In Project Zomboid, proper nutrition isn’t just about avoiding starvation—it directly impacts your strength gain, endurance, movement speed, and melee damage. Understanding how calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrates work in the game will help you stay fit and maximize your survival chances.

This guide explains how nutrition affects your character and what foods are best for maintaining optimal performance.

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How Nutrition Works in Project Zomboid

Your character has a hidden Nutrition Bank, which stores values for protein, fat, carbs, and calories. These values constantly decrease over time, and maintaining the right balance gives you major in-game advantages.

1. Protein: The Strength Booster

• Why It Matters: Affects strength experience gain.
• How It Works:
  • If you have 50+ protein stored, you gain a +50% experience bonus to Strength.
  • If protein drops below -300, you get a -30% Strength XP penalty.
• Loss Rate: -3 protein per in-game hour.
• Best Sources: Meat (Ham, Rabbit, Chicken), Peanut Butter, Oats.

2. Calories: Weight Management

• Why It Matters: Controls weight gain/loss, affecting movement speed, endurance, and melee efficiency.
• How It Works:
  • Above 1600 Calories: Weight gain (Arrow Up indicator).
  • Below 0 Calories: Weight loss (Arrow Down indicator).
  • Ideal weight: ~80 kg to avoid penalties.
• Loss Rate: Depends on activity level.
• Best Sources: Peanut Butter, Cereal, Oats, Ham.

3. Carbs: Weight Gain Accelerator

• Why It Matters: Affects how fast you gain weight from excess calories.
• How It Works:
  • 400+ Carbs Stored: 2x weight gain from calories.
  • 700+ Carbs & 700+ Fat: 3x weight gain from calories.
• Loss Rate: -12.5 carbs per in-game hour.
• Best Sources: Cereal, Bread, Oats, Rice.

4. Fat: Long-Term Energy Storage

• Why It Matters: Affects weight gain and helps with long-term survival.
• How It Works:
  • 400+ Fat Stored: 2x weight gain from calories.
  • 700+ Carbs & 700+ Fat: 3x weight gain from calories.
• Loss Rate: -4 fat per in-game hour.
• Best Sources: Peanut Butter, Ham, Cheese, Butter.

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Hidden Mechanic: Extreme Starvation Penalties

The game’s code contains unused mechanics that could severely punish players for prolonged malnutrition:

• If protein & fat drop too low, endurance recovery is completely destroyed.
• This is not active in the game (yet) but could be added in future updates.

Takeaway: Always keep some fat and protein sources in your diet to avoid potential penalties.

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Cooking Boosts Nutrition

• Higher Cooking Skill = More Nutritious Food
• Salads, soups, and other prepared meals gain extra nutrients when made by a high-level cook.
• This means a skilled cook can stretch food supplies further by increasing their benefits.

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Best Emergency Food Stash (Long-Term Storage)

If you’re stockpiling food for long-term survival, these are the best items:

Food Item	Calories	Protein	Fat	Carbs	Shelf Life
Peanut Butter	2671	99	236	92	Non-Perishable ✅
Cereal (Box)	2200	60	5	400	Non-Perishable ✅
Canned Oats	1800	72	48	300	Non-Perishable ✅
Full Ham	2100	140	80	50	Perishable ❌

• Peanut Butter: The best emergency food—covers daily calorie, protein, and fat needs.
• Cereal: Great for calories and carbs, lasts forever.
• Canned Oats: Balanced carbs, protein, and fats.
• Ham: Best protein source, but perishable.

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Final Tips for Managing Nutrition

✅ Keep weight around 80 kg for best movement speed, endurance, and melee damage. ✅ Eat protein-rich foods to gain Strength XP faster. ✅ Use peanut butter & canned foods as emergency rations. ✅ Monitor your calorie intaketo avoid malnutrition effects. ✅ Level up cooking to maximize food benefits.

With the right nutrition strategy, you’ll stay strong, fast, and well-prepared for the apocalypse. Stay safe, survivors!