Food tips for trekking

Trekking is such a great activity. You get to be far from the office and enjoy the beautiful landscapes. You also get sun exposure, which is pretty much absent from city folks’ lives nowadays. Trekking is fun because it reminds us of our ancestors’ daily activities. Lots of slow walking, some climbing here and there, and camping at night. Most of all, it reminds us that their lives were not centred around stress. They were highly stressed when they met predators, but that’s about it. Civilization is built on stress. The state and the job employers tell us how much we should produce and we have to respect a deadline. Let’s see how you could improve your performance by eating the right foods whenever you go out trekking.

Conventional wisdom argues that we should be eating a lot of carbohydrates instead of fats during the activity. Indeed, according to them, carbohydrates digest faster, so they provide the energy you need quickly. To a certain extent, I would agree. In the case of elite long distance runners, high carbohydrates drinks are the norm among these guys. I do have to state that more and more runners are starting to do it the primal way (using fat instead of carbs). But, do you really need high carbohydrates food whenever you go out with your friends or family to do some light trekking ?

For example, let’s take a look at the trekker lunch box presented by nutritionist Isabelle Huot in Le Journal de Montréal on June 7.

Lunch

1 Tuna sandwich on a ciabatta bread

1 Vegetables juice

1/2 cup Cherry tomatoes

25g Low fat cheese

2 tbsp Cashews

125ml Fruit salad

125ml Apple juice

Snack

1 energy bar or 1 soya milk

In this article, she argues that fat is bad for trekking. Her first argument states that fat takes longer to digest. Unlike when you eat sugar, you won’t get a quick energy hit when you eat fat. Her second argument is that fat tends to make you full. Her last argument is that your performance will suffer if you don’t eat enough carbohydrates during your activity. Let’s take a closer look at those claims.

First, it is true that fat takes longer to digest. But is that a bad thing? Let’s not forget that fat takes longer to digest because it provides you with more energy than carbohydrates (9 calories versus 4 calories).  On top of that, the energy fat provides is long lasting and has little or no impact on blood sugar. This is crucial if you want to enjoy your trip.  I’m sure nobody here wants an energy crash during his long trip. To prevent an energy crash with the high carb way, you would need to get a hit of sugar every hour or so. This seems like a way to ruin a fun activity.

Second, I would argue that any food has the power to make you full. She points out that fats tend to satisfy us more. Again, what is wrong with that? To me, it seems like it is the key to enjoy the trip. I would much prefer to look at the landscapes and keep moving than eating every two hours (every time you get an energy crash from the high sugar foods you are eating). Also, let me point out that high carb foods (especially bread) tends to make people bloated. Accordingly, I would argue that being bloated is worst than being full. Lastly, if being full makes you feel bad during an activity, just eat less!

Third, high carbohydrates are not needed for performance (especially in the case of low intensity cardio). Here is an example from my daily life. I workout on gymnastics rings two to three times a week. I also have a sprint session during the week. On top of that, I also practice Karate twice a week. My carbohydrate intake is at 80-120g/day at the moment. If carbohydrates were a must for performance, I would love to know why I set personal records weekly in my training. Also, if anyone could explain to me why I am never sore the next morning because I efficiently recuperate from my training, that would be great. Ah, I get it, that’s because I’m young… Joking aside, our ancestors did not fuel their daily trekking or hiking sessions with sugar. If there is anybody for whom performance was really importance, it was them. A bad performance would have upped the chances of being victims of natural selection.

So what did our ancestors eat ?

Either nothing or some dried meat and maybe a few fruits. See, I am not anti-carbs. However, I believe carbohydrates should not the base of your diet and they should not necessarily fuel your activities. I also believe we have to stop thinking that carbs equal good energy and fat equal bad energy or stored body fat.  Fat is a great source of energy and it is very much needed for a ton of things – including absorbing fat soluble vitamins. Let’s take a closer look at this. North American natives are known to eat pemmicans. Some African tribes prefer meat jerky. Also,  I remember, when I studied North American Indians in college, that they sun dried meat. It was an important activity for them because it was the only way they could preserve food. Accordingly, dried meat was the first ”energy bar” the human species has had access to.

So let’s take a look at the revamped trekker lunch box.

Primal Journal Lunch Box

A few homemade meat jerkies (beef, buffalo, etc)

Dried vegetables (mushrooms, celery, etc.)

Fresh vegetables

Homemade dried soup base (grounded dried meat and vegetables, herbs and spices, etc)

1 or 2 fruits of your choice (apple works good)

1 small marrow bone (bring it frozen so it serves as an icepack too!)

Nuts (optional)

Coconut milk (optional)

Water

The cool thing about this lunch box is that it is convenient. Snack on jerkies, fresh vegetables, nuts and fruit during the day. In the evening, when you establish camp, all you need is to boil some water with some of the homemade dried soup base. Then, add in your marrow bone. When the marrow is cooked, add in some pieces of jerkies and the dried vegetables. Cook until the meat and vegetables are ready. Ain’t it great? The lunch box is not going to weight a ton because most of its content is dried.