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What Food and Drink?
The aim of this article is not to educate you about physiology, the Glycemic Index or the Aitkins diet. Here we aim to point out how certain products specifically developed for sport and the outdoors can help you in a practical and nutritional way when you head to the hills, head out cragging, or head up some monstrous North face in the Alps. Paying attention to what you eat and drink can really affect your ability to perform physically and mentally when active and save you having to carry more than you have to.
The consumables that we are going to be looking at can be divided in to three categories - liquids, gels and solids.
How much should you drink?
Liquids - Everyone knows that you should drink before you exercise, whilst you exercise and after you exercise. Climbers are generally bad at this. They drink too little water, whichever climbing activity they are involved in and often drink to much alcohol afterwards.
If you are climbing mountains then half a litre an hour is a reasonable expectation of what you'll need, preferably more. However even half a litre an hour is not particularly realistic as for a 12 hour day (which would be short day) in the mountains you would need to carry six litres. Not many climbers would be prepared to carry this much water. Even if you were, or were really disciplined and stopped to collect water, melt water and drink, likely as not you would still be bordering on dehydration. Therefore any way that you can maximise what you get out of your liquid intake whilst you are on the move and when you stop to bivi is therefore a very good idea.
How can I maximise what I get from my liquid intake?
Drink powders come in three rough types to help maximise what you get from your liquid intake. Energy drinks, rehydration drinks and recovery drinks. Energy and rehydration drinks, often in combination are the most use for climbing, adventure racing and cycling. Recovery drinks focus on the building of muscles after training (often meant to be used in a very narrow 'window' right after exercise to get max benefit) and are of less use if you've been active all day.
The Outside Range of Energy/Rehydration and Recovery Drinks
The big containers of these powdered drinks are more cost effective but slightly unwieldy to take anywhere. Sachets of drink (either Energy or Rehydration) that you can store in your pockets are a better idea as they can be added as you melt water, as you find water and are easier to measure out.
With cycling or adventure racing what you get through your liquid intake is very important. With climbing you will hopefully be able to get much of what energy drinks have to offer in a solid food format. This is becuase climbing is a stop start activity and there are many opportunities to eat unlike with other sports where calories are taken almost exclusively in a liquid form, on the move. Whilst this somewhat negates the use specialist drinks to get energy, rehydration drinks are still a very good idea due to the previously mentioned problem of dehydration in the mountains. Rehydration drinks are all based around rehydration salts which have now been saving lives for nearly 100 years. These can be obtained from a pharmacy as medicinal rehydration salts or from a company like SIS in a more palatable format (Go Electrolyte). If you are climbing for long periods of time or at altitude then these types of drinks are extremely useful at electrolyte replacement offering you the chance to get back much of what you have lost when you stop climbing and bivi.
Gels - Are they worth it?
In calorific terms yes, if used correctly they should keep you climbing, alert and happy. It is however not that simple. Before we even start to look at what is in the gels it's worth mentioning some of the practical pros and cons.
Pros - They don’t freeze as easily as many mountain foods. They are incredibly easy to get into the body as they don’t have to be chewed, don’t affect breathing and don’t require water to get them down your neck. They are also very small and can be stored easily in pockets.
Cons - They unfortunately look like hair gel and taste only slightly better. The packaging leaves much to be desired after consumption as when the gel has been taken you are often left with a gooey, sticky wrapper. They do also often require water to get rid of the sickly sticky taste they leave in your mouth. For prolonged day after day use, they don’t do your stomach any favours either.
The Outside Range of Gels
What's the science?
Gels are really just pure carbohydrate that is easier to digest than traditional sources of carbohydrate. This is due not only to their physical make up but also due to their small portion/often taken principle. Different gels recommend different frequency of consumption (always bear in mind they want you to buy more of the stuff).
Gels are made up of simple and complex carbohydrates in a highly concentrated lightweight form. The simple carbs give you the quick spike of sugar like you'd get from a mars bar and the complex carbs give you the longer burn that you'd expect from something like a flapjack. Gels also contain the electrolytes (also found in rehydration drinks) chloride, magnesium and sodium potassium which are essential for metabolising carbs and rehydrating. Caffeine gels can also be found useful for when you need an extra push, but they should not be used exclusively or for long periods.
Solid Food on the Move?
General crag/mountain food that gives long and short term burn ideal for climbing and mountaineering would be fruit and nut mixes, dried fruit mix, chocolate coated raisins or peanuts or coffee beans and sesame seeds. Fatty foods like mini cheeses and Pepparami are worth having along in small quantities for any cold weather activity that's going to last more than a couple of days.
On top of all of these standard food stuffs there are the commercial sports bars. This means Power/Energy Bars of which there are now a great many. They give you what the gels and conventional food offer in the form of complex carbs but in a more palatable form than the gels and a more light weight form than conventional food. As with gels the broader range of carbs helps defeat the spike/crash cycle that you get from chocolate. Go Bars from SIS and the Clif Bars are two of the best energy bars on the market - The Clif bars are especially tasty being the most like normal food.
The Outside Range of Energy Bars
Shot Bloks From the Clif Bar Company - Semi Solid Food On the Move?
Whilst it's possible to argue the nutritional toss of the Shot Bloks versus Gels there are specific practicalities that make the Shot Bloks a great bit of mountain food. Firstly they taste loads better than a Gel and you don’t eat them like you are taking medicine. Secondly they are really easy to eat (with gloves on for example), do not leave you with a horrible sticky wrapper and don’t really need water to get down. Lastly they don’t freeze. These facts together have made them increasingly popular amongst endurance athletes and alpinists.
Solid Bivvi Food - The Evening Meal?
There are three eating options. Firstly you cook food that is available in a supermarket. Second you use dehydrated food you need to add boiling water to. Third you eat boil in the bag meals that only need to be reheated in water to make them edible.
Real food - It is possible to create a light weight meal that gives you what you need and is easy to cook from scratch using ingredients purchased from a standard supermarket. Noodles with various flavourings and additions such as croutons, olive oil, sausage, cheese, tinned fish and cup-a-soups make up a light weight quick to cook meal that has served many people well. The only down side to it is that you have to split everything up in to parts, think about how you are going to mix it all and package it appropriately.
Dehydrated meals - The worst tasting of the three options available. Probably not as light weight as the real food option and it needs a bit more water boiling to make it work, but it is simple and it requires little thought to create. Simply boil the amount of water it asks for on the packet and pour it in, wait, stir and eat.
Boil in the Bag Meals - Better tasting than the dehydrated meal option and probably on a par with the real food option. Very simple to prepare as you place them in a bowl of boiling water already sealed and then remove them, open and eat. The negative aspect of boil in the bag meals is their weight, the time they take to prepare and the amount of boiling water that you need to prepare them. Best for long but gentle walks in the hills, were speed is in no way a serious issue.
Location: Mongolia © James Lawton
