One way to keep yourself healthy is to stock some vitamins in your bug out bag or shelter. There are many multivitamin supplements out there on the market that have an expiry date beyond two years. Make sure that you stock up on tees and keep them with the rest of your foods in case you cannot obtain certain vitamin-rich produce or meat.

Most vitamins are fat soluble and store in your body but this is not true of Vitamin C and Vitamin B complex which are water soluble. Our bodies get rid of trace minerals quite easily as well so mineral supplements are important to keep us in peak physical and emotional health.

How well your body will survive hard times might depend on healthy you are in the first place. It is a good idea to keep fit and take your vitamins every day as a preventative measure against sickness and so that you are more hardy.  When we are under stress, especially anxiety, we use up the nutrients in our bodies faster.  It is especially important, when dealing with stress to make sure we have enough calcium, magnesium and all of the B vitamins as they help us stay mentally clear and psychologically well.

Minerals supplements keep for a very long item. Many vitamins are also still good even after the expiry date but they will not be as potent as they were when they were first bought. This means you do not after discard vitamins that are past the expiry date.  Taking expired vitamins is usually better than taking no vitamins at all. Vitamins, especially B vitamins, can develop a strong smell after a while but this also does not mean they have gone bad. Never eat a vitamin that is wet or appears to be covered with mold. Do not eat gel capsules with a substance inside that is melted as you do not know what has caused the gel cap containing the vitamin to degrade. You can also buy vitamin powders but her to keep them dry and also away from bugs and moths.

It is important to keep vitamins as dry as possible and most come with little freeze dried packs in them to keep them dried. If not then you can buy these freeze dried packs of silica to absorb moisture from the box or container where you are storing the vitamins. This will keep them fresh.

One thing that every survivalist knows is that dandelions are one of the most nutritious and plentiful of foods found in the wild.  If you are dealing with a post-apocalyptic scenario where you must forage for food then dandelions are very much needed.

Dandelions can be eaten plain or in a salad. However the larger leaves are bitter so save younger shoots for eating fresh. The best tasting leaves are the ones that have not yet turned green. They can also be steamed, broiled or fried like spinach.

You can also eat Dandelion flowers. You can brew tea out of the entire plant including the roots. Dandelion root tea is similar to coffee.  It stimulates without having too much caffeine in it.  The root can also be dried, ground up and shaken on other food stuffs to up the nutritional content.

Dandelions are nutrient rich. They contain potassium, sodium, phosphorus and iron. The leaves are a richer source of vitamin A than carrots. There are generous amounts of vitamins B, C and D in this miraculous edible plant. Herbalists value the herb mostly for its benefits for the urinary and glandular systems and as a liver and kidney tonic, due to its ability to enhance the efficiency of the body’s eliminative and detoxifying functions. It is a mild laxative and diuretic. It also purifies blood, heals, constipation and allays the discomfort  inflammatory skin conditions, joint pain, eczema and liver dysfunction—including liver conditions such as hepatitis and jaundice. As a tonic dandelion strengthens the kidneys and is a diuretic that helps eliminate poisons from the body.

Plantains are another kind of weed. There are both the U.S. and the English plantain. It is also sometimes called ribbed grass because it looks like a plant version of corked wool.  The narrow leaved variety can be boiled or eaten like salad.

Cattails are another nutritious and useful survival food. Cattail pollen can be collected in the spring and baked as bread. The green flower heads can be cooked or steamed like a vegetable. Ne shoots can be collected and cooked like asparagus. Roots of both mature and immature plants can be dug up at any time of the year and cooked and steamed like a potato.