seeking trail food recommendations

[bencrvr]

Hi, next April I'm planning on starting a thruhike of the Appalachian Trail and I'm trying to learn as much as I can about health balancing because I've read of some people's difficulties with it during such a long physical/mental event. So far I've decided on carrying Perfect Food tablets, Primal Defense tablets, and nutritional yeast (major staple of my diet anyways). I just ordered some Cal Mag Fizz since I have minor nighttime leg tremors and I'm wondering about taking that or if there are some great food sources to get the same. Ideally something available at even little mom and pop type stores in the backwoods. Does that liquid mineral concentrate contain enough of them? I'm thinking of bringing it since it's an excellent burn remedy. I also just read a nice article posted on this forum (which I LOVE by the way) about triphala and it sounds like a wonderful thing to bring to maintain regularity and health in general. I still need to learn alot more about possible herbal supplements. Cayenne, garlic powder, and ginger are already part of my list for first aid and culinary reasons. Dandelion sounds nice, and I wouldn't have to bring it along. I'm plannning on just bringing a week's supply of each and keeping the rest in a "bounce" box that I send up ahead of me during the hike. And I'm going for a near-ultralight load so I need the stuff to be lightweight and non-bulky and very easy to make, preferably no-cook. Thanks. Ben

[shelley]

there's really no way to get enough Calcium through diet while hiking.

Make sure you'll be getting enough salt too. If you'll be using processed foods you will, but if you stick to whole foods you may need to keep salty snacks on hand to prevent heat exhaustion or dehydration.