how many is tooo many mail drops?

[minnesotasmith]

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.

1) Check out the book "The Paleodiet" (book and website by a female medical anthropologist). Apparently, for over 99% of the time humans have existed, their diet contained very little satfat, most fat coming from plant sources, few sugars other than from whole fruit, and few simple starches (like white flour or polished rice, as opposed to whole grains when they could get them). As has been noted earlier in this thread, the modern Western diet as the unaware follow it is linked to many illnesses.

2) I advised earlier against being a vegetarian due to the neccessary nutrients that are difficult to obtain in adequate quantity and quality.

3) Agreed that a thruhike is not the ideal time to make all kinds of changes in one's diet to make it more healthy. NOW is the time to start eating healthily, so to make it a lifelong pattern. An aspiring thruhiker would do best to be as healthy as possible BEFORE starting his hike; that means not only weight and exercise fitness, but nutrition.

4) Whole-grain macaroni CAN have sauces added to it. Spice up what you mix with it, and you'll not have an issue with its taste. I now prefer skim milk and whole-wheat bread over the greasy/nutrient-reduced the nutritionally unaware commonly eat.

[Mags]

I find the "see food" diet worked well for me on thru-hikes. I saw food in the grocery store, I bought it, I ate it, I hiked.

When can talk about nutrition until the cows come home, but all I know is that my hikes were fueled by Snickers, Mac n' Cheese, Stove Top, Little Debbies (and burgers and ice cream in town) and somehow I manged to do X amount of miles over the years.

(Here's a perenial "favorite". My chart from the Colorado Trail of the food I ate! )

When I am off trail, I try to eat lean meat, fresh veggies and non-processed food in general (but still love my post-hike burger and beer!).

So I think you'll do fine with a "buy as you go" (With some possible mail drops ahead to places like Harpers Ferry, Fontana Dam and other points like A-train, Baltimore Jack and other have mentioned). I suspect there is a reason why most former thru-hikers lean strongly to the "Buy as you go" plan on the AT!

[Appalachian Tater]

1) Check out the book "The Paleodiet" (book and website by a female medical anthropologist).

Does it somehow impress you that a female could write a book?

I never met a sauce I didn't like except for some made from fermented fish, but I don't use them to make unpleasant foods palatable. If something tastes bad, I just don't eat it. That lessons my chances of being poisoned.

[DavidNH]

I wood say.. Have a mail drop if you are going to spend the night in a town, or if you are passing through the town and there is no good market. Any more than that makes little sense. You COULD get by with zero mail drops.

Places that really make sense for a mail drop

NOC
Fontana Dam
Perrisburg (this is a good place to switch winter bag for summer bag)
Glencliff
maybe Monson.

It makes no sense to have a mail drop in a place like, for example, Hanover, NH where the trail goes right past the Hanover Coop. Also I think it is Davisville, VA where the trail goes to with in about 0.3 miles of what seemed to me the biggest supermarket in the univers..Krogers.

David

[astrogirl]

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.

OMG! What a sweeping statement. I like all three of those things, and I'm no health food nut. To each his own.

[Jan LiteShoe]

[quote=minnesotasmith;462645]

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.

Here's an excellent layman's site on the nutritional benefits of eggs, with the science references listed at the bottom:http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname...healthbenefits


I think people are waking up to the fact that the human diet is changing, and not for the better.
For those interested in taking another look at their nutrition in general (if we are what we eat), here's a terrific starting point, a website that goes into incredible detail on the world's healthiest foods (including MS's favorite blackstrap molasses):
http://whfoods.org/foodstoc.php

You can sign up for simple, healthy recipes to be emailed to you. I'm doing the mushroom-barley soup tonight (thank god for Crock-pots!). Low on the glycemic index and stuffed with healthy mushrooms.

Like Mags, off-trail I tend to eat whole, unprcessed foods. Reading labels these days tends to be an alarming process for the informed. (Note: these are not the foods our parents grew up eating, and they have more to do with economics than sound nutrition).

From the FAQ at the bottom of the URL listed above:"
FAQs about the World's Healthiest Foods
Criteria for The World's Healthiest Foods
Among the thousands of different foods our world provides, the majority contain at least several of the nutrients our bodies need but to be included as one of the World's Healthiest Foods they had to meet the criteria listed below.
The criteria we used will also help you understand why some of your favorite (and also nutritious) foods may not be included on our list. For example, Readers have asked why pomegranate, a very nutritious food, is not included on our website. While pomegranates taste great and are rich in vitamins and flavonoid phytonutrients, they are still rather expensive which makes them not as widely available to many people.
1. The World's Healthiest Foods are the Most Nutrient Dense
The World's Healthiest Foods have been selected because they are among the richest sources of many of the essential nutrients needed for optimal health. We used a concept called nutrient density to determine which foods have the highest nutritional value.
Nutrient density is a measure of the amount of nutrients a food contains in comparison to the number of calories. A food is more nutrient dense when the level of nutrients is high in relationship to the number of calories the food contains. By eating the World's Healthiest Foods, you'll get all the essential nutrients that you need for excellent health, including vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, essential fatty acids, fiber and more for the least number of calories. Read more about Our Food and Recipe Rating System.
2. The World's Healthiest Foods are Whole Foods
The World's Healthiest Foods are also whole foods complete with all their rich natural endowment of nutrients. They have not been highly processed nor do they contain synthetic, artificial or irradiated ingredients. And whenever possible, The Healthier Way of Eating recommends purchasing "Organically Grown" foods, since they not only promote your health, but also the health of our planet."



Bon apetit!

[minnesotasmith]

I find the "see food" diet worked well for me on thru-hikes. I saw food in the grocery store, I bought it, I ate it, I hiked.

When can talk about nutrition until the cows come home, but all I know is that my hikes were fueled by Snickers, Mac n' Cheese, Stove Top, Little Debbies (and burgers and ice cream in town)

Ah, what corner-cutting the young can get away with. Those of us who are older (or the younger wanting to maximize their pace and/or odds of completing a major hike) need to be more detail-oriented WRT their trail diets, among other things...

[minnesotasmith]

Does it somehow impress you that a female could write a book?

I am of course aware that the majority of human geniuses (and morons) have always been male, not to mention the majority of writers of transcendant-quality books. However, I consider the most important nonscience-subject author of the 1900s to be a woman.

I was simply giving a more full description of the author of the "Paleo Diet" book, whose name escaped me at the time.

[Mags]

Ah, what corner-cutting the young can get away with. Those of us who are older (or the younger wanting to maximize their pace and/or odds of completing a major hike) need to be more detail-oriented WRT their trail diets, among other things...

..or those who just want to make life more difficult for themselves?

( Max my pace? Cripe... that's funny)

[minnesotasmith]

I don't deny that some high-satfat foods have some worthwhile nutrients. I simply advocate obtaining those nutrients from other sources that don't have that drawback. If anyone can list a nutrient found in egg yolks that can't easily be found in other foods, I'd like to see it.

[mudhead]

..or those who just want to make life more difficult for themselves?

( Max my pace? Cripe... that's funny)

Hey Mags-

If you had eaten the MS way, you might have been able to walk more than six miles per day. I heard you ate Little Debbie.

[Appalachian Tater]

However, I consider the most important nonscience-subject author of the 1900s to be a woman.

I'm sure she appreciates an endorsement from such a forward-thinking person but she probably didn't need you to consider whether or not she was a woman.

[Mags]

Hey Mags-

If you had eaten the MS way, you might have been able to walk more than six miles per day.

If only I could match MS' pace. Sigh....

[CaseyB]

Re-read MS's last couple of posts: He mentioned the 1st author was female only b/c he couldn't remember her name. 2nd female author referenced only to defend himself. Just say'n.

[mudhead]

If only I could match MS' pace. Sigh....

After you break a leg, maybe.

Re-read MS's last couple of posts: He mentioned the 1st author was female only b/c he couldn't remember her name. 2nd female author referenced only to defend himself. Just say'n.

While he has not yet crossed the line, he is approaching "I wouldn't fart in a bottle for him if he were suffocating," status.

It's a Maine thing.

[minnesotasmith]

I'm sure she appreciates an endorsement from such a forward-thinking person but she probably didn't need you to consider whether or not she was a woman.

1) The author in question had regrettably passed on before I ever read her books.

2) Look up the training regime for any medal-winning Olympic athletes in events where physical fitness is a consideration (running, swimming, skating, weight-lifting, etc.), and see if you can find ONE that does not consider proper nutrition to be a major concern for them.

3) I was in my mid-40s, heavy, and still finished a thruhike, when the majority of the under-30, slender, fit, longer-legged aspiring thruhikers quit. I had 3 days over 18 miles, and over 10 over 17. I think that, in the condition I finished the AT, I could have turned around and knocked it out in a shorter time period than most under-30s complete one. You get two choices as to why I finished IMO; either something inside me most don't have, or better nutrition.

[mudhead]

You did good.

Now lighten up.

Save some of that stuff you spew.

[minnesotasmith]

You did good.

Now lighten up.

Save some of that stuff you spew.

If you can disprove my points (on any subject), feel free to try, using facts and logic. Simply saying "your position is wrong solely BC it makes me uncomfortable to consider making a change in my thinking" is NOT a refutation, or even worth posting.
==============================================

So, back to nutrition...

Can ANYONE list a single nutrient found in egg yolks not easily found in easily-available lower-sat fat foods? If not, then my point stands that egg yolks should be skipped as much as possible by anyone wanting to maximize the healthfulness of their diet.

[Jack Tarlin]

Smitty:

I applaud your finish, and am particularly pleased that you persevered when so many folks predicted you'd quit.

But there's something you left out of your above post, which was the LENGTH of your hike. It's great that you finished, but most folks don't have that much time, i.e. most folks will have to do bigger daily miles than you did, simply becuuase they don't have seven months or more to hike in.

[minnesotasmith]

Smitty:

I applaud your finish, and am particularly pleased that you persevered when so many folks predicted you'd quit.

But there's something you left out of your above post, which was the LENGTH of your hike. It's great that you finished, but most folks don't have that much time, i.e. most folks will have to do bigger daily miles than you did, simply becuuase they don't have seven months or more to hike in.

Jack, I developed as a hiker to the point that I could do a thruhike again at a much faster pace, at least at average now. I think that that gives me some credibility on the subject of thruhiking, especially when conversing with people with NO major LD hiking experience.