Food on summit hikes

[Julie G]

So, lets say you’re planning on doing some summit hikes this coming summer. The mountains you’ve chosen will take on average 9 hours to hike: 5h up, 4h down. A few hours into the hike I’ll completely loose my appetite, the chocolate bar in my backpack will only make me nauseous and  whatever nuts or seeds I have won’t be eaten. Bread will not be eaten either, only exception might be polar bread. I need to refill my energy storage somehow, but how? What do you eat when doing a summit hike, or some other long, high elevation gain hikes?

[Anonymous]

Consider a maltodextrin, or maltodextrin and fructose, based “sports drink”.  They will pass through your stomach with a minimum of digestive action required, and then quickly be absorbed through the lining of the small intestine into your bloodstream.  I use a maltodextrin based drink exclusively during the day when I am hiking/backpacking at altitude, and let body fat supply the remainder of my calories.

Below are links to a couple of articles that will give you a better, more detailed, understanding of the why and how of the subject

https://cyclingtips.com/2013/05/diy-sports-nutrition/

http://www.acsm.org/docs/brochures/selecting-and-effectively-using-sports-drinks-carbohydrate-gels-and-energy-bars.pdf

[Lester Moore]

Julie – if you’re doing day climbs, then what is your sleep elevation and average summit elevation? And what will your training regimen and stamina be like this coming Spring and Summer? If you are acclimatized, in relatively descent shape and not climbing too fast, then feeling nauseous and having loss of appetite (two symptoms of AMS) should be minimal or nonexistent.

As for food, if it’s just a day hike, you can take sandwiches, cooked eggs, roll-ups and other fresh foods if you like. Any food that is palatable and preferably nutritions (non dehydrating, moderate sugar, etc.) is fair game on a day climb IMHO. If you are doing a mountaineering expedition or a long backpacking trip with climbing, then food choices and carb ratios at different altitudes may be worth considering.

[Julie G]

Thanks for the comments!

Tom – Won’t sports drinks just make me nauseous? The reason I get nauseous is too much sugar (chocolate have been one of the few things I’ve been able to eat, but too much? bleh!)

Lester – I’m in decent shape, but I haven’t done many summit hikes before. My first one was this last summer, so that’s definitely part of the problem. My legs are used to low rep squats and not 5h climbs :P I can give you an example of my last trip to Knutsholstinden, it sucked because I still had a cold, but didn’t want to cancel the trip. It was a painful and took longer time to finish than it should have. Link Don’t think acclimatizing,or ams, is a significant factor in these parts: Norway. As for food: I  loose my appetite after a hard workout so that’s not unusual for me, and I was only nauseous because of too much sugar. Sandwiches, eggs etc won’t work because I wont be able to get it down. Tried sandwiches once, only managed to get a quarter of it down and it took me forever.

[Roger Caffin]

Try drinking more water with your food. NOT those ghastly ‘energy drinks’, just plain water. You problem may simply be that your body has sent all its fluids to your muscles and there is nothing left for your mouth.

One trick is to chew a carbo bicuit with a mouthful of water. You wouldn’t do that at home, but it oftem works in the mountans.

Zero fat foods might also be a good idea.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

“Tom – Won’t sports drinks just make me nauseous? The reason I get nauseous is too much sugar (chocolate have been one of the few things I’ve been able to eat, but too much? bleh!)”

I think it depends on the type and amount of sugar.  I, and many others I know, have no problem with maltodextrin based drinks, taken in moderation over long periods of time on the move.  But if you find that problematic, then it isn’t for you.  I was also assuming from your initial post that you were hiking at high altitude, where an emphasis on carbohydrates is the best approach to taking in calories while on the move.  That is apparently not the case here, so I will withdraw my suggestion.

 

[Kenneth Keating]

This is what helps with me. First, drinking water with added electrolyte tablets(Nunn) helps quite a bit for maintaining my appetite.  For trips where I’ve lost my appetite I’ve found that I can still eat Cliff Shot Blocks,  crystallized(candied) dried ginger, small amounts of milk chocolate, mixed nuts, Stinger Waffles and dried mangos.  The ginger definitely helps out with eliminating or reducing nausea.

[Kevin Robitaille]

Tom, can you recommend a good source for cold water soluble maltodextrin?

[Glenn O]

I like Hammer Perpetuem for the case you describe if my standard options just aren’t sounding palatable. Eventually you will learn what does work for you under a variety of conditions and the guesswork is mostly done.

[Anonymous]

“Tom, can you recommend a good source for cold water soluble maltodextrin?”

Hi Kevin- this is the product I use:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/now/carbo.html

 

You may be able to get a better price by shopping around, but an 8 pound tub of this should last you at least one backpacking season.  Any left over, stored in a cool, dark, dry place, will be good early in the next season.

 

[Kevin Robitaille]

Tom and Glenn – thanks for the suggestions. I’m planning a PCT thru this summer and was reading through some of the old threads on malto. I wasn’t sure how soluble the Carbo Gain would be in cold water so I wanted to see what others were using before I order an 8 or 12 pound bag.

[Author]

Posts