Semi-realistic Regeneration and corresponding Increased Consumption

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

I'm reminded of a kid who was born with the disease that he constantly generates skin cells. I imagine regeneration of this magnitude would be similar in idea. The person in question has to eat thousands (It was an absurd amount... something like 8,000 to 12,000?) of calories in protein a day or die.

I think that's a bit of a misdirection as he obviously was not using all that protein for fuel. So the caloric density means little as he used it for building materials.
No normal sized human could breathe fast enough 24/7 to oxidize 12k Calories worth of food a day. Just imagine breathing five times as fast as you do normally but constantly.
I remember the poor guy you're probably thinking of. Feeding tube during the night to ingest the sheer volumes of pure protein slurry needed. Even the dual facts of his constantly red cracked sloughing skin and that he swam in the salty ocean made me cringe.