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  1. #141

    Default Agreed with you on seaweed and instant potatos, AG...

    Quote Originally Posted by astrogirl View Post
    I love ramen AND I carry wakame to put in it.

    Seaweed is full of minerals lacking in a thruhiker's diet.

    I loathe instant potatoes, and I don't know how hikers can eat so much of them.
    But, I can't justify Ramen with any frequency. White flour (nutrient-reduced, fiber-lacking, and turns right to insulin-inducing sugar in your blood), way too much sodium even for summer hiking, and worst of all, lots of PALM oil. PO is just about the most saturated grease you can find, right up there with or worse than beef tallow, lard, or coconut oil.

    So, not only does PO have lots of highly undesirable superglue for your coronary arteries, it has reduced proportions of the essential fatty acids you DO need.

  2. #142
    I'm worth a million in prizes astrogirl's Avatar
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    OP, Mozzie

    If you really think that's what you want to mail drop yourself for 2000 miles, eat it for 6 days at home and see how it works out for you. Most people eat different food one day of the week on the trail on a town stop.

    If you love it, then you'll know.
    -----------------------------------------------
    obstacles are found everywhere, and in taking them, we nourish ourselves.
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  3. #143
    Getting out as much as I can..which is never enough. :) Mags's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by A-Train View Post
    Here's something to think about that is rarely talked about on the AT. Sending maildrops from the trail while hiking. This is done regularly on the PCT.

    That's what I did on past hikes. Wish I had thought about it for the AT.

    It is a great compromise between "Buy as you go" and having food waiting for you in smaller towns.
    Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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    The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau

  4. #144

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    1) Certain nutrients are too bulky to fit in a single small pill. For example, Calcium in my experience is not added to multis over about 10% of daily adult needs (and needs to be ingested more than once a day in any event).

    2) Not all pills dissolve as intended. If one passes through the digestive system without completely dissolving (known in the trade as "bullets"), its nutritive worth will be below what its label indicates. This is not rare, BTW.
    You already carry many pounds of readily-accesible calcium in your skeleton. You don't want to rely on it for any length of time but it's there to keep your body working whenever it's needed.

    I have never had a mulitvitamin pass through my system without dissolving. You can tell it dissolved if your urine turns bright yellow.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirby View Post
    If it has not been mentioned, read Jack's resupply article in the article section of this website, it is very informative, and I have had several thru-hikers said it is a great tool for resupply planning.

    Kirby
    The beauty of Jack's resupply article is that it goes beyond resupply. After a couple of weeks, you know exactly where in his ranges of days to cover a given distance you will fall. In a way, he knows where you will be better than you do even if he never met you. In addition, the article gives little suggestions and hints.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kirby View Post
    Anyone can chime in on this question.

    When using Jack's resupply article, did you buy food as you go, and create mail drops as needed, or did you create your mail drops ahead of time based on the article?

    Kirby
    Food drops are unnecessary. There are only three or maybe four places where they are needed. There are some really big grocery stores in places where you're likely to go and the small grocery stores have what you need. The only exception would be for someone on a special diet. There is way too much emphasis on mail drops. With postage so high, they don't save you money at all. Plus most people don't finish the trail and then have all that odd food. I still have poptarts from this summer I didn't eat while hiking--I wouldn't eat one at home if you paid me even though on the trail they make a great breakfast. Also, unless you've don't a lot of long-distance hiking in all seasons, how do you know what kinds of food and what quantities you will want four months into your hike?

  5. #145

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CoyoteWhips View Post
    Seems like it'd be easy enough to hard boil up to four eggs in an Imusa cup -- just did a couple on the supercat, just to test -- would you carry some for a quick snack? I think they'd be ok to the end of day.
    Quote Originally Posted by Blissful View Post
    You're right, that would be good. Boiled eggs don't keep as long as fresh, though, but should be fine in the cooler times of the hike.
    Quote Originally Posted by mudhead View Post
    Old Jack eats egg-whites and salmon. Heard him say: "People exceed the feed limit." "If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it." Clever.
    What an excellent thread this is. I've been aware of many of these issues for awhile.

    By the way, eggs carry well. Buy a dozen when you hit town and have a place to eat some and hard-boil the rest. I'd often carry a half-dozen out, and eat them over three days, There's hardly a handier breakfast.

    As for Jack laLane, yes, he's still around! You're probably right about the swim. The old YouTube videos are a hoot. But the guy speaks from his heart.

    Here's a video of the old man pulling a boat with his teeth, swimming backward:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QORwXyNb6E

    He was well ahead of his time nutritionally and wholistically, but they called him a health nut. Here's his 10-point plan, which is common sense today but quite radical and a source of derision in the 50s:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eB4c...eature=related
    and his impassioned plea to control blod glucose:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJVEPB_l8FU
    "The Ordinary Adventurer"
    http://www.FunFreedom.com

  6. #146

    Default Tater...

    I have never had a mulitvitamin pass through my system without dissolving. You can tell it dissolved if your urine turns bright yellow.

    All that that means is that you had at least part of the B-complex fraction of that pill go into your blood, and then into your urine. You could well have part of the B vitamins, or any other part of that pill go right through you, and you'd never know, unless perhaps you analyzed your feces. You didn't do that, did you?


    Food drops are unnecessary.

    So is lightweight hiking/camping gear, though it too is useful. What of it? My hike was more pleasant and I ate more nutritiously with using lots of mail drops.

    There are some really big grocery stores in places where you're likely to go

    Mostly, there weren't, actually.

    and the small grocery stores have what you need.

    Try and get decaf green tea, whole-grain Lipton/Knorrs Sides, and any of the foods I listed above as part of my mail drops in a Joe Bob's Grocery store.

    The only exception would be for someone on a special diet.

    As in, a nutritious one.

    There is way too much emphasis on mail drops.

    Why do you care if other people use mail drops to make their hikes more pleasant, convenient, or better-fed? Don't believe in HYOH?

    With postage so high, they don't save you money at all.

    There was a real, repeated satisfaction for me last year in not buying food at ripoff places in New England. I believe thieves should starve.

    Plus most people don't finish the trail and then have all that odd food.

    I managed to finish, plus I can use the leftover thruhike food for future hiking trips.


    I still have poptarts from this summer I didn't eat while hiking--I wouldn't eat one at home if you paid me even though on the trail they make a great breakfast.

    Actually, they're marginal nutritionally; white flour, too much sugar, no fiber, not much (if any) fruit, etc. They are inexpensive, familiar, moderately easy to store, require no cooking, and easy to find in a convenience store that is one of only 3 businesses in Deliverance, Virginia.

    Also, unless you've don't a lot of long-distance hiking in all seasons, how do you know what kinds of food and what quantities you will want four months into your hike?

    That is why you don't seal your maildrop packages pre-hike. Have your support person take out stuff you can't stand to look at anymore, and add in what you get cravings for, or simply find to work out well for you in a hiking situation. Besides, after reaching a certain age (not too far past mid-20s at the latest, I'd hope), people should come to know something about themselves and have some ability to predict their food tastes.

  7. #147

    Default Eggs...

    [quote=Jan LiteShoe;462624].

    By the way, eggs carry well. Buy a dozen when you hit town and have a place to eat some and hard-boil the rest. I'd often carry a half-dozen out, and eat them over three days, There's hardly a handier breakfast.

    Just remember to throw out the yolks. Satfat and water--best to skip. Better yet, of course, to not bring the yolks on the Trail with you to begin with.

  8. #148

    Default

    [quote=minnesotasmith;462632]
    Quote Originally Posted by Jan LiteShoe View Post
    .

    By the way, eggs carry well. Buy a dozen when you hit town and have a place to eat some and hard-boil the rest. I'd often carry a half-dozen out, and eat them over three days, There's hardly a handier breakfast.

    Just remember to throw out the yolks. Satfat and water--best to skip. Better yet, of course, to not bring the yolks on the Trail with you to begin with.
    Also a good source of choline. Brain food.
    Waste not, want not.
    ;-)
    "The Ordinary Adventurer"
    http://www.FunFreedom.com

  9. #149

    Default Still no need to eat egg yolks, Jan...

    [quote=Jan LiteShoe;462636]
    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post

    Also a good source of choline. Brain food.
    Waste not, want not.
    ;-)
    It would take almost FOUR egg yolks (with all that satfat and cholesterol) for a woman to get one day's RDA of choline from eggs (more for a man). A glass of skim milk has about the same amount of choline as an egg yolk, has calcium and other vitamins, and is easier to carry on the trail. Plus, liver contains significant choline, and the human body synthesizes a certain amount of it.

    Some other worthwhile food sources for choline (notice any potential hiker foods here?):

    butter, peanuts and peanut butter, potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, banana, milk, oranges, lentils, oats, barley, corn, sesame seeds, flax seeds, and whole wheat bread.

    Egg yolks? Put 'em in the trash where they belong.

  10. #150
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    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    That is why you don't seal your maildrop packages pre-hike. Have your support person take out stuff you can't stand to look at anymore, and add in what you get cravings for, or simply find to work out well for you in a hiking situation.
    Why isn't there a grocery store specializing in food drops for hikers? Yeah, probably only a couple hundred customers, but picking and shipping isn't rocket science.

  11. #151

    Default Actually, CW, I think you're on to a genuine business opportunity here...

    Quote Originally Posted by CoyoteWhips View Post
    Why isn't there a grocery store specializing in food drops for hikers? Yeah, probably only a couple hundred customers, but picking and shipping isn't rocket science.
    Any hiker that's going to be out on a hiking trail enough days to consider resupplying before finishing (so might want a one-stop food mail drop supplier) would be a potential customer IMO. Imagine being on a hiking trail on a hill in the middle of nowhere where your cellphone or satphone works, calling a place with a 24-hour order line (credit card in hand), and being able to arrange a very decent maildrop for as little as 48 hours off to a place that gets mail, but has little or nothing to buy...

    Yeah, there'd be hikers who'd make use of a service like that.

  12. #152

    Default

    You're right. It ain't rocket science. Which is why hikers can do it themselves, unless they're totaly clueless. Or you have reliable a "basecamp" person to handle your mail. It's not that hard.

  13. #153

    Default

    Minnesota Smith, I agree that if you eat weird stuff like shelf-stable whole grain bread from Germany or seaweed you need to do maildrops.

  14. #154

    Default Well, then, Tater...

    Quote Originally Posted by Appalachian Tater View Post
    Minnesota Smith, I agree that if you eat weird stuff like shelf-stable whole grain bread from Germany or seaweed you need to do maildrops.
    If using mail drops helps a thruhiker get markedly better nutrition during their hike, by avoiding a diet heavy in cr*p like Ramen, instant potatos, instant oatmeal, instant rice, white flour products, added-satfat PB, Tang/Kool-Aid, hot dogs, soft drinks, candy bars, etc., improving it by substituting whole-grained carbohydrates, low-satfat meats, sufficient protein and EFAs, Omega-3 sources (from fish or caplets), plenty of high-nutrition trail-practical concentrated vegetables, adequate calcium intake, etc., etc., so that their chances of finishing are significantly improved, don't you think that that is sufficient justification for using maildrops all by itself?

  15. #155

    Default

    [quote=minnesotasmith;462645]
    Quote Originally Posted by Jan LiteShoe View Post

    It would take almost FOUR egg yolks (with all that satfat and cholesterol) for a woman to get one day's RDA of choline from eggs (more for a man). A glass of skim milk has about the same amount of choline as an egg yolk, has calcium and other vitamins, and is easier to carry on the trail. Plus, liver contains significant choline, and the human body synthesizes a certain amount of it.

    Some other worthwhile food sources for choline (notice any potential hiker foods here?):

    butter, peanuts and peanut butter, potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, banana, milk, oranges, lentils, oats, barley, corn, sesame seeds, flax seeds, and whole wheat bread.

    Egg yolks? Put 'em in the trash where they belong.
    I have to differ with you on the egg yolk thing, one or two egg yolks per day isn't going to hurt anyone, and most of an egg's non-protein nutrition is in the yolk. There is no proven link between egg consumption and cholesterol levels, and there is no proven link between cholesterol levels and artery disease. The drug companies have hyped this to make a lot of money selling statin drugs, and then selling more drugs to counteract the side effects of the statins. The whole paradigm of what causes atherosclerosis is changing towards inflammation being the trigger that causes arterial disease. The first clue to this was an elevated C reactive protein being a far more reliable predictor of plaque formation than cholesterol levels.

    So, boil up a half-dozen eggs and eat one or two yolks and chunk the rest as you eat the eggs. Don't eat six eggs whites on a hot day unless you are drinking LOTS of water.

  16. #156

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    If using mail drops helps a thruhiker get markedly better nutrition during their hike, by avoiding a diet heavy in cr*p like Ramen, instant potatos, instant oatmeal, instant rice, white flour products, added-satfat PB, Tang/Kool-Aid, hot dogs, soft drinks, candy bars, etc., improving it by substituting whole-grained carbohydrates, low-satfat meats, sufficient protein and EFAs, Omega-3 sources (from fish or caplets), plenty of high-nutrition trail-practical concentrated vegetables, adequate calcium intake, etc., etc., so that their chances of finishing are significantly improved, don't you think that that is sufficient justification for using maildrops all by itself?
    No, I don't. For most people that diet is unreasonable. A thru-hike is not the time to go vegetarian, stop eating carbohydrates, or to force yourself to eat seaweed. If I wanted to eat good food I would cook and dehydrate real meals, none of that yukky health food crap like whole wheat macaroni, seaweed, or wheat germ. That stuff tastes awful. Also, fish oil can have high levels of mercury and it makes me burp and the burps smell fishy and that makes me nauseated.

  17. #157
    But I believe, yes I believe, I said I believe
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    Quote Originally Posted by Appalachian Tater View Post
    No, I don't. For most people that diet is unreasonable. A thru-hike is not the time to go vegetarian, stop eating carbohydrates, or to force yourself to eat seaweed. If I wanted to eat good food I would cook and dehydrate real meals, none of that yukky health food crap like whole wheat macaroni, seaweed, or wheat germ. That stuff tastes awful. Also, fish oil can have high levels of mercury and it makes me burp and the burps smell fishy and that makes me nauseated.
    Whole weat macaroni tastes nasty anyways.

    Kirby

  18. #158
    First Sergeant SGT Rock's Avatar
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    So does corn pasta. Yech.
    SGT Rock
    http://hikinghq.net

    My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT

    BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
    -----------------------------------------

    NO SNIVELING

  19. #159

    Default

    Rice pasta is good, though. Tastes like rice.

  20. #160
    First Sergeant SGT Rock's Avatar
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    Sounds like something to try, although I may have already tried that. Some oriental noodles I've eaten may have been rice pasta?
    SGT Rock
    http://hikinghq.net

    My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT

    BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
    -----------------------------------------

    NO SNIVELING

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