[pct-l] RE: Trail Food

[Sterling_Barlow@bigfoot.com (Sterling Barlow)]

Our bodies are both incredibly complex and amazingly adaptive systems.  The 
current "bleeding edge"  corpus of nutritional knowledge has gaping 
holes.  Research is unraveling the intricate interworkings of chemical 
cycles and dependencies (i.e. calcium-magnesium) and is still surprised at 
the far-reaching effects of electrolyte imbalances.

Brian's accomplishment this year is less an endorsement of the efficacy of 
his diet and more a testament to his determination and good fortune. There 
seems little evidence that we should be impressed with what the human body 
can accomplish on a high-carb, high-fat diet; we might better be amazed at 
what was accomplished in spite of such a diet.

At one level of our discussion of his dietary needs, the assertion that 
"calories count" is quite correct.  Any food that supplies the needed fuel 
to burn will get the job done.  Speculation about how the (hypothetical) 
imbalance of vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc. affected him during the hike 
and what adjustments his body will make in the near future remain 
conjecture in the absence of a series of careful lab tests.

My response to Brian's diet is: Hummmm (as in: Things that make you go 
Hummmm.) Apparently a healthy human being can manage on a surprising diet.

Those with compromised endocrine systems (i.e. diabetes), sensitive cardiac 
timing, or other chronic conditions (i.e. asthma, arthritis, neurological 
idiosyncrasies) might still benefit from a closer look at dietary balance 
than can be accomplished with a case of Snickers.

Sterling