raw food hikers here?

[lucky luke]

hi,

are any hikers here that live on raw food? what do you take along?

i had a 3 day mountaineering trip last summer, and my pack was darn heavy loaded with apples and avocados, nuts and dried fruit. basically i ate 2 avocados a day along with 4 pounds of apples. the dry stuff got not touched and i hauled 4 pounds that i did not eat. i mostly had it the dried figs, plums, dates and nuts along because i did not know at all how much i would be eating. it was my first trip being raw.
i did not drink the entire trip, except one cup of coffe ( i know, not raw- but coffee was my sin at this time) per day, and i could have left the alc. stove at home. but then the cup weighed hardly nothing and i liked the safety aspect of a warm drink if i had to.
amazing enough i felt better than ever before through the whole trip and it was unforgettable how fast i recovered after the trip. no sore muscles, no sore joints. usually i would have been in pain for about 3-4 days after a trip like this one.
does anyone have recepies for raw food that can be prepared at home and packed to take along? apples are fun to eat, don´t turn bad easily, but are soo heavy.... maybe there is some meals that will weigh less, provide lots of calories, and i could add water since i am in the alps with water everywhere. thanks for any suggestion.

happy trails
lucky luke

[Foyt20]

You may want to look into dehydrating and re hydrating at home so you are not carrying all of that water weight.

I love me some dried apples, they are like candy.

[garlic08]

Contact this guy: www.rawhike.com (http://www.rawhike.com)

I met him on the CDT in '05 and he was doing just fine with his diet.

[jrnj5k]

whyd you do that?

[Kanati]

I often eat raw vegies such as sweet corn, peas, beans, tomatoes, and various leafty greens from our vegatable garden. We also have apple and pear trees which keep me supplied when the frost don't get the blooms. But I never thought about a complete diet of it on the trail. Interesting idea. Also intereting article posted on the website listed.

[fiddlehead]

Contact this guy: www.rawhike.com (http://www.rawhike.com)

I met him on the CDT in '05 and he was doing just fine with his diet.

I know Doug and have eaten some of the food he eats on the trail when he did the PCT around 2000 (? not sure of the exact year)
His food is very tasty, very filling, and he wasn't carrying any more weight than others that i saw.

He is an expert on raw diets and even teaches it I believe.
He once made me a pizza that looked like a real pizza. (didn't quite taste the same but was more healthy and quite filling)

[lucky luke]

hi guys,

thanks for the link.

well, i am not a fan at all of those lookalike meals. the food generally is way too fat for my taste (too many seeds and nuts and oils). i don´t enjoy it, and my stomach does not like it either. as far as eating goes i like it straight forward and simple. i´ld rather eat 10 apples than a (raw) pizza. and i don´t mind doing that for days.

so now we are back at all the water i am hauling without drinking. i don´t like dried fruit very much either. it is definitely only second best, and a dehydrated and again rehydrated apple is just never what it was before. i can accept and enjoy dried fruits for a snack, along with some nuts. like for a short lunch reach into the ziplock and get some dried apple slices, plums, cherries, berries etc, a handful of nuts and move on. but what about breakfast and dinner, my big meals. the thing i miss most on the trail is my vitamix blender and the fruit mixes for breakfast. green stuff for dinner with herbs and weeds i found along the trail during the day is just fine for dinner. but still if you haul cucumbers, tomatoes (ok, thats one fruit-veggie i enjoy if its dried), cauliflower.... , that would be eating like at home. darn, i am kind of stuck. i say no to most options offered and then i am complaining that i dont get the right answers.:-?

still i work out harder than at home and my food is less nutricious, less fresh and less tasty if i go dried. there i am , finally got very light with my gear only to have a heavy pack again... a sherpy comes to mind. hiking in fall to find fruit and berries and mushrooms.

i surrender to my heavy pack for right now. thanks for your help, please keep posting related links. i am still on the search!

happy hauls
lucky luke

[kyhipo]

hi guys,

thanks for the link.

well, i am not a fan at all of those lookalike meals. the food generally is way too fat for my taste (too many seeds and nuts and oils). i don´t enjoy it, and my stomach does not like it either. as far as eating goes i like it straight forward and simple. i´ld rather eat 10 apples than a (raw) pizza. and i don´t mind doing that for days.

so now we are back at all the water i am hauling without drinking. i don´t like dried fruit very much either. it is definitely only second best, and a dehydrated and again rehydrated apple is just never what it was before. i can accept and enjoy dried fruits for a snack, along with some nuts. like for a short lunch reach into the ziplock and get some dried apple slices, plums, cherries, berries etc, a handful of nuts and move on. but what about breakfast and dinner, my big meals. the thing i miss most on the trail is my vitamix blender and the fruit mixes for breakfast. green stuff for dinner with herbs and weeds i found along the trail during the day is just fine for dinner. but still if you haul cucumbers, tomatoes (ok, thats one fruit-veggie i enjoy if its dried), cauliflower.... , that would be eating like at home. darn, i am kind of stuck. i say no to most options offered and then i am complaining that i dont get the right answers.:-?

still i work out harder than at home and my food is less nutricious, less fresh and less tasty if i go dried. there i am , finally got very light with my gear only to have a heavy pack again... a sherpy comes to mind. hiking in fall to find fruit and berries and mushrooms.

i surrender to my heavy pack for right now. thanks for your help, please keep posting related links. i am still on the search!

happy hauls
lucky lukeNot to change the subject but are you the feller that would import your food from germany?ky

[Farr Away]

Maybe you could try drying your fruit mixes? Maybe blend them thick to start? It might be possible to powder these after they're dry, add water on the trail and end up with something like a smoothie.

You could also try doing the same thing with veggie mixes.

Side note: I have a vitamix, and I love it too. I actually got my 5 year old to love spinach - or at least to love the fruit smoothie I put the spinach in. ;)

[fiddlehead]

Please let us know what you end up eating after you hike.
No seeds, nuts, dried food, cooked food, oils, etc.

Maybe some shelter mice would be good? (fresh meat, you don't have to cook it, i guess)
Seriously, how about coconut cream (powdered) I think it has some fat in it though.

I'd really like to know what you end up with.
(i once brought 20 Burger King hamburgers to a trailhead in NC and handed them out. One guy swore he was a vegan and hadn't had meat in 3 years, he ate two of them and raved about the taste)

[JAK]

What is the definition of raw food in this context?
I think less processing and less packaging is definitely a good thing.
But to me its more common sense than something to right a book about.

[fiddlehead]

I believe it means food that has not been cooked.

[fiddlehead]

Cooking takes the enzymes out, and that's were most of the nutrition and vitamins come from.

[JAK]

Yeah, just looked it up. Cool.
Anything that includes fermented pickled herring is OK in my books. :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_foodism

[jrwiesz]

Maybe you could try drying your fruit mixes? Maybe blend them thick to start? It might be possible to powder these after they're dry, add water on the trail and end up with something like a smoothie.

You could also try doing the same thing with veggie mixes.

Side note: I have a vitamix, and I love it too. I actually got my 5 year old to love spinach - or at least to love the fruit smoothie I put the spinach in. ;)

Just a thought/comment on juicing and attempts to preserve-keep it for any length.

The longer one waits to consume your "blend", after you juice your fruits and veggies, the more the nutritional value declines. That is the advantage to juicing; you must consume it now, or much of your benefits are lost to oxidization. Pasturization has much the same results of lost nutritional value, only it is "cooked" out; drying will do almost the same thing.

I don't know that luke is going to be so lucky in his search; especially with the desire to stay away from the "fats" he has reservations about in the nuts. One might have a good shot at it[raw foods] along the AT, with all the chances to get into "town". But even that will most likely be difficult in the more remote resupply stops. Along the trails in the Alps, I would think it real difficult; unless there are public fruit orchards and wild edibles always growing along the trail. Good luck in your search lucky luke; keep us posted should you hit the jackpot.

I think going organic, with as many whole grains, legumes, and nuts, supplemented with some fresh produce[as tolerated with their weight penalty] and dried fruits[there is a company in Hawaii that makes some excellent mixes without chemical preservatives] is the best one might hope for.

I always take products from:

http://www.maryjanesfarm.com

lucky luke check out that site and there may be some offerings you may be able to tolerate. Lentil Bisque, Black Bean and Corn Chowder, Chili Mac and Cheese, Nick's Couch Potatoes, are some of my favorites; all require boiled water but not much else, as all the seasoning is done for you.

In addition to MJ's products I consume protein powder, my multi-vitamins, home made trail GORP[raw nuts, raisins, dried cranberries, etc.], home made venison jerky/summer sausage, and whatever wild edibles I am lucky enough to acquire along the way[fish/frogs if I catch them also].

Just some food for thought; again, good luck in your search.:sun

[dradius]

i have no useful advice to offer, but did want to say that i admire your choice and dedication. :)

[sarbar]

Seriously, how about coconut cream (powdered) I think it has some fat in it though.

Very high in fat. 9 grams per serving. Can be used in cold or hot water, though it is fine enough to eat without being used in water.

I have to ask though...if you are a vegan and only eating raw foods - but not a lot of oils, fats and nuts/seeds...how are you surviving? I can see it for short term that it could work - but what happens when you get down to far in weight, when doing hard exercise?

On the vegan thing...I was a vegan for a couple years, including my pregnancy. A couple weeks after I had my son I had a craving for meat that I could not control. I literally HAD to have it. I ate (wolfed) a burger down, had a gut ache like nothing else but felt fine for the first time since having the boy. Since then for the past 11 or so years I have eaten meat, but on a very small basis. As I started weight training in January I found my craving for meat has come back. I hate it but yeah, I eat a little, it goes away. I'd prefer to not eat meat but I listen to my body.

[lucky luke]

high folks,

thanks for the replies. finally i find time to get back to you.

@sarbar. i live excellent, (no survival!!) on dr. douglas graham´s 80/10/10 diet. there is a book with that title if you are interested. minimum 80% of my calories come from fresh ripe fruit in the form of carbohydrates (sugars), max. 10% come from protein, and again max. 10% come from fat. protein is mostly filled with veggies and fruit. and fat, well that won´t give you many nuts or oils to eat. a salad with 2 tablespoons of olive oil (=100% fat based on calory-intake) will end up like 70-80 %fat as far as the caloric intake goes. the green stuff does not hold many calories, but its mostly the minerals you want from it. so i am down to a handful of nuts between meals (they will bloat you if you mix with fruit) and an occasional shot of oil with the salad.

i have not lost a single gram of body weight since i became a raw-vegan more than a year ago.

i have never had a strong craving for MEAT since i gave up meat about 7 years ago. i did have a strong craving for the feelings and memories i had in my mind from eating (as a treat) meat. i liked the memories of social event like barbeque, etc. i still love the smell of a roasted porkleg or a salted and spiced up chicken. mostly its the spices that trigger my memories. i never felt like i have to eat meat. the hardest thing to stop was bread and cheese. i faded away after like 3 months.

@jrwiesz. in the alps its going to be no problem to resupply. it will mean eating whatever is available in the small mtn villages. it will be little variety for an outragous price. or blueblazing into town 30-50 miles away. you´ld spend a day for shopping. you can hike on trails that will lead you into a village every other day. trails all over the alps going criss-cross everywhere. going organic is definitely not something i want to settle for. organic yes!!!, but also raw and vegan for me. i hate second best.

@fiddlehead. "...Please let us know what you end up eating after you hike...." definitely nothing but fruit AFTER a hike, definitely not a burger, not even a really good one.

shelter mice would be okay, if i were not vegan. and then you want the whole thing. like i eat an apple with the seedhouse in it, one should eat the mouse like the wolf does. with fur and bones and intestines and whats in there. my dog gets real shiny silky fur when he catches mice.

@jak. raw means not heated. sun dried is maximum in heat for dehydration. so no processed food at all. you might want to google with "natural hygiene", or again dr. graham explains this really well in his book.

@Farr Away. the dried fruit mixes. that is one thing i will try and experiment with. thanks.

@kyhipo. i live in germany, and i would never import food from germany. what for. it only get even older. apples from argentina to the usa via germany????

cu
lucky luke

[lucky luke]

@jrwiesz. in the alps its going to be no problem to resupply. it will mean eating whatever is available in the small mtn villages. it will be little variety for an outragous price. or blueblazing into town 30-50 miles away.


hmm, got the colors mixed up meant yellow-blazing... it been a while since i was on the AT.

[sarbar]

@sarbar. i live excellent, (no survival!!) on dr. douglas graham´s 80/10/10 diet. there is a book with that title if you are interested. minimum 80% of my calories come from fresh ripe fruit in the form of carbohydrates (sugars), max. 10% come from protein, and again max. 10% come from fat. protein is mostly filled with veggies and fruit. and fat, well that won´t give you many nuts or oils to eat. a salad with 2 tablespoons of olive oil (=100% fat based on calory-intake) will end up like 70-80 %fat as far as the caloric intake goes. the green stuff does not hold many calories, but its mostly the minerals you want from it. so i am down to a handful of nuts between meals (they will bloat you if you mix with fruit) and an occasional shot of oil with the salad.

Ah...OK, so you do consume nuts and oils. That wasn't clearto me at the start.

[garlic08]

I just found a book in our kitchen, "Raw, the UNcook Book", by Juliano. (If anyone's interested.)

[kayak karl]

i read David Wolfe's Sunfood Nutrition and was on the diet for a month for an ex-girlfriend:rolleyes:. if was hard to find food that fit the diet, even in philly. Whole Foods store was the only one stop shopping. i be interested in a daily diet you come up with. please post it. anythink is possible if you want it enough.

[JAK]

This thread has gotten me thinking of eating alot more blueberries.
We get them local, about $15 for a 5 pound box.
For hiking I could dehydrate 5 pounds down to about a pound maybe.

Not sure how much per day.
Maybe up to a pound 3 cups, or about 1 cup and 100g dehydrated for hiking ???

To be considered 'raw' i would need to sun dry them. I might cheat and use the oven as we don't get hot enough days. Maybe with a reflector. I think traditionally the natives dried them by smearing them on birchbark and wrapping them up in the birchbark. Can't remember where I heard that. They used them in pemmican also. I might try that.

I'm still a big oats man though.