question: Is there any one food that's nutritious enough for a human to survive indefinitely eating only that food?
comment: Potatoes. The caveat is you'd probably need at least two types of potatoes (white potatoes + sweet potatoes) to work. They have the necessary carbs, fats, and proteins as well as some minor but necessary nutrients like Vitamin K. Unfortunately you'd run into some issues with certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies like iodide and Vitamin A for example. In those cases you'd need something like cheese or iodized salt for the former and some butter or something for the latter. It wouldn't be ideal but you could definitely survive for a long time. I don't know about "indefinitely" though. There really isn't a single food that provides everything you'd need to be healthy.
passages: Deficient micronutrients can be provided through fortifying foods. Fortifying foods such as peanut butter sachets (see Plumpy'Nut) have revolutionized emergency feeding in humanitarian emergencies because they can be eaten directly from the packet, do not require refrigeration or mixing with scarce clean water, can be stored for years and, vitally, can be absorbed by extremely ill children.
   BULLET::::- Historically in the Maldives the leaves of seaside trees such as the octopus bush and the beach cabbage were often used as famine food.
  
  BULLET::::- The caper, the flower bud and berry of "Capparis spinosa" species, has been a famine food in southern Ethiopia and Sudan as well as in the 1948 siege of west Jerusalem.
  
  BULLET::::- During the Cambodian humanitarian crisis people ate tarantulas, scorpions, silkworms, and grasshoppers. Fried tarantulas later became a delicacy popular with tourists in the Cambodian town of Skuon.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Government cheese
  
  BULLET::::- Peasant foods
  
  BULLET::::- Staple food
   BULLET::::- During the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during the Second World War, Filipino and American servicemen resorted to consuming dog meat, monkey meat, and the meat of monitor lizards (referred to as "iguana lizards" in the source), pythons, mules, horses and carabaos as their supply of food dwindled.
  
  BULLET::::- In the semi-arid areas of Brazilian Northeast, the shoots and leaves of cactus "Opuntia cochenillifera" are normally used to feed the livestock (cattle and goats). But during long droughts, people may use them as a last resort.
   Evidence obtained from stable isotope analysis shows plant foods, including cereals, formed only a small proportion of their dietary protein. The majority derived from animals – i.e., meat, and milk or blood – and contained none from marine sources.
   Specially formulated foods do however appear useful in those from the developing world with moderate acute malnutrition. In young children with severe acute malnutrition it is unclear if ready-to-use therapeutic food differs from a normal diet. They may have some benefits in humanitarian emergencies as they can be eaten directly from the packet, do not require refrigeration or mixing with clean water, and can be stored for years.
   WWF and Knorr in a joint study, dated February 2019, name "Digitaria exilis" as one of the “50 future foods for healthier people and a healthier planet". WWF and the multinational Unilever (Knorr) teamed up to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the 50 Future Foods which people should eat more of in order to help reduce the environmental impact of food productions and to improve human health – "Digitaria exilis" has been identified as one of those ingredients.
  
  Section::::Nutritional value of "Digitaria exilis".:Volatile compounds.
   BULLET::::- Likewise, during the Siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War, the menu in Parisian cafes was not limited to cats but also dogs, rats, horses, donkeys, camels, and even elephants.
  
  BULLET::::- During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, due to a severe shortage of rice, the locals resorted to surviving on hardy tuberous roots such as cassava, sweet potato, and yam.
   Cellulosic biofuel production typically already creates sugar as an intermediate product. There are edible calories in leaves, but there is too much dietary fiber, so solutions include making tea, chewing and not swallowing the solids, and making leaf protein concentrate. Biomass can be predigested by bacteria so that animals that are poor at digesting cellulose can derive nutrition, such as rats and possibly chickens.
   BULLET::::- "Lunch:" jellied pike perch, borscht with meat, goulash with buckwheat, bread, black currant juice, sugarless tea
  
  BULLET::::- "Supper:" rice and meat, broccoli and cheese, nuts, tea with sugar
  
  BULLET::::- "Second supper:" dried beef, cashew nuts, peaches, grape juice
  
  BULLET::::- Swedish: Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang was not allowed to bring reindeer jerky with him on board a shuttle mission as it was "weird" for the Americans so soon before Christmas. He had to go with moose instead.
  
  NASA's Advanced Food Technology Project (AFT) is currently researching ways to ensure an adequate food supply for long-duration space exploration missions.
  
  Section::::Processing.
   The thermic effect of food is the energy required for digestion, absorption, and disposal of ingested nutrients. Its magnitude depends on the composition of the food consumed:
  
  BULLET::::- Carbohydrates: 5 to 15% of the energy consumed
  
  BULLET::::- Protein: 20 to 35%
  
  BULLET::::- Fats: at most 5 to 15%
   In recent years, space food has been used by various nations engaging on space programs as a way to share and show off their cultural identity and facilitate intercultural communication. Although astronauts consume a wide variety of foods and beverages in space, the initial idea from The Man in Space Committee of the Space Science Board in 1963 was to supply astronauts with a formula diet that would supply all the needed vitamins and nutrients.
  
  Section::::Classifications and types of food.:Traditional food.
   BULLET::::- In Polynesia, plants from the genus "Xanthosoma", plants known locally as "ʻape", were considered famine food and used only when the taro crop failed.
  
  BULLET::::- Several species of edible algae, including dulse, channelled wrack and Irish moss ("Chondrus crispus"), were eaten by coastal peasants during the Great Famine in Ireland of 1846–48. Further inland, famine foods included stinging nettle, wild mustard, sorrel and watercress.
  
  BULLET::::- Sego lily bulbs were eaten by the Mormon pioneers when their food crops failed.
  
  BULLET::::- Tulip bulbs and beetroots were eaten in the German-occupied parts of the Netherlands during the "hunger winter" of 1944-45.
   BULLET::::1. Holozoic nutrition: the word holozoic is made from two words- holo= whole and zoikos= animals and literally means animals which eat their food whole. Complex food is taken into a specialist digestive system and broken down into small pieces to be absorbed. This consists of 5 stages, ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and egestion. E.g.: human
  
  BULLET::::2. Saprobiontic/saprophytic nutrition: Organisms feed on dead organic remains of other organisms.
   A solution if the sun is not completely blocked is ocean fertilization because 0.1% of the ocean area undergoes coastal upwelling (bringing nutrients to the surface) and yet this produces 50% of the world's fish catch. Ruminants and other grazers can digest dietary fiber, but do not have enough offspring to feed everyone within 5 years. Mushrooms can grow directly on wood without sunlight. Some beetles can digest cellulose.
   Section::::Nutrients.:Minerals.:Essential dietary minerals.
  
  Include the following:
  
  BULLET::::- Chlorine as chloride ions; very common electrolyte; see sodium, below.
  
  BULLET::::- Magnesium, required for processing ATP and related reactions (builds bone, causes strong peristalsis, increases flexibility, increases alkalinity). Approximately 50% is in bone, the remaining 50% is almost all inside body cells, with only about 1% located in extracellular fluid. Food sources include oats, buckwheat, tofu, nuts, caviar, green leafy vegetables, legumes, and chocolate.
   The types of foods that can be eaten include:
  
  BULLET::::- Grains - barley, corn, millet, oats, rice, rye, wheat
  
  BULLET::::- Seeds - sunflower, sesame, flax, pumpkin
  
  BULLET::::- Legumes - soybeans, lentils, peas, peanuts, other beans
  
  BULLET::::- Succulent foods containing seed - bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, melons, okra, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, strawberries, and other berries.
  
  BULLET::::- Fruits - citrus fruits such as lemons and limes, palm fruits, sweet fruits
  
  BULLET::::- Nuts - almonds, Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, pecans, walnuts
  
  BULLET::::- Herbs (vegetables): beet greens, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, globe artichoke, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips
   Charity and relief organizations have created various formulas for this porridge. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints formula of atmit, which was sent in 2005 to Niger was made of the following:
  
  BULLET::::- 50% fine oatmeal flour
  
  BULLET::::- 25% nonfat milk
  
  BULLET::::- 20% sugar
  
  BULLET::::- 5% vitamins and minerals
   Each meal provides about 1,200 calories (5,020.8 kJ). They are intended to be eaten for a maximum of 21 days (the assumption is that logistics units can provide fresh food rations by then), and have a minimum shelf life of three years (depending on storage conditions).
   "Feeding Everyone No Matter What" is also known by organizations working on the prevention of Global Catastrophic Risks. Future of Life Institute published an article by author Dave Denkenberger and the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk published his lecture on the book. "Feeding Everyone No Matter What" was used as a resource in the Global Challenges Foundation Annual Report on Global Risks.
   Section::::Classifications and types of food.:Space food.
  
  Space food is a type of food product created and processed for consumption by astronauts in outer space. The food has specific requirements of providing balanced nutrition for individuals working in space, while being easy and safe to store, prepare and consume in the machinery-filled weightless environments of manned spacecraft.
   Some foods not from animal or plant sources include various edible fungi, especially mushrooms. Fungi and ambient bacteria are used in the preparation of fermented and pickled foods like leavened bread, alcoholic drinks, cheese, pickles, kombucha, and yogurt. Another example is blue-green algae such as Spirulina. Inorganic substances such as salt, baking soda and cream of tartar are used to preserve or chemically alter an ingredient.
  
  Section::::Food sources.:Plants.
  
  Many plants and plant parts are eaten as food and around 2,000 plant species are cultivated for food. Many of these plant species have several distinct cultivars.
   BULLET::::- Well-chewed whole cereal grains, especially brown rice: 40–60%
  
  BULLET::::- Vegetables: 25–30%
  
  BULLET::::- Beans and legumes: 5–10%
  
  BULLET::::- Miso soup: 5%
  
  BULLET::::- Sea vegetables: 5%
  
  BULLET::::- Traditionally or naturally processed foods: 5–10%
  
  Fish and seafood, seeds and nuts, seed and nut butters, seasonings, sweeteners, fruits, and beverages may be enjoyed occasionally, two to three times per week. Other naturally-raised animal products may be included if needed during dietary transition or according to individual needs.
  
  Section::::Practices.:Kitchenware.
   Plant-based food staples may not provide a full range of nutrients. The nutrient-deficiency disease pellagra is associated with a diet consisting primarily of maize, while the disease beriberi is associated with a diet of refined white rice. Scurvy can result from a lack of vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid. One author indicated that the nutritional value of some staple foods are negatively impacted by higher levels of carbon dioxide, as occurs in climate change.
  
  Section::::Nutrition.:Comparison of 10 staple foods.
   Dietary restriction has been shown to significantly increase lifespan in the human model of Rhesus monkeys as well as protect against their age related decline. More specifically, Rhesus monkeys on a calorie restricted diet had significantly less chance of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and age related cognitive decline than those monkeys who were not placed on the calorie restricted diet.
  
  Section::::Role in disease and aging.:Autophagy.
   As with all present forays into space, crews have had to store all consumables they require prior to launch. Typically, hard-food consumables were freeze dried so that the craft's weight could be reduced.
  
  Of course, in a self-sustaining ecosystem, a place for crops to grow would be set aside, allowing foods to be grown and cultivated. The larger the group of people, the more crops would have to be grown.
  
raw_presuppositions: there is a food that is nutritious enough for humans to survive indefinitely
raw_corrections: there really isnt a single food that provides everything you need.