[pct-l] Fwd: Re: No cook food on the trail

[g l]

g l <gailpl2003 at yahoo.com> wrote: Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:24:22 -0800 (PST)
From: g l <gailpl2003 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] No cook food on the trail
To: Steel-Eye <chelin at teleport.com>

 Steel-Eye-

Thank you so much for pointing out the hazards of caffeine use- on trail and off.  When I stopped using caffeine 10 years ago, my withdrawal headaches lasted a year and a half.....nothing "low grade" about the addiction.  We don't like to admit that the body was never meant to be "sped up" artificially and there is always a price to pay for it.  Your points about dehydration and electrolyte balance are excellent.  To that I would add that caffeine adversely affects all organ systems of the body.....notably contributing to hypertension and heart arrhythmias, causing blood sugar levels to go wild (jolt to the ol' pancreas), and I believe contributing to gallbladder disease (due to dehydration and therefore not enough "fluids" to properly flush the body of toxins)......bad, bad stuff.  IMHO it is yet another money making scam by corporate America......as with nicotine, to 'hook" us and have us pay money to slowly "kill"  ourselves.  Turns out, that the use of caffeine is in
 fact, what is "uncivilized".

Wheeew

Steel-Eye <chelin at teleport.com> wrote:        Good  morning, JoAnn,
  
 As  much as I like freshly brewed coffee made from clean water and freshly ground,  high quality, beans I do indeed stop drinking coffee and tea entirely  prior to a  long hike.  The reason is a bit more strategic than wanting to avoid  heating water in the morning.   People vary in their reaction to habitual doses of caffeine.  I enjoy the taste and all of the  stimulant effects, but in my body caffeine is also a significant diuretic, and  my logic is that I should avoid using a known diuretic during a sustained hike  through SoCal.  Water is not  abundant in much of SoCal, so an increase in unnecessary water loss means I have  to carry more of it for the same overall hydration level.  That was my primary concern.  My secondary concern was the need to  maintain appropriate electrolyte levels through long, strenuous days in a hot  environment.  Unnecessary loss of  water due to diuretic action also means needing to replace an inordinate amount  of  electrolytes.  The
 tertiary  concern was chemical dependency.  I  get a low-grade addiction to caffeine to the point that withdrawal involves  headaches as well as generally feeling crummy.  It’s no big deal, and it goes away after  about a week, but it’s a complication that I do not need.  My avoidance also applies to other  significant sources of caffeine such as soft drinks.  I love chocolate, but its level of  consumption, and the caffeine it contains, is seldom is sufficient to cause a  problem.
  
 For shorter trips I often cook, which means I can enjoy coffee in the  morning.  I particularly like  “mountain mocha”, which is instant hot chocolate mixed with a big dose of  high-quality instant espresso coffee.   On shorter trips if I’m not cooking/heating I carry a candy called Coffee  Nips that I enjoy, and which contain a fair amount of coffee and/or  caffeine.
  
 As I write this I’m well into my third cup of coffee.
  
Steel-Eye
    ----- Original Message ----- 
   From:    JoAnn 
   To: chelin at teleport.com 
   Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net 
   Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 10:28    AM
   Subject: No cook food on the trail
   

   For breakfast I eat homemade granola every day on the    trail.  It's high in 
calories, dense to pack, and I can eat it right    out of the Ziploc while 
hiking.
    ********************************************************************************
   How very uncivilized...no coffee with breakfast? Do without my coffee    while on the trail???...never!     :)
    
   are we there yet
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