Caviar.
Whether you're a foodie or not,
chances are you have
some opinions on this food.
For some people,
the thought of eating fish eggs even once
is gross enough to turn them into vegans.
But what if you only ate caviar for a month?
Once, only royalty could eat caviar.
But in the 19th century,
this salty snack became a bar food
in the United States.
This seafood treat took the world by storm
and nearly wiped out the sturgeon fish.
The high demand for a nearly extinct
fish's eggs raised caviar prices.
Once again, only the rich could afford
to enjoy these precious bite-sized morsels.
But if this was all you ate,
The rules are simple.
No vitamin supplements
or spreading caviar on toast.
You'll only be consuming caviar and water.
And ditch the fancy silverware.
Metals taint the taste of the fish eggs,
so use your favorite plastic spork instead.
In polite society,
you might take two spoonfuls
of caviar at the most.
"What are you doing?"
But since this is your only source of nutrition,
that's not going to be enough.
And don't expect this stuff to be cheap.
We'll get to that in a minute.
While it takes some adjusting
to get used to this food,
you might feel some positive effects
during the first part of this diet.
For example,
caviar has a high level of acetylcholine,
which is a neurotransmitter
involved in retaining memories.
Your mom always told you
that fish is brain food.
Acetylcholine also lines the stomach
and increases your
body's tolerance to alcohol.
which can prevent blood clots
and lower your cholesterol.
For the first few weeks,
your skin might improve,
and your joints could even feel better.
And your dating life may improve too.
After all, caviar contains arginine,
which increases blood flow.
So this slimy treat
might be a powerful aphrodisiac.
But you may not want to get your heart
pumping too fast.
As you get further into this month,
you could start to feel the effects
of all the sodium
racing through your system.
If you're eating caviar for every meal,
you might consume
up to 11,280 mg (0.4 oz) of sodium,
more than five times
the daily recommendation.
Your blood pressure might
go through the roof,
increasing your risk of having a stroke
or developing heart disease.
Remember, caviar was introduced
as a bar food
to get patrons craving more beer.
Consuming only this salty seafood
would make you very thirsty.
And your kidneys can only take
so much sodium before
they start to retain water.
You could start to feel bloated,
and your hands and feet would swell.
You might suffer from hypernatremia
if the amount of sodium
in your body is too high.
You could also have problems sleeping,
breathing, urinating,
have seizures,
go into a coma or even die.
And since you're not eating anything
that provides vitamin C,
you're at risk of getting scurvy.
Early symptoms include nausea or diarrhea,
but later on,
you might have bruised, scaly skin
or bleeding gums.
Ewww.
Fine dining experts agree that
the best way is to feel the eggs
with your tongue instead of chewing them.
Since your teeth might be falling out,
that would be easy for you.
And all that animal magnetism
you had earlier would definitely
be gone now.
If you think your medical bills
might be high,
check out the price of the caviar.
Sturgeon roe can cost
anywhere from $65 to $85 for 30 g (1 oz).
Your body needs at least
2,000 calories a day to survive.
So to get that amount,
you would have to eat
almost 1 kg (2.2 lb) daily.
And that's eating the cheap stuff.
Going into debt
and dying slowly from sodium poisoning
probably isn't the way you want
to spend any month.
Maybe you'd better stick
to the two spoonfuls rule,
and leave the rest of the caviar
for other people.
But hey, you made it through
a month of eating one
of the saltiest snacks on Earth,
so now let's go for something sweet.
What if you only ate sugar for a month?
Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.