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[RedLeader]

I still haven't found a selection of food I like to take hiking which is

a) Low maintenance
b) Decent calories
c) Warm
d) Bloody nice to eat

When you're on a peak with limited water, cleaning pots can be a wasteful pain but I don't particluarly like the MRE meals.

I read this in Ronald Turnbulls Book of the Bivvy:

The intensively researched, marketed and packed sports energy bar really does have almost as many calories as the same weight of custard creams.

He goes on to say that it doesn't really matter what you eat and that food in general has roughly 4cals per gram and therefore you are basically better eating food you enjoy than food you think is high energy/good for you.

On top of that he also said he didn't rate guzzling chocolate to keep energy levels up as it gives a sugar rush followed by a dip straight after.

[Scribble]

I find 2 gammon steaks do the trick for me .. You can fry easily and eat with anything either for your tea or for breakfast .. Think it has everything in it you need to keep you going also benefits from being able to eat it cold after cooked and all important it comes vacuum packed to keep weight down :-)

[ChuckMcB]

...you are basically better eating food you enjoy..

Def. agree.

The microwave rice and meal for one curry/bolognese/chilli pouch are still a winner with me. Boil them in hot water (use the hot water at the end for your tea/coffee/hot chocolate) then if you really don't want to dirty/bring along another pot, just pour a bit of the sauce at a time into the rice pouch, eat and repeat. (Dolmio Express 170g: 150 cal - Uncle Ben's express rice 250g: 184 cal. The sause is high in salt..but I reacon you have been sweating all day so an extra boost of salt would do no harm)

For breakfast, I'm with Andy: Pig is good   I've started using breakfast rashers (basicly thin cut spam type stuff), cut them in half cook them up for 5 mins (I've used a little water rather than oil and have not come down with anything - yet), hardly any grease comes out of them so your pot's clean-ish, chuck them into a bap, along with a couple of sachets of brown or red and eat while you cook the other half of the pack.

[twentyclicks]

Well - carbs and protein are about 4 calories / gram, fat is about 9 calories / gram which makes it more efficient to carry - although this only really comes into play over multiple days as the average man has enough fat reserves to run over 40 miles.

The main difference with a lot of the dehydrated stuff is that the (quite large) amount of water is removed - this has benefits if you are cooking where there is a supply of water, but for a summit camp where you need to carry the water anyway, it may as well be in the food and resemble something tastier and more natural!

Any high carb meal will give a blood sugar dip - sweet stuff it is more sudden, but a load of bread or pasta will drag you down too... so go easy on lunch.  Kendal mint cake is the worst, chocolate is a bit better, but mixing it up (like a fruit and nut bar) gives slower release from the nuts and butter and a mix of sugars from the choc and raisins (beware - dried fruit is really concentrated sugar).  Custard creams - again a mix of sugars and slower release starches.

The more intense the exercise the more your body will burn carbs as the energy is available quicker than with fat.  Typical hiking though should be ideally in the fat-burning zone, with the heart rate only soaring on the steep uphills or lugging a huge pack.  With some training your body can still be mostly fat-burning up to 75% Max Heart Rate.

What to eat on the hill?  Take the above into account, and what you'll enjoy.  What we eat normally isn't really that varied - it's just finding the best way to put that together in the wild. 


------ Now for the science bit ----------------------------------------------------------

The carb usage/storage system is quite complicated:
The body stores about 200g of carbs as glygogen in the muscles and liver.  There is always a small amount of glucose in the blood stream but it is quite critical - hence, if not burned immediately when absorbed from the gut the insulin is released to trigger glucose storage.  If our glygogen stores are full, it is turned into triglycerides and goes to adipose fat tissue.

As we eat a lot of carbohydrates, a lot of insulin is triggered - after so long eating like this the receptors on our muscles get desensitised to the insulin and other blood hormones, so when we use up the glucose in our blood, they don't realise to release some of the stores, and instead we get hungry for carby snacks... only a small amount of which is used, the rest having to quickly be stored as fat.

Then when we do some sustained "intense" effort (not normally) our muscles use up their stores of glycogen, and even eating a sugary snack may not help at this point because the drain/top-up system of the muscles is underused/developed and they are unable to take advantage of the blood sugar.  The body may start breaking down the muscle protein to make glucose.

--------------- End science bit -----------------------------------------

I do love cake and pizza, but I try to keep my carb intake around 150g/day unless I'm doing some major exercise.  Eggs, meat, cheese, lard, lots of veg, some fruit and a few biscuits are my main daily fair.  I've never felt better and frequently end up going without food for 16+ hours no bother (inc. cycling all round town).  Primal / crossfit-style for me, all the way
Per day, I want 100g protein (spread out due to limited absorption rate), 150g carbs, 200g fat - that's all the protein I can use, enough carbs to replenish reserves and enough fat to top me up to 2800 calories over all.  More carbs and fat for big days.

Although I'll prob use some for the mountain marathon, I have to laugh at those Mountain House meals - the most calorific I could find, for 2 people, only 1300 calories!!!  Guess I'll be having 3 guests.

[twentyclicks]

Crap -sorry, I get carried away.  Short version. 
Frankfurters, cheese, malt loaf, nuts.
Like cold food, like boil food, or get a stainless pot - a handfull of grit, grass, heather, snow cleans it up with no water.  Sterilise with alco wipe or over flame.

   3 lines, much better effort.

[RedLeader]

You know, I read the first one and thought Thats really interesting, but hold on - he didn't answer the damn question

Crap -sorry, I get carried away.  Short version. 
Frankfurters, cheese, malt loaf, nuts.
Like cold food, like boil food, or get a stainless pot - a handfull of grit, grass, heather, snow cleans it up with no water.  Sterilise with alco wipe or over flame.

   3 lines, much better effort.

[666_pack]

cheese, smoked meat, cous cous and some nuts........oh and never forget the Buckie

[RedLeader]

Tried Cous Cous at a family party. Had to wait till no-one was looking then empty it into a flower pot. I'd rather eat Mournes heather

cheese, smoked meat, cous cous and some nuts........oh and never forget the Buckie

[666_pack]

Tried Cous Cous at a family party. Had to wait till no-one was looking then empty it into a flower pot. I'd rather eat Mournes heather

cheese, smoked meat, cous cous and some nuts........oh and never forget the Buckie

now thats would be UL cookery

[Celt_Ginger]

Flip sake, all this high tech bumf about carbs and stuff is just bewildering, and frankly, I couldn't give a stuff. I take what I want to, which is usually home made. Stuff like corned beef hash, mince stew, beef in ale etc. It's made up at home, vac packed, frozen and then heated when I'm out. I'm really not that bothered by trying to save the last ounce or two. You're only going up the Mournes. It's not like it's Everest or even the Alps.

[666_pack]

Flip sake, all this high tech bumf about carbs and stuff is just bewildering, and frankly, I couldn't give a stuff. I take what I want to, which is usually home made. Stuff like corned beef hash, mince stew, beef in ale etc. It's made up at home, vac packed, frozen and then heated when I'm out. I'm really not that bothered by trying to save the last ounce or two. You're only going up the Mournes. It's not like it's Everest or even the Alps.

True but you have to make the most of whats available. We can't all be as "hardcore"as the NIBA



http://www.bushcraftni.com/bushcraftni.com/Blog/Entries/2010/1/8_Return_to_the_Cabin_in_the_Woods.html


 

[666_pack]

now,  back to j's dinner.

[LandyLiam]

i always chuck a few bananas in the rucksack, nice green ones  (usually yellow by end of a hot summer day) i've no idea how much carbs, protein, fat or even alcohol  is in them but they seem to keep me going and i've heard they release energy slowly, is this true? apparently the unripe ones also slow the auld bowels down too 

a little question to add to J's, what do you bring to drink? (non-alcoholic!!) is water the best or do these energy drinks have any real benefit, i.e. would a red bull shot get you up that final bit of Slieve Donard quicker?

[chris]

For the trips that we do you don't need to bother worrying about calories, energy intake etc. Just go with a light lunch you can eat on the move, something hot for dinner and the likes of porridge or similar for brekkie. O
If you want light weight then you'll have to accept a taste downgrade, If not then get ready for that little extra weight.

[chris]

Flip sake, all this high tech bumf about carbs and stuff is just bewildering, and frankly, I couldn't give a stuff. I take what I want to, which is usually home made. Stuff like corned beef hash, mince stew, beef in ale etc. It's made up at home, vac packed, frozen and then heated when I'm out. I'm really not that bothered by trying to save the last ounce or two. You're only going up the Mournes. It's not like it's Everest or even the Alps.

True but you have to make the most of whats available. We can't all be as "hardcore"as the NIBA

 

Remember mate if you can see your car... You ain't outside!!

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