Healthy eating on an adventure – Can it be done?

It’s one thing to commit to eating healthily from the comfort of your own home. Supermarkets, health shops, markets, fridges/freezers, ovens, plenty of storage, counter space and kitchen tools are all at our disposal to help significantly streamline the process.

But it’s an entirely different challenge trying to eat healthy on an adventure, whether big or small. If you’re hiking a long-distance trail, bike packing across a continent, or exploring a remote wilderness area, is it possible to maintain a commitment to eating “right”?

To me, it seems that the challenges involved in accessing, preserving, carrying and cooking healthy food are significantly greater than what would be involved in consuming a more processed diet. I’m curious about whether healthy adventure eating can, in theory, be done and whether it’s at all realistic in practice. So here are my thoughts on the topic. I’d be interested in hearing your ideas as well, so be sure to leave a comment below.

I first thought about this issue after watching a video on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in America (it’s a great video, filled with beautifully shot scenery, so I’d definitely recommend checking it out just below). At one point in the documentary, the hikers mention in passing some of the things they were eating. For example, they carried large jars of peanut butter. Not too bad… But then there were snicker bars, cream pies, tortilla wraps, as well as hot dogs, burgers, sodas and plenty more left by “trail angels”.

This is also not the first time I’ve had an insight into what many adventurers eat. In another video I watched, an elite mountain bike racer traversing an area of the Rockies drops into small stores along her route leaving with armfuls of calorie-dense junk food.

The outdoors community in general is full of stories of adventurers trying to get by on as cheap – and therefore unvaried and most likely unhealthy – diet as possible. One example that jumps to mind is Alistair Humphreys who, if I recall correctly, lived on a diet consisting almost entirely of instant noodles whilst cycling through Japan, resulting in some quite serious nutrient deficiencies!

Why is eating healthy on an adventure important?

As someone potentially interested in embarking on a big adventure in the not to distant future and also being a person with a strong commitment to eating super healthy, the question of what I would eat when I’m out in the world, probably in some wild place, and reliant on carrying my own supplies, poses a bit of a dilemma. Away from my own home, cities and towns (especially in the developed world), sourcing “specialist” health food can be a bit of a challenge.

At this point, you might be asking, why don’t I just make an exception and declare a temporary hiatus on my healthy eating, or at least relax the rules a little? There are several reasons I wouldn’t do this:

    – Out of principle. Why should going on an adventure = having a poor diet, even on a budget?

    – Up until a hundred years or so ago, all of us ate a pretty healthy diet full of natural foods. It would be pretty sad to think this is no longer possible under certain circumstances, especially circumstances such as adventure which for me means getting back to nature and escaping many aspects of modernity such as processed foods.

   – It’s a challenge. I’m interested in finding out if you can sustain a healthy diet on an adventure, especially a wild and physically challenging one. I wouldn’t want to just assume it can’t be done and then jump right into a diet of processed food.

   – The potential benefits. Eating healthy is important for everyday life. So when you’re pushing yourself physically and mentally, it should be come even more important. Your mind and body need the right fuel and support more than ever, so why do the exact opposite through feeding yourself with junk?

   – It makes sense for everyone to eat as well as possible as an adventure, but even more so for those who already eat well in normal life. Your body might go into outright rebellion if you start drastically downgrading what you eat – not the best way to start a tough challenge.

Of course there are a couple of necessary differences between every day and adventure eating. The biggest one is the amount of calories you consume. This poses a potential problem when it comes to eating healthy, as most healthy foods (though certainly not all) are comparatively low calorie, meaning you’ll need to source, carry, cook and eat more of them in order to have enough energy. This may mean more expense, more weight, and more time, than if you were eating calorie dense, sugary, fatty processed foods.

On the other hand, perhaps one of the reason hikers get so ravenous in the PCT video I mentioned above is because they’re stuck on a blood sugar roller coaster from all the sugar-filled energy bars, processed ready meal packets and “trail magic” sodas! Perhaps making sure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs and consuming slow-burning complex carbohydrates and fibrous plant-based foods is the way to go if you want to feel satiated and curb the cravings.

What does healthy adventure eating look like?

Now I’ve covered some reasons why healthy eating on an adventure is potentially very important, especially for those who usually eat well, let’s get onto some of the specifics. I have no idea whether it can be done in reality, as I’ve never tried. But below, I’ve tried to map out whether my current diet would more or less translate into an adventure diet. What kind of things work well? What would have to be eliminated? And what are some good alternatives?

Everyday diet                              

Breakfast

• Oats
• Fruit
• Spices
• Herbal tea

Lunch

• Flatbread made with non-wheat/gluten flour such as buckwheat
• Tahini or nut butter for the bread
• Salad with approx 3-5 different vegetables
• Sometimes some form of protein such as tinned wild salmon or feta cheese

Tea

• This can be pretty much anything, but typically consists of some form of (preferably complex) carb (e.g. wholegrain rice, quinoa, millet, rice noodles, pastry made from GF flour), along with 2 or 3 vegetables and perhaps (though not often) some protein such as fish or chicken.

Snacks

• Nuts and seeds
• Coconut flakes
• Yogurt
• Nut butter
• Plenty of tea!

Adventure diet                              

Breakfast

• Oats – works well
• Fruit – may be hard to source and carry enough, but should be do-able
• Spices – works well. I can make up a mix in a small plastic sachet
• Herbal tea – works well

Lunch

• Flatbread made with non-wheat/gluten flour such as buckwheat – not at all practical to make my own bread on the road…
• Tahini or nut butter for the bread – works well
• Salad with approx 3-5 different vegetables – could well pose an issue…
• Tinned fish works, dairy not so much

Tea

• May be hard to source more unusual grains such as quinoa. 
• Getting enough veg could pose a problem depending on where I am in the world (how remote really)

Snacks

• Nuts, seeds and nut butter – work well
• Coconut flakes –  works well, provided it can be found
• Yogurt – hard to keep dairy fresh

As you can see, breakfast translates pretty easily, as do snacks. Things like nuts are perfect adventure food – high calorie, good for snacking, nutritious, delicious and I imagine fairly readily available. The challenge really lies with all the veg I eat for lunch and tea. It might be an idea to hone in on veg that doesn’t require refrigerating if freshness is an issue – tomatoes, avocados, onions, etc.

And there is also a great deal of typical “adventure food” I don’t want to eat: pasta, white rice, wheat noodles, ready meals, stock cubes, dried fruit (might make an exception if I really need the sugar), ready-made sauces…

Finally, here are some things to consider if you’re interested in healthy eating on an adventure

• Pack in healthy calorie dense foods.
• Consider how you can carry enough vegetables and fruit, and how you’ll keep them fresh.
• Could sourcing alternative flours be an option?
• Depending on where you are in the world and on the season, foraging for natural foods you can eat could be a way to supplement your diet. Though this is obviously not something to rely on unless you’re really clued in on the subject. If you are planning to try eating plants, berries and other wild things make sure you know what you’re doing for obvious reasons!

If you’re an adventurer committed to healthy eating or someone who’s even tested out some of the above ideas, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!