Backpacking for someone working around serious food sensitivities – ideas?

[Dena Kelley]

Last year I came down with a pretty serious illness that went undiagnosed for 6 months as multiple doctors ran test after test that eliminated things but didn’t find the cause. Ultimately my Naturopathic Doctor put me on the strictest diet of my life- eating nothing but lamb, rice and pears and drinking nothing but water- and I got better. Turned out I had developed food allergies to corn and garlic (as well as dairy allergy which I already knew about) and I had developed food sensitivities to histamine and salicylates which unfortunately means I can’t eat bacon, sausage, beef jerky, or any aged meat, plus pork or fish (due to histamine content), any nuts except cashews (and those in limited amounts of about 1 handful a day) and most fruits and vegetables and all spices except salt (due to salicylate content). The only thing I can drink is water. Physically I’ve gone from feeling literally like I was on death’s doorstep to feeling rather fantastic – provided I keep to the around 20 foods we’ve determined are safe for me to eat right now- and I’ve lost 45 lbs (a combination of not eating due to stomach pain and food boredom). I’ve begun an exercise program and have started putting back on some of the lost muscle. I feel ready to start backpacking again come May/June when conditions will allow it in the part of Alaska where I live. My question is- what the heck am I going to eat? I’m used to taking a Backpacker’s Pantry or Mountain House meal with me and reconstituting it for my breakfasts and dinners, and maybe trail mix for lunch/snack but those aren’t options any longer. Does anyone here backpack with significant food allergies/sensitivities, and if so, what is your system? Day trips aren’t an issue because I can pack a lunch of freshly prepared rice and meat kept in an insulated container. But overnighters and longer will require significant food planning and probably cooking on my part, and I’m wondering if diet alone is going to prevent me from being able to backpack. FWIW, these are the foods I can eat right now: lamb, rice, pears, lentils, kale, brussel sprouts, new white potato, carrot, beef, chicken, turkey, eggs (chicken and duck), asparagus, oatmeal, canola oil (other oils have salicylates), cabbage, rice noodles (provided they don’t have corn starch), leeks, ghee. I can have a little bit of wheat (flour, tortilla) but I never feel my best when eating wheat. Any meat would have to be fresh and kept cold, so likely my trips will be vegan. I know this is do-able but it’s such a shift for me mentally I’d love to hear from people who might have done something similar? Even if it was merely preference rather than a health reason. Right now about all I can think is cooking oatmeal for breakfast and rice and beans for dinner. Not sure what I would do for a snack during the day. Any other ideas?

[Rob P]

Wow, sounds like you have been through quite the ordeal but glad you are feeling so much better!

Anyway, off the top of my head, if you wanted to do a weekend trip you might have to bite the bullet and carry the weight of your insulated container, which would give you good food for your first day.  Then on your second day you could do your oatmeal and rice and beans/lentils with cashews as your snack.

Third morning, you’d probably have to do oatmeal again, or something like Rice & Shine….can you have that?

Also, check with your doc about adding things back into your diet.  A lot of times these strict diets are “elimination” diets, where you are pretty much trying to eliminate everything that “could” be causing you problems.  Then you begin adding things back in one at a time to see what will happen.

Also, you could dehydrate some of those vegetables to add to the rice or rice noodles too.

Hope other people can give you more ideas!

[Bri W]

Yikes. That is lot of restrictions. Out of curiosity have you had allergen tests performed to confirm that you’re sensitive to these components, or is it based exclusively off of diet elimination and symptom management? Any chance you can slowly reintroduce these foods back into your diet over time?

I became full-blown lactose intolerant this summer a few days prior to the start of my high Sierra trail trip. Of course I didn’t know it was lactose intolerance until 6 months later after many, many blood and stool tests. Long story short, I’d forgotten to bring Imodium on this trip and BOTH of my hiking partners had forgotten to bring toilet paper (on our 72-mile excursion…seriously). My one roll of TP had to be shared, and it didn’t last long. I ended up using a water bottle as a backcountry bidet. There’s nothing like shi**ing into a bag multiple times in the middle of the 99 Switchbacks after summiting Whitney on a very busy day :D

As I’m sure you’re figuring out, milk is hidden in everything, so I have just looked for vegan dehydrated foods (Outdoor Herbivore is delicious), or bring my own foods. You may want to invest in your own dehydrator and experiment with foods that you know work for you.

Good luck!

[Dena Kelley]

Rob P- I’m not familiar with Rice and Shine, I will have to look that up unless you can advise what it is?

Bri- the allergies was through allergy testing. The food sensitivities have been through trial and error- there’s no real way to test for them. Initially my doc diagnosed the histamine intolerance, but I kept reacting to non-histamine foods. Coconut, tomatoes, olive oil. That’s when, through research, I found that those foods are high in salicylates and that histamine and salicylate sensitivity are often found occurring together.

I am slowly adding foods back in. It’s been a bit of trial and error- at first I just picked something I wanted, and either I reacted or a I didn’t (usually I did) and then I was set back several days because I’d have to let that food completely clear my system and all effects (such as stomach pain, bloating, etc) go away before I could try another food. Then I ran across a diet out of Australia called the “Failsafe diet” that is specifically designed for people with both of these sensitivities and that has made life easier as now I try foods only off that list and generally get a positive result. I still have to try them one at a time, and allow several days for the test, since it can take up to 3 days for a reaction to occur.

I will check out Outdoor Herbivore, thank you for the suggestion!

[Rob P]

http://www.arrowheadmills.com/product/organic-gluten-free-rice-and-shine®

Their Quinoa Rice and Shine is pretty good too, if you can have Quinoa.  You should be able to find the Arrowhead Mills items on Amazon.

[d k]

It sounds like a good dehydrator should be your new best friend.  All those meats (best if not too fatty), veggies, and starches you are allowed can be cooked, then dehydrated for relatively easy rehydration in camp.  It’s not difficult, and would make it much easier for you to get variety in your backpacking food.  If you cook a big batch of dinner, put the leftovers in the dehydrator.

[Jonathon Self]

Wow, and I thought I had inconvenient food allergies. I’m highly intolerant of milk tolerant and sulfites (actually went to the ER because of a sulfite attack). Both of which are hidden in practically everything, as Bri pointed out.

I will claim total ignorance to your dietary needs, and I doubt I could even begin to comprehend the intricacies of your diet. However, that said, I might offer one direction. Have you ever heard of EnjoyLife Foods?

https://enjoylifefoods.com/

They sell hypoallergenic foods. And they are quite good. You might see if any of their products offer a precise cocktail of ingredients that you’re tolerant to.

Personally, I think I’d simply do as you suggested, and eat a lot of oatmeal and beans/rice. Then again, I’m a vegetarian, so I’m probably more used to that than most; dietary restrictions popped up far too often in meat products, so I gave up.

Wish I could be of more help!

[Anonymous]

There are several varieties of lentils, in addition to the standard brown lentils found in most markets, that have quite different flavor profiles.  Red lentils, called masoor dahl in Indian markets, moong dahl in Indian markets, black lentils, green lentils, to name a few.  You might consider experimenting with them to see if you tolerate them.  they would add a bit of variety to your diet.  The red lentils have the added advantage of cooking very quickly.  They are even more tasty cooked in chicken broth.

[Tipi Walter]

As DK says, explore the home dehydrator route as it’s my current practice.  Make a list of every food you can eat and then go about drying each one, or in combination.

In fact, take two or three items on your diet and blend them together in a blender, adding water to aid in the mixing.  Then pour this mixture on silicone sheets on your dryer trays.  Once dry, ziplock up and add to boiling water in the field.

[David Thomas]

Dang, that’s a lot of restrictions.  At some point, would it be easier to bring a knife and a basket and just kill critters and pick berries as you go?  It is Alaska, after all.

On a more serious note, while I realize you have to figure out what foods you can eat in town as well, for the BPing foods, what if you start with single-items?  I’ve using more dehydrated beans, carrots, onions, etc in 16-ounce containers from Amazon.  Introduce one every few days as you’re able.  Build up a pantry of acceptable ingredients and then play with how to combine them into varied and balanced meal plans.  Palm off the stuff that doesn’t work for you to a hiking buddy.

[Colin M]

The good news is you are already used to boring foods so eating the same 2 dinners for a week won’t be a big deal!

I have food issues, gluten being the big one though very fibrous foods like beans also give me issues so I have to be careful. At home I’m basically paleo but that’s not really an option on the trail so I go to a few sites like Andrew’s  meals section and modify recipes to work for me. That you can eat rice, lentils and oatmeal tells me you’d be fine as those make up about 40% of my calories while backpacking.
I’d think the hardest part will be finding foods you can eat in place of trail mix. You will probably need to bake your own bars with things you can tolerate for that. I’d also try to find some sort of protein and calorie supplement you can tolerate and bring that along.

[Dena Kelley]

Thanks to everyone for all the ideas! I do have an Excaliber dehydrator, guess it’s time to bust it out and start experimenting with making my own backpacking food!

And David- you made me laugh with your comment about it being easier to just hunt my own food! Ha!

[Paul McLaughlin]

sounds like you are going to end up with an even tighter version of a menu I had on a trip of a couple weeks many years ago. Mine was rice and lentils, rice and beans. “What will it be tonight, the light brown glop or the dark brown glop?”

[Diane Pinkers]

I create my own meals for the trail, it’s not hard at all. 2 different ways: 1) cook a meal at home, making extra portions and dehydrating them, or 2) create meals from pre-dried individual ingredients. A Fork In the Trail series of books gives the basic technique on dehydrating meals at home and lots of vegetarian/vegan options to try. My preferred method is to buy dried veggies, etc, from PackitGourmet.com, and assemble my own freezer-bag meals.   Sara’s series of Freezer-bag Cooking gives ideas. Her web-site Trailcooking.com has lots of allergy free recipes. Another website and e-book series is backpackinggourmet.com. His technique for dehydrating hamburger works well, although you may have to find a breadcrumb substitute. I’ve used it for ground turkey, and you could probably use it with ground lamb and chicken as well. Making your own jerky is easy with a dehydrator, I had a ground turkey jerky I was making for awhile that worked well. Backpackingpaleo.com and Grassfedgirl have some recipe ideas too. Wholefoodhiker.com has some vegan ideas, although he may use too many nuts for your purposes. Lots of people backpack while vegan, typing vegan hiker into Google nets you tons of blogs and websites.

Blood tests for food allergy is shaky science at best; they are best used as a guide to suggest what to eliminate next. The only true method is to add back one food at a time. A niece has a strange sensivity: she can’t eat raw fruits or vegetables, but she can eat them cooked. Some of the foods you think you can’t eat may be better cooked.

[Gunnar H]

I cant eat gluten and don’t want oatmeal for breakfast since it doesn’t taste much an more importantly doesn’t contain much energy. I have found there is a lot of dry high energy density porridge and gruel (right word?) for small children, you just add hot water. Also tastes more than oatmeal. Of cause you have more to choose from if you have no special requirements, but there is products from for various allergies, also combined, as well. At least in Sweden. Its worth a try. (Maybe at the pharmacy if you cant get it elsewhere?)

My normal outdoor breakfast is gluten-free porridge with banana and mango for children 8-12 months. Perfect to get you started a chilly morning!

[Diane Pinkers]

http://www.theyummylife.com/Homemade_KIND_Bars

For those with food allergies, this post may be helpful.  You can control your ingredients and make some substitutions as needed, without having to rely on a softer textured bar. Might be able to whomp up cashew pear bars, Dena?

[Dena Kelley]

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone. I’m going to copy this to a document and start experimenting with making my own dehydrated meals and cashew-pear bars (thanks Diane!)

[jared h]

Dena-

i agree with dehydrating your own meals; most of my meals away from home are prepared this way. and several people have mentioned reintroducing foods, which might be possible.

you may also want to try a food inflammation test (plenty of supporters and detractors, but it is another data point) to supplement your allergy test. your naturopath can refer you to a specific one.

have you looked into testing your gastrointestinal bacteria? food sensitivities can be exacerbated or caused by gut bugs being out of equilibrium. after cutting back on the foods for a while, you can try to build up your natural bacteria with living probiotics (kefir, kombucha, kraut, etc…) and see if allowing your gut a chance to heal will help you process more foods.

a final thought is to take care sourcing your food. chemical sensitivities (to herbicides/pesticides) can develop or build up over time, and processing some foods changes their chemistry (e.g. raw milk v pasteurized milk).

good luck

[Dean F.]

Frankly, I’m suspicious that you suddenly supposedly came down with so many simultaneous food allergies and sensitivities at once as an adult. And I will admit that my buttocks quiver every time I see the word “naturopathic”, let alone see “naturopathic doctor.”  What was this allergy testing you did?  Where was it performed?  Can you describe the procedure?

 

I’ve only seen people on diets that restrictive when they have VERY severe Crohn’s disease or similarly horrific ailments. Admittedly, though, immunology isn’t my field.  And people can develop allergies after an illness.

How old are you?  Are you in your twenties?  Have you seen a gastroenterologist?  Can you describe your six month illness?  Did you pass blood or mucous?  Did you have cramps?  Fever?

Really, I just want assurances that you haven’t been misdiagnosed.

[Dena Kelley]

Dean- My ND has changed my life, so I’m a convert to Naturopathic medicine. Note that she is a Naturopathic DOCTOR with the full training and degree, not a Naturopath.

My allergy tests were performed by the Allergy Clinic of Alaska. We did the skin test first but I reacted to everything and so they had to do blood tests. Came back allergic to garlic and corn (both were huge parts of my diet, too). Garlic was considered a 2/4, corn was a 4/4. I’ll probably never be able to eat corn again.

The food sensitivities were diagnosed using a strict elimination diet.

My types of food sensitivities go hand in hand with a gut flora imbalance, which I have (proven with a stool sample- of the three good bacteria I should have had, 2 were not present at all, and I had three bad bacteria that should not have been present). As a result, I have developed salicylate and histamine intolerance, although mild by some standards as I can tolerate some amounts of each, whereas there are people out there who can’t handle any at all. I take a high quality probiotic with each meal and we are attempting to recolonize my gut with the good bacteria. I also take L-Glutamine daily, which is also designed to help heal my gut.

I’m 44. A gastro was one of my first stops, with an upper endoscopy. Nothing was found. He was unable to help. The illness was severe for 6 months, but in hindsight had been coming on for at least 6 months prior. Original presentation was heartburn and constipation. I didn’t think much of either, and took PPI’s and laxatives. In April 2016 I began having severe stomach and gut pain, so severe that there was a concern I had perforated. No blood, no mucous, cramps or fever. Just extreme pain and abdominal bloating from all the air in my intestines. I went to the ER, saw 3 GP’s, 1 ND and a Gastroenterologist. Blood tests, stool samples, CT, Ultrasound. Everything was inconclusive- they could rule things out, but not give me a diagnosis. It wasn’t until we did a strict food elimination that we figured it out. My doc had me cut everything but lamb rice and pears for 10 days. My symptoms cleared up about day 9. My doc said she suspected I had a histamine sensitivity (esp. as I had severe reactions to both wine and cheese, which are among the highest histamine foods). I avoided all histamine foods but still had problems reintroducing non-histamine foods. Did some research on the foods I was reacting to and the common denominator was they all contained salicylates. Did more research and found that histamine and salicyate intolerance often present together. I have been following a “Failsafe” diet since and my stomach/gut pain has resolved completely. I can follow it at home, but so far haven’t had the courage to try restaurant food. Most people have never heard of my sensitivities. And for backpacking, I doubt there’s many foods that will fit into the diet other than what I create myself.

I don’t think I’ve been misdiagnosed but I’m always trying to learn more. I want to heal and get back to a more normal way of eating, eventually. If you have thoughts, I would like to hear them.

Thanks!

 

[Colin M]

I was wondering how long it would take for someone chime in with  “naturopath dr’s aren’t real dr’s” sentiment. Sure, some are a joke, but so are many MD’s. In my experience, MD’s are great at stitching, prescribing meds and surgeries but most know little to nothing about nutrition, hormones and GI wellness that isn’t an acute issue and what they do know is often 20 years out of date. If a pill can’t mitigate symptoms few have any clue and most never take more than a couple minutes to research a case.

Example 1: My wife went to a half dozen MD’s (including specialists) over 5 years and none could ever properly deal with her Hashimoto’s but a Naturopath Dr. that specialized in hormones was the one that finally solved the issue. She took the time, did the research, worked with my wife constantly and finally got her in balance.

Example 2: My friend who is an MD started to lecture another buddy about hormones. Curious, I asked how much time he spent in medical school on hormones he said “I don’t know, not much. Maybe a few hours of lecture?” and he chuckled something about it being an area dr’s don’t know much about because it’s not something that will kill you. I asked him about nutrition and he just laughed asking “have you seen most doctors?”

Personally, I’m still leery of Naturopaths and think at least half don’t know anything but I also feel exactly the same way about MD’s. Add in that to make a living MD’s have to rush through many cases and can’t take adequate time and it’s a real problem. Taking your health seriously and doing the research yourself and finding a doctor of any kind that’s knowledgeable in your area and willing to put in the time to get to the bottom of it is key. Good luck Dena and keep questioning and researching possibilities!

[Dean F.]

And I was wondering how long it would be until someone chimed in to promote anecdotal medicine…  :)

I mean, if you want to do that then you have to let me list all my anecdotes about the times some naturopath tried to treat cancer. That’s MY experience with them.  I’m a surgeon- so I do cancer, among other things.  And I’ve had people with cancer defer surgey because some quack told them it could be fixed by drinking more tomato juice. Because selenium. And, yes, I find it frustrating when someone that I could save with one hour in the OR dies like that, but I guess you can’t cure stupid.   That most MDs aren’t nutritionists is a valid point.  But that’s why we have nutritionists. And claiming that a naturopath knows more about hormones than an endocrinologist does would be funny if it weren’t so sad.  I weep for humanity…

I’m just glad Dena saw a GI and got real allergy testing. That reassures me.  A diet as bland as she describes could help someone with even a severe problem like Crohns feel a bit better, and I wanted to be sure she want missing a diagnosis.  Heck, she could just have irritable bowel syndrome. She’s essentially on a low FODMAP diet, and she feels better. Maybe a GI who specializes in IBS could provide insight.  I’m not sure why she got an EGD but not a colonoscopy- the latter would better rule out the things I think of first.  And, yes, any practitioner’s initial job is to rule out the scary stuff.  But a naturopathic doctor is still not a physician, so at the very least they shouldn’t be your first stop when you have an issue. When you’re a hammer every problem looks like a nail, so if you go to a naturopath they ARE going to say it’s your diet.  If you see one, always ask if they have ever told a patient to see a physician instead. If not, run away.  Most are actively anti-physician and anti-vaccine.  Maybe their profession will straighten itself out some day like the way that osteopaths have (an osteopath is essentially an MD nowadays) but as of today they haven’t so it’s hit or miss.  If you want help eating better, or just think you feel better under one’s guidance, well, good for you. I’m not going to piss in your Wheaties.  I’m sure most naturopaths are just trying to help people, just like I am, and I’m sure not going to poo-poo a healthy diet. There are people with food allergies. And there are people with gut flora issues (particularly as a sequela of antibiotics).  I’ve dealt with them. But at least 90% of the time when some naturopath or other crystal-gazer tries to convince someone that they have e.g. a “gluten allergy” (or whatever) they’re peddling snake oil.

Thus my caution.  Look at the Wikipedia article on naturopathy.  Color therapy?  Rolfing?

[Colin M]

Hehe, I’ve been chucking all day over the concept of a surgeon using Maslow’s hammer!

Dean, I totally get where you are coming from. As a surgeon, I have no doubt you’ve seen Naturopath’s do that and it’s only logical that you would form biases because of your personal experiences.  Your “weep for humanity” comment disregarding someone’s years long personal battle that was resolved in a way you can’t accept is troubling but arguing with someone so entrenched is a waste of effort so I bow out.

Dena, keep on asking questions and self advocating, I hope for the best outcome for you!

[Dena Kelley]

For what it’s worth- my ND has indeed had me see other physicians. She’s the one who referred me for the upper endoscopy, for one. She also referred me to an MD for my thyroid meds because while she can test and diagnose me (I have Hashimotos) she cannot prescribe the meds for it in Alaska. She also referred me to a specialist on hormones because I’m in perimenopause and it’s been causing me a number of problems.

I get that you have a bias against ND’s, and perhaps have some justification. But my experience with my ND has been nothing but beneficial. About 8-9 years ago I herniated a disc in my back and was 100% disabled and in chronic pain. I was taking Vicodin for the pain. That was all western medicine could offer me, except perhaps surgery but no doctor ever suggested it. I started seeing my ND, who is also an LAc (licensed acupuncturist) because I read an article online that the #1 thing acupuncture is good for is back pain. I was super skeptical- it seemed like voodoo to me- but I was desperate and chiropractors had made me worse. Acupuncture worked, despite my skepticism, and that was my introduction to alternative medicine. I am positive it wasn’t psychosomatic because I was about as skeptical as you could possibly be, and yet it still worked. I continue to get acupuncture once a month- I call it my “monthly tune-up” and I swear by it. I have no idea why it works. My acupuncturists have no idea why it works. But it works. That’s all that matters to me.

I saw a DO my entire life that missed my thyroid condition and even refused to test me the last time I asked, despite the fact that I had every symptom of thyroid disease including a 90 lb weight gain in 9 years. I had even offered to pay for the test out of pocket and he still refused. It wasn’t until I switched to my ND that I finally got treatment, and relief. I still see that DO but I pretty much limit seeing him to things for which I know I’ll need an Rx. If I have strep throat, I go to him, for example.

I had acid reflux so severe that I was taking Prevacid twice a day for 9 years. My DO never tried to figure out why I had acid reflux- he gave me an Rx and sent me on my way. He also never told me there were some serious risks associated with long term use of PPI’s- I found that out reading an article online. But every time I tried to stop taking Prevacid, I’d rebound in a day and be in so much agony I’d have to restart the meds. My ND figured out I was allergic to dairy,  had me stop dairy, and I was able to stop taking Prevacid. Acid reflux cured- 100%- that was 8 years ago. I take absolutely nothing for heartburn anymore other than during this latest illness when I mistook my stomach/gut pain as acid reflux initially when it was actually pain caused by my histamine and salicylate intolerances.

The primary reason I prefer it is that alternative medicine looks for the root cause of dis-ease and doesn’t just treat the symptoms. That said, I’m not against western medicine. There’s a time and a place for it. If I had cancer, I’d have it removed surgically. I’d have chemo/radiation if I had to. And I’d also follow my ND’s advice on diet, exercise and supplementation to support the cancer treatment as well as acupuncture to help with the nausea. To me, the two approaches can complement one another.

[BC Bob]

You mentioned you’re OK with oatmeal and rice and cashews.  How about seeds and coconut?  If so, you can make a decent granola (oats, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews (or other nut), coconut, rice flower, raisins, olive oil).    How about whey?

I’ve been going stoveless for a while.  Granola with whey concentrate for breakfast and dinner, often with dehydrated fruit on top. Peanuts, cashews, raisins, dried apricots, chocolate covered almonds for lunch.

[Author]

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