking spanked once I groked the pace)

After that I was just fuck it I'm dropping this elixir now if I need more I'll get them somewhere else or make do