Along with the shelter and clothes, food preparation is pretty important for preparing a perfect backpacking trip. It’s smart to prepare proper foods and meals. And what kind of food should be prepared for a smart trip? What food matters a healthy trip? Today, I am going to share with you 2 main rules on packing backpacking foods.
Rule 1: Make Sure You Getting Enough Calories
A serious backpacking trip requires you to have enough energy to accomplish it. Not Only because you should carry a lot of stuff like a backpacking stove, cooking essentials, a shelter, first aid kits, and other backpacking essentials. In addition, depending on different terrain, you could burn through thousands of calories per day. Thus, the following types of food and meals are quite suitable.
Crackers and Nuts
Ensure your every meal includes a carbohydrate or nut base. Crackers and nuts are easy-to-carry, take no prep, and make sure you get enough energy for the trip ahead. And these food are also great for breakfast and lunch break on the trail. Oatmeal and cream of wheat are also great options.
Snacks
Snacks like pack gels, granola bars, or peanut butter are high in calories. Therefore, prepare yourself with more snacks than you need.
Rule 2: Guaranteeing Food Nutrition
As mentioned above, backpacking can burn thousands of calories per day. Therefore, choosing calorie-dense foods is as important as packing nutrition-dense foods.
Prepare Various Kinds of Foods
To guarantee you get different nutritional properties，you must prepare plenty variety in your food. The longer your backpacking trip is, the more varieties you need to pack.
Freeze Dried Vegetables
If you have a long backpacking trip on your agenda, vegetables are necessary. For they provide vitamins that are not easy to be acquired in most other easy-to-carry foods.
Protein-dense Foods
Backpackers need enough protein for healthy outdoor activity. Protein-dense foods are quite a necessary and lightweight option to provide protein and calories. The following foods can be packed, like jerky, tofu, tempeh, beans, cured sausage, peanut butter, and freeze-dried meats.
Dried Fruits
Pack some dried fruits like mangos or figs, which are a great addition to any backpacking trip. Fresh fruits are not worth carrying for it may stain your travel backpack, heavy-weighted and hard to keep. Dried fruits can be a nutritional food and snack every once in a while.
Bring Multivitamin
Frozen or dried foods lack some nutrients like vitamin C and Calcium, which are the hardest to get on the trail. In this case, you should supply vitamins by bringing these two vitamins or general men or women multivitamins.
Olive oil
Backpacking on the trail, you might be worried about your fat intake, pack a small amount of olive oil, and add some to your meals.
Backpacking Food Packing Tips:
When you get your foods ready to pack, be noted to store them in your backpack chronologically. Label all of your meals and dates, place them chronologically on top of each other, with the first day’s breakfast on the very top, the first day’s lunch beneath that, etc. Organize them for easy access.
After finishing meals on the trail, never leave trash there.
Though many healthy foods are not portable and require refrigeration, there are various nutritious options for backpackers to enjoy on the trail. Jerky, nuts, dried fruits, peanut butter, and whole grains are just great options for health-conscious backpackers.
Generally, no matter where and how long your backpacking trip is, choosing nutritious, calories-dense, and portable foods is the best way to stay fueled and healthy for backpackers.