“Nutrient Survival” meals?

[Rick Reno]

Does anybody have experience  with this?

https://nutrientsurvival.com/collections/singles?fbclid=IwAR0oV4BpaipV35O21tRvU20olbmcBgwQyr8NXlFlU_aBR9V15aSrqp1f8LA_aem_AdvjSEH6DVbx-RhWcVXagiUCPHHgjDOUoOV4rNaNIm8mZGxpkbu38ZlVcDftsucZ9K3kOVg0S39HBNPaMKtX1oM3fgneerF6xLjoip9tA3gv9GSwoZBQj6MlHEGZkBhIn0s

[Roger Caffin]

We have seen this sort of thing before.
By the third day you will be desperate for something to CHEW, and will utterly HATE this stuff!

Cheers

[Jacob]

No experience, but it seems worth a try to me! Thanks for posting.

They all seem about 2-2.5oz/250-300cal/serving. There is one drink mix and 5 meals, 4/5 being hot meals.

4oz of the cereal, dry, gets you about 30g Protein (Soy and Milk), 70g of Carb (14g fiber, 8g added sugar), and 10g of Fat (2g saturated, 1.1:1 omega 3:6) Nice small meal.

The nutrient fortification has a decent amount of all the B vitamins, especially if you have 2+ servings a day.

Cool to see brands trying harder.

 

[Jimmy Legs]

Roger, did you review OP’s link?  Offerings are similar to other backpacking entrees, including cold cereal, oatmeal, mac n cheese, cheese/potato/egg scramble.  Perhaps you were thinking of the ‘bricks’ offered by other companies?  Also, maybe not your style of backpacking, but some go out for single nighters and there is also the option of having just some of your calories come from freeze-dried pre-prepped meals.  In those instances, for some, it can be convenient to use mountain house and similar.

[Rick Reno]

Roger- I’ll take that as a “no,” as in “no, I don’t know anything about it.”

[JVD]

I don’t have any experience with this. After a quick look at the link, I could see myself giving it a try … with 2 buts.

But.1. It does raise a question I’ve not answered for myself. As with most freeze-dried/dehydrated backpacking food, I wonder about how much nutrition value is lost in processing. I still take some traditional lightweight backpacking meals but I continue to try to work out how to bring more-whole, less-processed food with low weight.

But.2. It seems like it has a lot of sodium, again like most backpacking meals.

[Roger Caffin]

I could be wrong of course. It happens. My comment was based on many previous reports from others of new offerings, plus my own experiences. Stuff that is too processed or too high in salt – not good. Why can’t they leave all the salt out and just include a tiny package of salt separately?

The moral here is that we need reports from a few people who have actually tried it for a night or two. Go for it and let us know!

Cheers

[Flat Hat]

Not this product, but I eat a powdered athletic meal replacement (developed for ultramarathon cyclists) on multi day trails like the JMT.

 

600 calories for breakfast with 2 tsp instant espresso powder, then 600 cal every two hours all day long.  Then a freeze dried or Skurka recipe for dinner, and peanut M&M’s.  No trail snacks during the day.  4000 to 4300 cal a hiking day.

[Roger Caffin]

then 600 cal every two hours all day long.
No trail snacks during the day.

?? What are the 600 cal every 2 hrs if not trail snacks?
Just curious.
Me, I love my morning coffee around 10 am.

Cheers

[AK Granola]

All these prepper/Mormon end of the world food companies are really designing their products for the coming Apocalypse, not really for backpackers. I suppose the “foods” work for backpackers too, but they’re meant to be stored, not eaten (at least until it’s too late to do a review). If you look at the ownership and purpose it’s pretty clearly stated.

I want food that tastes good, no matter who makes it. I’ve found ways to eat that both taste good and aren’t too heavy. But I would sacrifice a few ounces for a satisfying meal.

That said, let us know if you try them! (I still probably won’t buy from these companies, but that’s a personal/values choice).

[Roger Caffin]

Reading further in, I found:
As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you.
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DO NOT TRACK
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Aghhh!
NOT going there!!!! Not doing ANY business with them.
Bad site!! AVOID!!

Cheers

[Paul Wagner]

 Stuff that is too processed or too high in salt – not good. Why can’t they leave all the salt out and just include a tiny package of salt separately?

Legitimate point, but bear in mind that at higher elevations, food and drink have less flavor–or at least, less perceived flavor.  Same is true on airplanes, which is why the food there is so often disappointing.

90%+ of our sense of taste is in our sense of smell–and in the thin air of higher elevations, those smells don’t carry…so things taste much less intensely.  Adding salt is one way to combat that…there aren’t many others.

[Flat Hat]

600 calories of powdered athletic meal replacement (mixed in 16 oz water) for breakfast, then 600 calories every two hours all day long is not imo “trail snacks”, its basically eating a meal every two hours all day long.  Many freeze dried or common hiker meals are 600 calories.  I feel that a “snack” would be a Clif Bar or gorp or similar eaten while hiking between a breakfast, lunch and dinner regimen. I do eat a solid dinner but thats the only solid food I eat all day.   I also hydrate throughout the day because the body treats the 600cal liquid meal as food, not hydration.

 

 

[Roger Caffin]

90%+ of our sense of taste is in our sense of smell–and in the thin air of higher elevations, those smells don’t carry … so things taste much less intensely.
Right now that does not make much sense to me. WHY? Got any good references for decent studies on this?

600 calories every two hours all day long is not imo “trail snacks”, its basically eating a meal every two hours all day long.
Ah, I see. More a matter of definition then. Fair enough.

because the body treats the 600cal liquid meal as food, not hydration.
Again, I have trouble understanding this. I have only one stomach, and everything goes in there. By the time ‘stuff’ gets there, it is all a bit liquified anyhow. So again: references to research on this would be appreciated.

BTW: ‘references’ means published research in a science journal, and NOT what Ms Paltrow or her likes might crap on about in some daily mag.

Cheers

[Pedestrian]

“….but bear in mind that at higher elevations, food and drink…”

I don’t have numbers but can only guess that over 80% of the packaged backpacking meals are NOT being consumed at “higher elevation” (over 7000 ft?). So the packaged meals are over salted for some reason(s) other than catering to hikers on “higher elevation” trips.

As most know it’s not that hard to put together “backpacking meals” from ingredients so one has more control over what goes into the meals. But it does take some skill, time and effort.

 

 

[Flat Hat]

Roger I base my comments about the liquid meal on my personal experience both using it as an (former!) competitive ultramarathon athlete (multi hour and multi day events) with some good results, and also  7000+ miles of crew experience on the bicycle Race Across America .  (I was a RAAM follow vehicle chief for a winning rider one year, crew chief for a third place rider another.)

If you want studies, references with hard data, scientific info, you can easily find all that and more on the website for the product itself (and email any specific questions to the developer), or nutritional info on the RAAM website of the ultramarathon cycling association.

I’m not a scientist myself, only a former athlete who used the product competitively and have figured out how to use it successfully hiking the JMT. I have modded the formula a tiny bit (on the advice of the product developer) to suit me better for hiking by adding 70cal of MDT Oil Powder to the normal 517 cal serving.  This addition of MDT Oil Powder does 2 things – increases the fat grams per serving, and boosts the calories per oz to about 120 cal per oz.

Randy Ice developed the product in 1986 for Pete Pensyres, it was called “Ultra Energy” back then.  Now it’s called “Spiz” , Randy Ice still owns the company.  He’s a nice guy and I’m sure can answer any questions that you might not find answered on the website.

You can also link to the UMCA and RAAM websites from his site.

http://www.spiz.net

 

 

 

 

[Roger Caffin]

The Spiz stuff is interesting for extreme athletics. No problems.

But maybe less so for someone going for recreational backpacking? I like to have something to chew. I like to enjoy eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. That’s me.

Cheers

[Flat Hat]

Yeah me too, I couldn’t do the liquid meal all day hiking without an actual meal for dinner!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I review a lot of weird meals on TrailCooking, always taking one for the team. So ya all want me to try to choke it down?

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Having put on my glasses and got right up into my monitor…I read the ingredients of the bagged meals. Interesting use of fiber….there is oat fiber and chicory root. More troubling is the use of pea protein in one.

At least you’ll poop….lol

[JVD]

@Sarah.  Can you say more about the trouble with pea protein? I add it to oatmeal or smoothies with no ill effects I notice. Though I don’t  like how processed it is.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

JVD, so it’s a tricky ingredient. People with peanut allergies have a high chance of reacting to it, in a similar manner. And it is in a lot of products now.

The other issue is in how it is processed. High end brands only use the field peas, the other brands grind up every part, including the shells. This is roughage we shouldn’t be consuming. Escpially as the shells tend to hold pesticides and similar.

So choose the brand wisely, and buy organic for this, if you choose to use it.

[JVD]

Sarah, thanks.

[Author]

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