Anyone Paleo or Primal do the AT?

[garlic08]

Crickets? You're new here, aren't you? Everyone has an opinion (or two), whether they know anything about the subject or not.

My wife is a type 1 diabetic on a paleo diet, and a past thru-hiker. It remains to be seen whether she can continue thru hiking on the paleo diet. We know some ultra-runners on paleo, and they're having a difficult time with it.

We also met this guy on our CDT hike: http://www.rawhike.com/. Not paleo, but interesting.

[JAK]

As far as meat goes, for resupply you could buy 10 pounds of fresh meat in town and haul it to the trail and have a feast on a few pounds while drying the rest into jerky. Or you could just buy jerky, but the former would be way more fun and totally primaeval, especially in bug season. You would also have to fight off bears, coyotes, and thru-hikers.

[Kookork]

Since OP is from Ontario he definitely knows about Tamagami. I used to go canoeing and hiking alone( with my dog) in that region frequently.The longest for 4 weeks long. I was not able to carry too much food since portage with a backpack and a canoe ( in my case inflatable kayak) was difficult so I started to rely on hunting and especially fishing to supply my food especially after the day 7 to 10. That was not a diet by choice but the only viable option I had.

I always had problem for the first few days adapting to the meat dominant diet ( and I am a meatetarian in normal life) but to my surprise after a few days I could hike and canoe better than before. I have to be honest there were times that I was dreaming about a loaf of bread or a plate of rice all night long and I was ready to trade a big Lake trout with just a small loaf of bread but that was more about me being a gourmet type of guy.

Long story short , I always lost a few pounds but felt really fresh and live. Upon coming back to civilization and my routine diet I always had problem adjusting to grain and wheat again and I used to fall in sleep and feel extremely lazy after having bread or rice or other type of wheat.

So if your body is adjusted( and is enjoying) such a diet I see no problem that you could make it work. Body's adaptation to natural diet is unbelievable.

[Wise Old Owl]

Yea I can get into that.... done it before... awesome... any trouble getting the fish into the Kayak?

[Kookork]

Yea I can get into that.... done it before... awesome... any trouble getting the fish into the Kayak?

Catching a fish in an inflatable Kayak is very tricky and sometimes you may end up puncturing your kayak. I use my empty open backpack laid on the floor of kayak to guide the fish from the water right to my backpack( my backpack smells fishy all the time no matter how many times I clean it) but the real problem fishing in an inflatable kayak is that the fish drags you and kayak wherever it wants until it gets tired. Once a big lake trout dragged me for about half a mile like I was a toy and when I finally caught the fish it was just around 4 pounds.

[Wise Old Owl]

Yea that's been my experience with a pike... I cut him loose ...

[k2basecamp]

My dogs eat Primal brand dog food. Its a bit heavy.

[Rocket Jones]

I've been eating paleo/primal for about a year now, off and on ("old habits die hard" is putting it mildly!).

Some possible strategies for the trail include:

proteins - beef jerky, pouched tuna, salmon and chicken, canned sardines, quinoa.
plants - dehydrated veggies from Harmony House or do your own. With the heavy exercise of long distance hiking, you could easily include potatoes, sweet potatoes and butternut squash into your diet without worries. Fruit too.
misc - if you can tolerate dairy, all kinds of cheese. Yogurt and cottage cheese when you can hit a real grocery store. For trail mix, any combo of dried fruit, sunflower/pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts, almonds, walnuts, etc. Dried seaweed to mix into your dinners for the minerals (weighs nothing). Make your own bars using honey. Add honey to your tea and olive oil, ghee and/or parmesan cheese to your meals for the calories.

Like mentioned above, eating paleo on the trail isn't terribly difficult, but getting enough calories can be. Also, like vegetarians, I believe that sometimes you're just going to have to be flexible about eating what's available at resupply.

[WingedMonkey]

Can one of you cave man followers explain to me where the dairy products came from back then?

[Prada]

I eat strict paleo and have been experimenting with it on the trail for the last 6 months. I'm not a thru-hiker, so I can't really comment on that aspect, but I truly believe your willpower is going to have something to do with that. I feel SO MUCH BETTER in life being paleo and have so much more athletic ability than ever before, so my desire to stick to the diet would drive me a bit there. I can also get by, still building muscle, on much less food bulk than before on grains, etc. I do CrossFit 5-6 days a week, so my activity level is pretty high of the trail as well. As long as I am balancing the proteins, carbs, and healthy fats I always seem to get the energy I need from my food. I will say that at times, depending on what I carry, it can be heavier than traditional trail food. But it's worth the sacrifice to me to feel good and get the performance. I also heal so much quicker, no joint stiffness or muscle soreness. Sleep like a baby, and I find my temperature is more easily controlled (don't get to hot or cold as easily).

Typical hiking food now includes:
Protein:
1. foil packets pink salmon and tuna (the chicken ones give me indigestion...)
2. homemade beef jerky
3. Paleo Kits ( http://stevesoriginal.com/ ) and his Paleo Crunch bars
4. Boiled eggs (keep for several days in a tupperware not peeled)
5. AMRAP bars ( http://www.amrapnutrition.com/ ) one of my favorite snacks, period. soooooooo good, and packs a punch for 300 healthy calories in 2.3 oz, 21g fat, 22g carbs, and 14g protein)
6. Homemade dehydrated tomato/meat/sausage sauce... and as gross as it sounds, I really like to eat mine with shredded coconut in it (mimicking spaghetti). It gives it more bulk, texture, and some nice sweetness.
Carbs:
1. Homemade dehydrated blueberries and strawberries
2. Carrots, oranges, and apples (again, heavy, but ok for just getting on the trail or just out of a town)
3. Homemade dehydrated sweet potatoes (can LIVE on these dipped in coconut oil, oh yeah!!!) and homemade dehydrated mashed white potatoes
4. Bananas and homemade dehydrated banana slices (amazing dipped in coconut oil, almond butter, or occasionally nutella, but I have to watch the dairy and it has skim milk powder in it)
5. Honey on everything, YES, I carry a "honey bear" on the trail, LOL
6. I might eat rice in a pinch. It's not paleo, but it does't seem to bother me as much as other grains, but it still makes me feel sluggish.
Healthy Fats:
1. Almond butter (raw, not from toasted almonds)
2. Olive oil
3. Coconut oil ( I tend to just eat this like candy... soooo yummy)
4. Shredded coconut
5. Almonds, walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
6. real butter (snag small foil packets when out to eat)
7. avocados ( treats for day one back on trail and when in town devour tons of them)

I don't do dairy at all anymore (discovered an intolerance) but that is totally up to the individual. I'm a little different than some, can eat the same thing for weeks on end, because my thinking has totally changed about food. It is just fuel now. It doesn't matter to me if it's the same daily.

When faced with a convenience store that has nothing? You can usually (and I say usually...) get eggs, beef jerky, nuts. If you just view food as fuel it can get you through till you get to a town, etc. Now, I don't know... after 1000 or 2000 miles, how I would fair... but I know how yucky I feel when I eat grains and processed foods... so I'd really do just about anything to be able to stick as closely with this diet as possible.

I hope something here helps.

[Prada]

Can one of you cave man followers explain to me where the dairy products came from back then?

Dairy is not paleo. I'm a cave-woman and I personally don't do dairy. lol. It's not on the list of paleo approved foods and I'm also intolerant to it (discovered this after giving it up). No other animal on earth drinks it's mothers milk after infancy except for man. This is the reason it's not considered a paleo food fwiw. But some people can eat it with no noticeable issues (other than the hidden inflammation they may or may not not feel)

[WingedMonkey]

Dairy is not paleo. I'm a cave-woman and I personally don't do dairy. lol. It's not on the list of paleo approved foods and I'm also intolerant to it (discovered this after giving it up). No other animal on earth drinks it's mothers milk after infancy except for man. This is the reason it's not considered a paleo food fwiw. But some people can eat it with no noticeable issues (other than the hidden inflammation they may or may not not feel)

Not to pick on you, but I don't see most of what you listed as being available to our ancient forefathers. I have no problem with anyone choosing what ever diet or foods they want.

I just don't see anything Stone Age about it.

[Prada]

Not to pick on you, but I don't see most of what you listed as being available to our ancient forefathers. I have no problem with anyone choosing what ever diet or foods they want.

I just don't see anything Stone Age about it.

LOL. No biggie. I realize what you mean. But of course we "paleo's" wouldn't eat the meat raw right off the bones, like they probably did 1000's of years ago. But mostly, what's on my list exists in nature, pretty close to the form I eat it (except for cooking or dehydrating, but that's a necessity). Fish, beef, eggs, fruits, nuts, honey. Pretty primal stuff. As far as the AMRAP bars, here's what;s in that: raw almond butter, coconut, egg white protein, sesame seeds, almond chunks, honey, cinnamon, sea salt. So even the make-up of the bars (which wouldn't have been around for cavemen) is primal foods.

But yeah, each to his own, and I always respect that. But I can tell ya... look at my gallery for what I used to look like before... now that I'm paleo: ummmm.... big difference! LOL Plus... all my previously wacked out bloodwork is now at perfect levels so I guess you can say it works for me.

[WingedMonkey]

I guess you can say it works for me.

That's all that really matters.

[Rocket Jones]

Can one of you cave man followers explain to me where the dairy products came from back then?

Female dinosaurs.

Seriously, the emphasis is on non-processed foods, avoidance of sugar and grains. Like anything else, there's a spectrum of belief and adherance ranging from doctrinaire to gentle suggestions. Kinda like gear weight impacting whether you're going to die out there in the middle of nowhere, or not.

[WingedMonkey]

Female dinosaurs.

Seriously, the emphasis is on non-processed foods, avoidance of sugar and grains. Like anything else, there's a spectrum of belief and adherance ranging from doctrinaire to gentle suggestions. Kinda like gear weight impacting whether you're going to die out there in the middle of nowhere, or not.

Although you jest, I do like to remind folks that dinosaurs and humans did not occupy the earth at the same time.


I guess I'm on an "American Ancestor Diet". I try and eat like my kin folk did off of what can be grown, gathered, raised or hunted. Try and avoid what is over processed or shipped around the world.

Sometimes it works, sometimes I have "needs".

[Namtrag]

If you think about it, in the far way back, our ancestors hiked great distances looking for food and never ate grains as they were not yet being cultivated.

[bfayer]

If you think about it, in the far way back, our ancestors hiked great distances looking for food and never ate grains as they were not yet being cultivated.

I am not trying to be snarky, but how did they come up with the idea to cultivate grains if they didn't eat them? Natural grain (various grass type seeds) had to be part of their diet or they would not have started collecting the seeds and planting them.

[treesloth]

I am not trying to be snarky, but how did they come up with the idea to cultivate grains if they didn't eat them? Natural grain (various grass type seeds) had to be part of their diet or they would not have started collecting the seeds and planting them.

The first cereal grains were not domesticated until about 10-12K years ago, Namtrag is correct.

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

(Not speaking from a soap-box) Evolutionary-wise, we just haven't 'gotten used to them' yet. So the problems they cause as a result of insulin and cortisol spikes are believed to be vast and complex.

[Feral Bill]

The first cereal grains were not domesticated until about 10-12K years ago, Namtrag is correct.

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

(Not speaking from a soap-box) Evolutionary-wise, we just haven't 'gotten used to them' yet. So the problems they cause as a result of insulin and cortisol spikes are believed to be vast and complex.

Just because they were not domesticated doesn't mean they were not eaten. Reread bflayer's post.