Mythbusters: Sports Drinks and Trail Mix

I've been a huge fan of Endurox/Clif as a recovery drink after long dayhikes, but even more so during backpacks. The cost however is somewhat ridiculous and since my supply of samples and closeouts are wearing down I went looking for some home recipes. The stuff seemed a bit like gatorade with powdered milk added, so I thought perhaps something like chocolate milk (about the same carbs to protein ratio) would accomplish the same thing.

Turns out I may have been right ...
This is an interesting link which debunks some of the trailfoods mythos.
There are also some recipes which might work ...

http://walking.about.com/od/snacks/a/energymyths.htm

Interesting...
While the chemical nuts and bolts might come down to being the same for you, I believe there are other factors. Quite simply, what would you rather eat? For example, I've eaten plenty of Pop Tarts in my day, but they're digusting. Sure they taste good (kind of) but the ingredient list is scary. I'd rather choose a more natural "energy bar" option. So in that light, give me the Odwalla Bar any day.

Best trail food: Skittles! (I'm sure it's the coloring).

I've read and read on it and have used myself and hiking companions as walking laboratories. My conclusion: keep feeding and watering the machine and it'll go a very long way.

Insomuch as figuring out the best way to nourish the hiking and backpacking body; data gleaned from elite, world class athletes who push the envelope to its utmost in a highly trained and genetically gifted body can only go so far in helping us hikers.

I wholeheartedly agree that the cost of sugar and a few common electrolytes can get totally ridiculous.

I just eat fig bars instead of energy bars--a pound costs less than many single energy bars.

For gorp, I just mix my own--these days it consists of nuts (some salted), semi-sweet chocolate bits, raisins, etc.

For electrolyte drink,I also mix my own at a cost of a few pennies per liter. My recipie has been described previously on this forum: search on "morton lite salt"--this will bring up 6 threads: several will include the recipie, most include useful related discussion.

Doug

Fig Newtons!

On the AT-L list a while back the ExpensiveEnergyBar v CheapAlternative concluded Fig Newtons were close enough to be considered equal to the EEBs. I'll stick with peanut M&Ms

Thanks to Doc McPeak for posting that link.

My snack food is similar to Doug's. My favorite figs are from Walmart in terms of flavor, and they're inexpensive - $1.64 for 2lbs, but they have a laxative effect, so a word to the wise. My gorp mix is crushed cashews, raisins and chocolate mini morsels. I started crushing the cashews one winter as a means of shorting the time necessary for snack breaks, as winter time is precious. I break them up to about the size of the mini-morsels. I prefer water (hot spiced tea in winter) but I also carry a small container of the Morton Lite Salt as it contains extra potassium.

As for Pop Tarts - I try to stay clear of them for the same reason trailbiscuit mentions, although they are a concentrated, convenient and inexpensive source of calories. Occasionally you can find house brands which are largely/entirely organic (especially when traveling in Oregon) and then I stock up.

Am also a big fan of dehydrated pinapple rings. When I need a quick burst for steep pitches, gum drops go a long way. Am a particular fan of Sunkist's gum drops made with fruit juices but they can be a bit hard to find.

Mix my own gorp: Peanut M&Ms with salty sunflower seeds and cashews. I leave out the raisins, so I guess it's gop rather than gorp. Also love the 2-pound bags of dried mixed fruit they sell at Walmart (Sam's Club is the brand name I think). Can't beat a dried chunk of pineapple smothered in sugar.

Liquids: only water for me. I get enough salt in my gorp.

Mixed nuts, dried cherries, and dark chocolate m&m's. Tea with honey.

I'm pretty much a water guy, although I frequently like to down a half gallon of tomato juice after a hike.

As far as the snacks go, visit your local chinese food store, and stock up on things that LOOK like they may be healthy, but you have no idea what they are. They make for interesting, and possibly nutritious trail snacks. My favorite was something the we (I shared it with several) could not decide if it was fish or fruit.

Some of the stuff tastes pretty bad. And if it tastes bad, it MUST be good for you, right?

One of the beauties of the Internet is the capacity to find information that debunks the stuff that passes as debunking.

"You can spend $1-3 on fancy energy bars, each saying they provide carbs and protein in a magic mix. But Stone Research Foundation say most of them are no different from a Snickers bar or a Pop Tart. "

This statement is crap, to put it plainly.

Here's a link to the federally-required nutrition label for the original Powerbar, in chocolate flavor: http://www.powerbar.com/Products/Performance/Flavors.aspx?id=5E989200-505D-408D-B74A-0B0DF299097E

Here's the same label for a Snickers bar: http://www.snickers.com/nutrition.asp.

A Powerbar has 230 calories, of which 15 are derived from the 1.5 grams of fat in it. A Snickers bar has 280 calories, of which 130 (46.4%) are derived from the 14 grams of fat. That's right, a Snickers bar has more than nine times as much fat as a Powerbar. A Powerbar has 0.5 grams of saturated fat; a Snickers bar has ten times as much. A Powerbar has no cholesterol; a Snickers has 5 mg. A Powerbar has 44 grams of carbohydrates, of which 24 grams are sugars, 4 grams are dietary fiber, and 14 grams are other carbs. A Snickers has 35 grams of carbs, of which 30 are sugars, 1 gram of fiber, and 4 grams unidentified. A Powerbar has 2.25 times as much protein as a Snickers. I won't bore you further by detailing the respective vitamin and mineral contents (of which the Snickers has virtually none.)

A Snickers bar is "no different from" a Powerbar only in the fevered imagination of a self-described medical technologist/marathon walker (on flat pavement, that is), posing as a sports nutrition adviser on a web site that often seems to require little in actual credentials from its writers.

(I haven't bothered with Pop-Tarts, because Kellogg's makes it too difficult to run down the label quickly.)

I have been using various energy concoctions for the past 15 years. Most of the pre-made ones found their way inside me while on long training rides, or during long races (bicycle.)

My personal favorite pre-made bar is a Cliff Bar. They taste pretty darn good and are easily digested. My favorite source of 'instant energy' are Cliff Shots. "Gu"s are 2nd on my list. Home-made gorp is fine for hiking, but too tricky while riding, although grapes are good if you can keep them from being squished.

I had very good luck with a company called SmartFuel out of Burlington, VT, but they sold out many years ago now and are gone from the market. They made "before", "during" and "after" drinks (powders) and bars. The "after" ones definitely helped with recovery. The key is to get the glycemic index correct, usually by adding fat or protein, so your blood sugar doesn't spike up and crash down. Products aimed at diabetics work well here too.

Now, I mainly buy Gatorade by the case from the big-big-box stores. It works well for cycling, hiking and skiing.

One thing I've learned is to keep the energy drink in its normal concentration in one container, and water in the other container(s), especially on longer hikes. For bike rides, I usually mix 50/50 water/Gatorade in one bottle and straight H2O in the other.

YMMV,
Tim

I used to bring a giant bag of gum drops or M&M's to eat on the trail. At the end of a long hike, I'd always get a huge headache. I figured it was from the stress of hiking, but a friend mentioned it might be a sugar crash from all the candy. After that I started eating granola and energy bars and I would no longer get a headache after hiking. Now I stay away from purely sugar substances while hiking.

What I eat, on average per day, on most trips now is: 1 energy bar, 1 gel pack, 1 liter of gatorade, 2 packets of oatmeal, 1 big dinner. If it's a tough day I might have another energy bar and gel pack. If I buy the nice stuff, that comes out to about $5/day of food. I always pick up bars/gels when I see them on sale. The 1L gatorade packetes are about 85 cents each. I think it's a reasonable price to make a hike more comfortable.

one mistake a lot of people likely make is eating totally different on the trails as they do in everyday life. If you wouldn't sit around and scarf m&m's and beef jerky in your work cubicle, why do it on the trail. Obviously there are adjustments, but I have found that eating fruits, tuna & hummus sandwiches, energy bars is much more effective, and also closer to my normal healthy eating regimine than candy bars and crap like that.

I also come from a background where I spent a long time as a competitive athlete, which shockingly few hikers do. While playing football and wrestling from age 14 through 23, I learned a lot about sports nutrition. While its not (in most cases) a competition, hiking is still a physical endeavour that requires strength, endurance, etc. With that said, keeping on top of your carb/protein/fat ratios, as well as keeping tabs on high vitamin/mineral intakes should prove to be beneficial.

The idea of bringing candy bars hiking is as crazy to me as wearing jeans and a leather jacket on the trail. Sure plenty of people do it - but why?

jmegillon149 said:

The idea of bringing candy bars hiking is as crazy to me as wearing jeans and a leather jacket on the trail. Sure plenty of people do it - but why?

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I think it comes down to your time on the trail. On a dayhike or weekend, I don't have much use for a candy bar. As I said before, I'd much rather go for the healthier/more natural stuff. But, go much longer than that, and I can eat anything in sight. IMHO, for multi-day trips there is nothing better than a Reese's Fast Break. I don't feel good about myself, but all that nastiness really seems to fuel the fire. But I would never eat that in "normal life."

And sardog's post proves my earlier point/theory: pop tarts, fast breaks, snickers and the like are really just gross.

Real world versus Runner's World?

When hiking uphill on say, Algonquin most of the energy is being provided by sugar. Some comes from sugar already in the muscles and some is transported into the muscles from the blood. A signifigant amount of energy comes from fat which is transported readily from love handles to working muscle cells.

For an easier effort over flatter trails or with frequent stops as in bushwhacking fat is the predominant energy source but stored muscle sugar is still essential.

So for strenuous dayhikes sugar is the key. You have to keep eating it. Fat as an energy source you don't have to worry about since one pound of it has enough energy for about 40 miles of walking (on flat pavement). Protein ingestion makes good sense during the hike and is very, very important after the hike, as is more sugar.

A lot of people, myself included, have trouble eating on long dayhikes. What seemed good the night before often turns my stomach during the hike. I think it's more important to have a variety of palatable food sources on a hike that you will actually feel like eating than it is to have nutritionally perfect but disgusting energy bars with 14 essential vitamines.

Snickers bars are a poor food choice but I took them on most hikes this winter because I knew I would eat them. Crunchie bars are better. More sugar, less fat.

Generally speaking, I don't have much of an appetite during even the most strenuous of days. I always pack Clif Bars, but rarely eat them ... usually wind up pitching them after the expiration date. Orange Gatorade is probably my primary source of energy and hydration. Other than that, plain meat, cheese and a bagel or two is about the only thing I can stomach. During the few instances where I've had partners, I've watched their eating habits and found them to be odd. All sorts of trail mix, sandwiches, dried fruit etc. ... seems like they're riding a blood sugar roller coaster. I can't help but think "put the damn food away and get on with it!" Ever watch an "Ironman" on TV? They eat next to nothing all day. Everyone is different, I suppose, so I always find these threads that try to answer nutrition questions as if they are uniform across the board to be strange.

Mark S said:

Ever watch an "Ironman" on TV? They eat next to nothing all day.

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Do they really eat next to nothing or do you simply not see it? I find it difficult to swallow, personally. I know what professional cyclists eat -- I have several for friends, I've ridden thousands of miles with them (on their easy days ). They eat nearly constantly. The TdF rider eats between 7 and 9,000 calories per day, about 1/3 of it while on the bike.

jmegillon149 said:

one mistake a lot of people likely make is eating totally different on the trails as they do in everyday life.

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This is true. You definitely do not want to experiment during an endurance event, particular if it involves a competition. Stick with the tried and true. What works for one doesn't for another. I've seen and/or heard dozens of different race-day meal rituals. Me, I have a pretty standard endurance day--

Oatmeal + peanut butter and/or yogurt for breakfast -- protein, carbs and fat. OJ.

Nuts + fruits + chocolate on the trail, Clif Shots, etc. Power bars or granola bars on the bike or skiing.

Post-event dining usually involves more carbs + protein and less fat (but not always... the C'Man makes an awesome-tasting cheeseburger at the end of 8+ hours on the trail )

Tim

bikehikeskifish said:

Do they really eat next to nothing or do you simply not see it? I find it difficult to swallow, personally. I know what professional cyclists eat -- I have several for friends, I've ridden thousands of miles with them (on their easy days ). They eat nearly constantly. The TdF rider eats between 7 and 9,000 calories per day, about 1/3 of it while on the bike.

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Not an issue I'm going to try to debate. But I will say the Ironman is a one-day event as opposed to the TdF which is 23 days. The human body can go a long way on next to nothing. A one-day event with little caloric intake is not hard to fathom. Also, it's easier to eat on a bike than running or in the water.

Anyway, my real point was about hiking. Like I said, I eat very little (nothing more often than not) and have no problems on the trail. Hydration is the real key to keeping yourself going ... for me at least.

Mark S said:

Not an issue I'm going to try to debate. But I will say the Ironman is a one-day event as opposed to the TdF which is 23 days. The human body can go a long way on next to nothing. A one-day event with little caloric intake is not hard to fathom. Also, it's easier to eat on a bike than running or in the water.

Anyway, my real point was about hiking. Like I said, I eat very little (nothing more often than not) and have no problems on the trail. Hydration is the real key to keeping yourself going ... for me at least.

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We do not have to debate it. I'm just surprised to hear such a statement. What you say is true, about eating on the bike being the easiest place, and about a 1-day event versus many. However, even during the 1-day events that make up the spring and fall European cycling season ("The Classics" and other one-days) you see the riders eating, and they always have at least one feed zone and sometimes two. I know they are getting more than just bottles. Milan-SanRemo was 294K and the winning time 6:43 in 2007. That's 5000+ calories per rider getting burned off.

Tim

I've paddled several times in the 3-day 90 Mile Canoe Classic race through the Adirondacks. We (my war canoe team) find we must eat frequently, downing some kind of quick bite snack every 30-45 minutes seems about right. Otherwise you "bonk", and once you get behind the power curve it is very difficult to make it up to anything like full efficiency. Over the years we've seen plenty of examples of paddlers who do not take in the calories at least hourly - they fade into the end of the line very quickly.

Fig bars, power bars, snickers, squashed pb&j sandwiches, a hand full of nuts; it all works, along with plenty of 50% gatorade/water to wash it down. I like to mix it up - early on I might take a bite of fatty pepperoni or summer sausage, then the pbj. Later on in the day it's more toward sugary stuff. Home dehydrated bananas and melons seem to be a big pick-me-up by mid-afternoon.

I take in a modified version of this menu during long extensive backpacking hikes. I think making sure you are well hydrated all day long is key to appetite and digestion to get the calories to where they will actually do some good.