Snickers Bars!

Hiker Hunger.

I am not really qualified (yet) to talk about hiker hunger. But the question I get asked the second most whenever I throw my big plan at somebody is:

“What? Six month hiking? What are you going to eat?”

Apparently, what I will need to be eating is a tone of “Snikers Bars“.

Yup. Really.

:)

The goal seems to be to eat as unhealthy as humanly possible. We talk Peanut Butter by the spoonful, Mars Bars, Snickers Bars, and Chips.

Apparently, one burns somewhat 4’000 – 5’000 calories per day on the PCT. So eating is no longer about five portions of fresh fruit and veggies per day. And not about “no carbohydrates after 5pm”. Nope. Eating will mean: “try do devour as many calories as you possibly can carry!”

Apparently, after about 6 – 8 weeks into the hike, you get so hungry that the hunger never stops. I read on blogs that hikers hitch-hike into town, order two large Pizzas for themselves, scoff them, and an hour later … they are hungry again.

So Hiker Hunger never stops until Canada.

But hang on. It is also about the right Vitamins:

I found an article by Dr. Brenda L Braaten who has a Ph.D. in nutritional biochemistry and did a thru-hike on her sabbatical.

She says:

“In a normal life, a diet consisting almost solely of junk food could be downright dangerous. But, for thru-hikers covering 40 km or more a day over some of the most challenging terrain in America, food is consumed as fuel first, and for health second.

This means that the ideal hiker food, one that balances a high-carb (to refuel your muscles) and a high-fat (to burn as pure energy as you hike), really is junk food. High-fat and high-sugar foods, even processed ones, turn out to be great fuel sources, ones your body will rapidly transform into energy.”

But not just Snickers Bars. Dr. Braaten also strongly recommends, that a thru-hiker makes sure to get enough of these vitamins:

Iron, Calcium, Potassium, and Vitamin D: To prevent digestion problems, becoming anemic, and cramps. “As your body ramps up during a thru-hike, its oxygen needs go up and up, resulting in an increase in the production of hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying molecule in the body). Iron is essential for producing hemoglobin, and without it, your body will have trouble getting the supply of oxygen it needs to stay in tiptop hiking shape.

So I will make sure to find:
Potassium: Avogados, Carrots, Nuts, Dried Fruit, Bananas
Iron: Spinach
Calcium: Hard Cheese
Vitamin C: Emergen-C sachets

Today’s Learning:
Snickers Bars are good for you! ;-)