Nutrition can be quite confusing for the adventurist. When talking about meals on the trail, climbing in the mountains, or? sunrise summits, we usually think of weight first, then nutrition. Divers are a bit luckier in that there is usually a boat or a dive shop nearby that can handle the weight for you!
So how to get the best balance between lightweight meals and optimise the nutrition value? We can keep the meals lightweight, but it is the combination of the food that is just as important as the food itself.? By combining the right foods for our meals we reach a peak state that combines lighweight and high nutrition. This is called Metabolic Efficiency. Metabolic Efficiency can be defined as a systematic nutrition and exercise approach to improving the body’s ability to use its internal stores of nutrients, specifically carbohydrate and fat.
(http://www.metabolicefficiency.org/what-is-it/)
?Your daily nutrition while trekking is a very important piece of the puzzle as it sets up your training nutrition strategies.? By improving your body’s Metabolic Efficiency to use more fat as energy, you not only improve energy levels but you can also lose weight and body fat, sleep better, and recover faster.
Protein + Fat + Fiber is the key to this nutritional efficiency.? This is the way to improve your daily nutrition and achieve the goal of improving your body’s metabolic efficiency through controlling and optimising blood sugar.?It is as simple as choosing food that contains protein, fat and fiber at most meals and snacks.?For example, chicken (protein and fat) with asparagus (fiber), is a great meal that will control and optimise your blood sugar.
Of course with Trekking, we usually tend to load up on carbs, but there needs to be a balance between carbs and protein that you take in as well.? A great example is Spaghetti with meat/vegetable sauce.? Be sure there are plenty of bell peppers in the sauce, not just meat and tomato sauce.??Bell peppers are rich in many vitamins and?antioxidants, especially?vitamin C?and various carotenoids. Also Bell peppers are extremely light, can last a few days and can be carried fresh up the mountain. (Or on the Dive Boat)
Remember to combine a food that has?protein?with one that has?fiber?and one that has?fat, and you will be on your way to controlling your blood sugar and becoming metabolically efficient.
At Wildfire, we know that healthy, tasty meals are extremely important! If you are looking for a trek with Gourmet Style meals for all of the healthy benefits as well as cleansing the body, our Annapurna?Mohare Dande Trek of Nepal is precisely this. A trek through the valleys of the Himalayas to rejuvenate the soul and cleanse the body.?The trek to Mohare Danda brings on a less trodden part of the Annapurna range. It is a lovely alternate Annapurna trek that is off the beaten path. Compared to the Ghorepani trek this trail is relatively new and still unknown to a lot of other trekkers.? Family friendly!
