Thread: Would rice and multi vitamins.....

Im planning on a long distance bicycle trip and want to keep my load light so would a diet of only dry non-perishables like rice oatmeal and beans be substantial?

and to get the other nutrients i would be missing i could take vitamins?

Would this be a sufficeint amout of nutrition for say, 100 days.

You might be missing out on some essential amino acids.

I would pack dehydrated potatoes (ie: flakes) and a complete protein/fat source like soy beans. And probably lots of salt if you'll be sweating a lot. I think that would be nutritionally complete (if a bit bland). But I'm not a nutritionist. For something as long as 100 days, you'd best be served by actually finding a nutritionist.

I also suggest some nuts, salted would be preferable but not nessasary if you are getting salt from elsewhere. Nuts contain high amounts of energy and protein for their size and the salt is important from stopping you get dehydrated and getting cramps.

I find it hard to believe you won't pass a store, restaurant or market when bicycling for 100 days.

Nothing beats red meat for iron, protein ( all the amino acids), vitamin B12, and zinc. Take some jerky, which is light, highly concentrated, and quite filling for its weight. Also keeps your jaws busy.

The basic rule in nutrition is variety, which also adds interest to your meals. So take a bit of a wide range of foods if you can.

Consider nutritional/brewer's yeast

it's a good source of
-complete protein, more than meat by weight and volume
-carbohydrates
-all electrolytes
-iron
-B vitamins, all except 16(I think)

cooking oil(pure fat) is the densest and lightest source of calories
-vitamin E
-olive oil has vitamin K

Rice and beans SOUNDS good, but in reality the water it takes to cook them is not practical, you will need that water to stay hydrated.



I have a recipe, although it's lacking ratios

it consists of

nutritional yeast
olive oil
tomato powder
green pepper powder

mix with water and sip to maximize efficiency in assimilation

I think I might have forgotten something... theres a thread somewhere, I'll look for it

the more you eat the more you will drink

consider eating lots of salts for at least a week before your trip and drink plenty of water, the salts will promote retention, giving you an internal supply of H2O

Have you considered army ration packs? They are available on ebay, or were last time I checked, and simply need heating in water for a few minutes. There are a wide range of different full meals available, and they take up hardly any space. I suspect they are also carefully nutritionally balanced. Water used in cooking is not lost, and so can be used to make drinks/use for washing. If the water is not going to be put to any other use, it need not be clean, saving clean water.

Drinks made with the water used to heat a ration pack are palatable, but taste a little funny; I've tested it.

I believe there are vegetarian versions available.


Alternatively, if you're a vegetarian (like me), you can buy packs of pre-cooked rice and pasta, with sauces etc. from most supermarkets. My favourites for taking on hikes are tomato and maserpone pasta, which heat up in 1-2 mins using no aditional water, and are fairly nutritionally balanced.

I always try to take a variety of different meals, combined with nuts and dried fruit to eat between meals. For a 100 day trip, it may be worth taking suppliments, but I would say it is not necessary; I have lived for weeks at a time on the above diet (not when on trips; just laziness) and suffered no ill effects.

Lastly, depending where you are going, it may be worth researching edible plants in the region, and looking at laws regarding fishing. Fresh food will bring some much-needed variety to your diet.