Baby Formula As Trail Food

Been doing a lot of reading on nutrition of late, including things like home made energy bars, home made recipes for electrolyte drinks, etc. In reviewing the USDA nutrient lists for a variety of things like calcium, glucose, etc a common item leading the list is baby formula. The stuff is packed with vitamins and minerals, simple sugar in glucose form and calories, etc. Could this be trail super food?? Having a quick, liquid fuel source packed with calories and nutrients certainly has appeal for speed and ease of ingestion. Most of the adult drinks in the health category are full of crap ingredients and bad sugars, chemicals, etc.

Of course, I've never had kids and I'd expect it is called infant formula for a reason. Would a formula like this be upsetting to an adult, not absorb like a baby's body would, cause gas or worse? I've heard of college kids drinking Pedialyte to recover from hang overs because of its electrolyte content. Maybe a similar idea. So for all the serious nutritionists and health experts on this board what are your thoughts on this? Have I reached new levels of stupidity in my questions or am I on to something?

If you remove the chemicals from the adult food you may find it lacking substance.

From what I recall working on a grocery store, the formula was actually relatively expensive.

Well, the "adult" version goes by names like "Ensure".

In college, I had a buddy who lived on that stuff exclusively for several months as part of a nutrition study.

He survived.

He got paid.

I do not recall him telling us how great it was.

Marathon canoe racers are big users of adult nutrition drinks, like Ensure or Boost. I've used Carnation Instant Breakfast in the past. Many racers will down a bottle of Ensure or Boost and a banana shortly before a race begins, and on longer races another bottle every couple of hours later. They come in a variety of flavors and nutrition formulations, up to 350 calories per bottle. On the 18 hour paddling days of the Yukon 1000 miler, I budget 3 or 4 bottles per day, along with other solid high energy snacks, plus high calorie home dehydrated main meals. Not for everyone, some find difficulty with digestion of those concentrated liquids. Other favorites are those small containers of pudding and fruit in juice (both can be "inhaled" from the container). I have not seen anyone use baby food. Issues with taste, texture, packaging and extraction, serving size?

DayTrip said:

I've heard of college kids drinking Pedialyte to recover from hang overs because of its electrolyte content. Maybe a similar idea.

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Pedialyte is an electrolyte drink. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedialyte

See also oral rehydration therapy (ORT): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_rehydration_therapy

I suppose this is yet another opportunity to advertise my el-cheapo electrolyte drink formula: http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?4914-Long-distance-nutrition&p=54650&viewfull=1#post54650

Doug

I've never tasted baby formula, but from the smell I'd expect it to taste gross.

Pedialyte is basically baby Gatorade.

TJsName said:

If you remove the chemicals from the adult food you may find it lacking substance.

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Well played sir, well played.

DayTrip, I'm not sure which baby formula you're referring to, there is a very wide range, from highly processed and full of artificial ingredients to uber-groovy organic. Not that I (or anyone else) actually knows which of these is more nutritious.

Glancing at the nutrition label for Similac, there's a CRAP LOAD of fat, ~60% of the calories. I don't think you'd want to try and digest that on the trail. Furthermore, in the words of Crocodile Dundee, "You can live on it, but it tastes like $hit!"

Still, the scientist in me says, "Yes, you [DayTrip] should give it a try and report back."

I've looked into the adult versions of these things and most are crap: bad sugars, fats and chemicals. I'll have to back track my steps and see what brand I was looking at. I figured the taste would be less than desirable. Just looking at all the potassium, iron and various other vitamins and minerals in what I assumed was a readily absorbable form I figured it might be good for eating on the fly and staying optimally fueled with minimal effort. Figured it was too good to be true but was curious if anyone had tried it or was using it.

I think I'll stay with my GORP and no bake bars. At least I'm positive what is going into those.

I have been using Ensure Plus on the trail for years. All I bring for nutrition on a hike is several bottles of that stuff and water. Never had any problems with digestion. It can turn a bit slushy when it is well below zero out (still eatable). I average one bottle an hour going up, and whatever I feel like chugging going down. For me, it works great. ymmv

In the distant past I was a big user of products like Ensure. They make counting calories really easy, and they're handy if chewing is difficult for some reason (including just not having time).

I haven't looked at the labels lately, but most of these products are quite similar, nutritionally, to whole milk (sometimes with a touch of extra cream), which should not be surprising. You're paying a big premium for shelf life, which is mostly due to packaging, and for added vitamins and minerals, which you generally don't need to worry about on a hike or excursion that lasts less than a month or two.

The main drawback (besides cost) for trail use, as opposed to for kayaking, is weight and bulk. They've got a lot of water content. Powdered milk is a whole lot easier to carry. (Bring butter or oil too; for some reason, all the powdered milk I can find in grocery stores is low-fat, which greatly reduces its caloric value.)

If you eat baby food on a hike and shit hits the fan, you might just sit down and start crying.

logan bread

if you are bored with GORP, make a pan of logan bread

lots and lots of recipes on-line

here is one:

logan bread

I've used some of the squeeze baby fruit, just to have a change, and found them fine.

nartreb said:

Powdered milk is a whole lot easier to carry. (Bring butter or oil too; for some reason, all the powdered milk I can find in grocery stores is low-fat, which greatly reduces its caloric value.)

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Try Nido, powdered whole milk, complete with fat content. Walmart stores carry it. Look in the Mexican food section. I buy it by the #10 can. Or you can order it online from Amazon, etc.

I make a version of Logan bread that is high density in calories, very tasty, and keeps a long time. Google search will get you many different recipes. Mine is my own concoction that has everything in it, lots of molasses, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, and whole grains. I use very little baking powder to keep it dense with minimal rise, and bake it a long time low and slow, so it turns out dry and hard.

Nessmuk said:

I make a version of Logan bread that is high density in calories, and very tasty, and keeps a long time.

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If you want the ultimate in high density calories, try pemmican. (The real Indian stuff (rendered fat + dried powdered lean meat), not the industrial imitation...) It was used by Indians on raids and long hunting trips, used by voyageurs, and was an important element in opening the West.

For more info see http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?28802-Try-New-Foods and http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?19128-Trail-Food-Dense-Calories-easy-to-eat

Doug

Hi All,

Being in the trenches of "Daddyhood" I cannot speak to all the details of formula, but I can say with great certainty that Similac and the "Groovier" organic formulas are riddled with iron.

Every once in awhile I take a multi-vitamin and nearly vomit on the way to work only to realize that I took my regiment of vitamins without a granola bar. Iron on an empty stomach, or even a relatively empty stomach, can wreak havoc with some people's stomachs.

That would be my biggest concern. I do have to admit that I got a taste for Gerber Vitablocks mixed with orange juice when my son didn't finish his. It is a dry, easily mixed powder that dissolves pretty well in juice or yogurt. I swear I felt a little boost from this when I ingested it.

I have considered bringing pouches of mixed vegetables and fruit along on the trail as well as small juice boxes instead of my regular Gatorade, but thus far have yet to try it.

Good luck,

Z

Babies need fat for development, especially in the first year when they essentially have a liquid diet, so the formula, in both liquid and powder form is essentially the equivalent of whole milk with a whole bunch of other stuff tossed in that the scientists think they need for good measure. Adults have different nutritional needs, especially when exercising. I'm not sure it'd be a good substitute, but it could be used in a pinch if you have it.

if we expand on this great idea we could envision a network of wet nurses providing trail magic