[RumiDude]

I don't know if this has been shared before, but it looks like a good site and I thought I would share it here. It is geared specifically to climbers but most equally applies to hiking/backpacking. Climbing Nutrition Rumi <~~~~~likes to eat

[Magellan]

Thanks, Rumi. I will read it.

[RudyNeff]

Thanks Rumi for sharing it.

[JeffreyH]

Thanks for sharing! Seems like a really useful website.

[RumiDude]

Reviving this old thread to add a few videos from a different source about hiking nutritian. I agree with this in general, though I take a slightly different take on the need for protein, mainly based on other research I have come across. If I can find the links to that research, I will add it later. I have become more and more interested in nutritian in general and backpacking nutritian in particular as I have aged. I have learned that as we age, nutritian becomes even more important to maintaning optimal health. It's actually important in all periods of our lives, but it forces itself to the fore as we age. One word we should familiarize ourselves with is sarcopenia, the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. Anyway, here are a few longish videos if you are as obsessed with nutritian as I am. *bigmacronutrientgrins*

Please feel free to add to this thread other nutritial informational resources that you come across. Rumi

[neek]

Thanks, Rumi. These are pretty good. I've actually learned a few things. Watched #4 so far. Admittedly I may be one of the sodium skeptics he's poking at (especially in light of recent research). I do think in general we get way too much salt, but given that we can't really store it, I guess it's important on the trail. At least we don't have to follow people around and lick the rocks they pee on to get it.

[RumiDude]

I don't overly obsess about sodium intake, but I don't ignore it either. And that includes backpacking meals. I take electrolyte suppliment on trips, Emergen-C, and usually drink it before dinner on long hot and/or strenuous days. But I also eat a lot of nuts, which generally supply almost all my sodium, potassium, and mineral needs. In other words, I take suppliments with me just in case, but in practice I don't often use them because I get enough from my food. I fall in the middle ground when it comes to most of this. I "ballpark" most of my food needs. But that is easier now because at one point I calculated to the gram all my meals. I know how much I need now and that precision is not needed. Rumi

[sarbar]

The new wave of hiking meals in the past 5 to 10 years has had a lot less sodium. Which is good. Very few people need to be eating 2600 mg of sodium in 600 calories (and sadly, this isn't joking about those levels). Now days....you see 600 to 1200 mg sodium for the same calories. It's still high, but it's not scary high. And bonus you won't be thirsty all night after it ;-)

[RumiDude]

Well the real takeaway from all the stuff I have linked above is to take a comprehensive approach to trail nutrition. That neans having a good balance of macro nutients as well as getting proper water intake and electrolytes. Most people that wake up in the middle of the night thirsty, got that way because they didn't properly hydrate during the day. Most people that wake up sluggish or weak, got that way because they didn't get a good balance of macronutrients. Rumi

[Anne Elk]