Backpacking as a Vegetarian or Vegan: Packing Tips for a Successful Hike

Can I maintain my vegetarian/vegan diet on a thru-hike?

This question is a common one that we get from backpackers planning a thru-hike. Some think a vegan won’t be able to finish their hike because they can’t consume enough calories or protein and will become weak and sickly.

This is NOT true. You do not need to eat animal protein to finish any endurance activity. While hiking, the muscle continuously burns carbohydrates and fat as fuel, not protein. Like all other backpackers, vegans need to consume more calories from complex carbohydrates and fat. The best plant-based carbohydrates to consume when backpacking are complex carbohydrates (starches) from whole-grain sources, such as beans and legumes, which also contain protein.

Vegetarians eating primarily complex carbohydrates from starchy plants will have a competitive advantage because the muscles require a constant supply of glucose while hiking. Carbohydrates (also called sugar or glucose) offer an immediate source of energy for muscles and organs. In fact, carbohydrates are your body’s first choice for fuel. If given a choice of several types of foods simultaneously, your body will use the energy from carbohydrates first. Fat will then carry your body further — after the carbohydrate stores get used up as fuel. A small amount of protein (10 to 15% of your daily calories) is necessary for repairing and building muscle while you rest.

Food: What to take, Where to get it, How much?

Know your options by researching what towns you’ll be resupplying food to check what vegetarian options are available. Finding outfitters, health food stores, or grocers with enough plant-based options to resupply from in smaller towns is challenging. Finding vegan backpacking food will require more effort and planning, as dairy-free options are limited. Some trail towns may have a section of the store catering to plant-based eaters; however, standard vegetarian fare is often low in calories and won’t meet the energy demands of backpacking. Which foods should you take and how much? We’ll cover all these topics here.

Nutrition

There are six types of nutrients: carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. Of these six nutrients, only the first 3 (macronutrients) provide calories in the form of energy for the body: carbohydrate, protein, and fat:

• 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Fat makes up more than the combined protein and carbohydrate calories, so you might conclude to only focus on fatty foods to fulfill your calorie needs. That is not a wise choice!

Carbohydrates are essential for backpacking (or any form of endurance activity) because the primary purpose of carbs is to provide muscle energy. Carbs break down into glucose for immediate energy needs, and the surplus is stored as glycogen for future energy needs. Once glycogen stores are filled, the remaining calories get converted into fat.

It also matters the type of carb consumed – complex vs. simple.

Backpackers should focus primarily on complex carbs since hiking is a slow, endurance activity. Common sources of complex carbs include whole wheat/pasta/couscous, brown rice, quinoa, beans/lentils, tubers/potato flakes, oats, and corn.

• Simple carbohydrates (sugar) such as candy provide a quick burst of energy but contribute to energy crashes and are a poor source of vitamins.
• Complex carbs (starches) provide sustained energy. Plants store their energy as starch, commonly found in grains, seeds (rice, beans), and tubers (potatoes).
• Grains (seeds) are about 75% starch (dry weight). Rice, wheat, and corn (maize) are staple foods for more than half the world’s population.
• Beans (also seeds) are about 60% starch and 25% protein (more than twice the protein of grains). Beans (also called legumes) are an important source of protein for vegetarians. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), black beans, pinto beans, lentils, green peas, soybeans, and peanuts are all great sources of both complex carbohydrates and protein.
• Tubers such as potatoes, yams, and cassava when dried contain about 80% starch.

Fats are essential for long-term energy needs. Fat serves as the storage substance for the body’s extra calories, and the body depends on burning calories from fat stores once it burns through calories from carbohydrates. Yet, fat is slow to digest and does not convert into quick energy. That is why having a reserve of fat cells available is crucial rather than relying on them as an immediate energy source. 

• Fat is needed to insulate the body to stay warm in the winter.
• Add healthy fat to all meals to maintain an energy storage reserve.
• The healthiest fats originate from edible plants (i.e., nuts/seeds/drupes, sunflower, olive, avocado, sesame, coconut)

Don’t worry about the caloric ratios – incorporate a variety of whole grains, dried fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and non-hydrogenated oils into your trail diet. Doing so will supply a high amount of carbohydrates and adequate fat and protein.

How Many Calories: Pack Smart

Backpacking burns a high amount of calories. You need to consume from 3,000 calories (easier hiking) to 5,000+ calories (difficult/cold-weather) mountaineering. Look for meals or snacks that will give you at least 110 calories/ounce to stay ahead of the 3,000-calorie minimum, assuming you pack about 2 lbs of food daily (standard for most backpackers). Don’t expect to get all your calories from eating three meals daily. You will need to snack between meals to supplement calories. See Outdoor Herbivore’s Calorie Dense Snacks and Meal List.

The Best Carbohydrates for Backpacking

Carbohydrates from starches are essential but look for those not highly processed. Whole grains are more nutrient-dense, and fiber helps slow down the release of glucose for energy. Ramen noodles are popular for many hikers since they are readily available, cheap, and fast to cook but are overloaded in sodium. Also, ramen is highly processed and nutrient-poor. We recommend naturally quick-cooking carbohydrate foods coming from whole grain sources instead. Look for these complex carbs for backpacking –

Pasta. Instant couscous is steamed pasta granules that will rehydrate in 5 minutes in hot water, making it an excellent choice for backpacking. Try grinding couscous in a coffee grinder to make a breakfast porridge (cream of wheat). Quick-cook pasta meals require short and thin-walled pasta, noodles, or instant precooked pasta.

• Asian-style noodles are usually made with soft wheat, making them suitable for a 10-minute soak in hot water. 
• American noodles often contain egg yolk (not vegan) and require a long simmer.
• American and European pasta is made from hard durum semolina wheat and has a longer cooking time. Small-town grocers often only carry the traditional European pasta; get angel hair pasta and break it into smaller pieces to speed up rehydration.

Instant Beans and Lentils. These provide excellent carbohydrate & protein benefits. Look for precooked dried lentils and instant beans. Any other type of dried bean/lentil will take too long to cook on the trail and waste all your stove fuel. If you can not get precooked or instant beans, red split lentils from grocery stores can work in a pinch. Cold soak for a few hours to reduce cooking time.

Instant Brown Rice & Rice Farina (cream of rice) for breakfast. Instant rice dishes paired with dried ingredients have endless menu possibilities. Freeze-dried rice has the quickest reconstitution time (5 – 10 minutes).

White potato flakes and sweet potato powder add starches and thicken up backpacking food, oats, soups, and rice curries.

Granola & Muesli (Oats). Make your cereal mix using a combination of oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruits for added taste and calories. We make a fruit and nut muesli and blueberry vanilla crunch with instant soy milk at 600+ calories per serving.

Instant Quinoa. Quinoa is a complete protein that is highly versatile and gluten-free. Instant quinoa has been pre-cooked and dried to make it fast cooking. Our dehydrated quinoa requires 5-minute rehydration in hot water. You can use regular Quinoa that has not been pre-steamed and dehydrated, but it will require 15-20 minutes of cooking/hydration. Quinoa crisps or puffs are ready-to-eat making them suitable for cold soaking, hot soaking, or snacking.

Whole Wheat Flatbread. Tortillas, Naan, Pita, or Lavash are great for packing. American bread contains preservatives and will stay fresh in your pack at least a week. Tortillas tolerate temperature changes very well, are lightweight, plus have endless possibilities as a menu item – beans and rice, salad wrap, hummus and pesto sandwich, act as a napkin to sop up the remains of your trail meal, as a piece of bread toasted over a campfire as a cracker topped with olive oil. We like Mi Rancho tortillas because they are easy to find here in California, are vegan, and last 3-4 weeks. Top choices for high-cal vegan flatbreads that will last several weeks in your pack:

• Mi Rancho Organic Whole Wheat Tortillas – 210 calories per tortilla (68g)
• Mi Rancho Organic Flour Tortilla (Large) – 230 calories per tortilla (71g)
• Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Lavash Flatbread – 220 calories per piece (79g)
• Wholefoods 365 Organic Whole Wheat Tortillas – 130 calories per tortilla (50g)

Hint for keeping tortillas fresh in your pack: Insert a paper towel between each tortilla. Repackage them into a zip-lock freezer bag. You can roll them up or keep them flat in your pack. The paper towel prevents them from sticking together by absorbing humidity from the air. We find this particularly helpful while hiking in the Southeast. This also works for drier climates because the paper towel will absorb the moisture in the tortilla and insulate it so it doesn’t dry out.

Carbohydrates from simple sugars are also important. However, keep refined sugars (commonly found in energy bars & vitamin drinks) to a minimum to avoid energy spikes and crashes that will leave you lethargic. Consuming fructose (found in the natural form of fruit sugar – not refined from corn) is fine because the body gradually converts natural fruit sugars for energy. Besides fruit, other great choices of natural sugars to look for in foods include brown rice syrup, maple sugar (granules are great for backpacking), date sugar or crumbles, molasses, and honey. Look for these simple carb foods –

Dried Fruit (fructose). Fruits such as raisins are great to pack and offer about 100 calories per ounce. Dried bananas and dates are also excellent. The only ones we do not recommend are berries, as they have few calories. Most people like the taste of dehydrated fruits better than freeze-dried. Freeze-dried fruits are crispy and airy, which means they take up more space, whereas dehydrated fruits are compact and chewy. Try them both and decide which you prefer.

Meal bars containing natural sugars such as dates, figs, brown rice syrup, maple (the granules are great for backpacking), and honey. Minimize food with man-made refined sugar. A better choice for refined sugar is the sugar sourced or evaporated from sugar cane (not beets, which are often genetically modified). Vegans should always look for organic cane sugar, which bans the use of animal bone char during sugar processing.

Avoid artificial sugars. Artificial sugars are low-calorie and do not break down in the body properly. Their long (and short) term risks are also questionable.

Load up on High Fat Foods

We recommend olive oil. It makes your dishes taste better, plus you’ll get the extra calories from healthy fat. Avoid hydrogenated oil, of course.

• The single-serve packets of olive oil (11ml, about 1 TB) have 90 calories. You can buy the single packets or fill small squeeze containers (sold at outdoor stores) from a container of olive oil. A tip for packing out olive oil is to wrap PTFE (white plumber’s tape) around the bottle’s threads. This will create a better seal and prevent the oil from leaking. Tips on packing olive oil.
• Another good fat (and protein) to take out is nut butter. Outdoor Herbivore offers dried organic high-fat peanut butter powder to make it easier for you to make as much as you need. If you don’t need much, Justin’s Nut Butter makes travel-sized squeeze packs; nut butter can also be repackaged from jars into travel-sized plastic squeeze bottles. Avoid peanut butter powder sold in grocery stores because it is low in fat or fat-free.

Keep it Lightweight

Avoid wet-packed foods. Look for dried foods (dehydrated or freeze-dried) and pack extra oil to boost the calorie content of all meals.

• Aim to carry an average of 2 pounds (.9 kg) of food per day and be critical when selecting foods that will give you the calorie density that you’ll need (100+ calories/ounce). Look for meals that include healthy fats from whole food plant sources – think seeds and nuts. For example, coconut, macadamia, walnuts, almonds, sesame, sunflower, cashews, chia seed, and cured olives.
• Purchase Dried Foods. Dehydrated foods are generally cheaper than freeze-dried meals. Freeze-dried food retains more nutrients. The taste and texture of these two are very different. You’ll have to decide which you prefer. The difference between freeze dried and dehydrated food –

• GORP remains an excellent snack because it is easy to make, stores well, and is high in calories. Munch on it throughout your hike instead of all at once for a steady release of energy.
  • Make your own GORP using a combination of dried fruits, nuts, seeds (sunflower seed is excellent), and dark chocolate.
  • Look for chocolate without lecithin or dairy (soy lecithin is ok, but some are sourced from eggs) if you want to keep it vegan. Enjoy Life is a popular dairy-free chocolate chip brand. We prefer dark chocolate pieces containing 70% or more cocoa, which is often naturally vegan and a better choice for backpacking because it resists melting. An even healthier and higher calorie option (if you can tolerate it) is cacao nibs, an unprocessed chocolate that is bitter. Carob chips are an alternative to chocolate.
• Look for Organic Ingredients and non-genetically engineered foods. As outdoor lovers, we are proponents of organic. Organic is a more responsible way of farming and is much better for the environment and its inhabitants. You can keep costs down by only purchasing organic high-risk foods that absorb more chemicals, like thin-skinned fruits and vegetables. Keep in mind that –
  • The pesticides sprayed on the skin of non-organic fruits or vegetables (and contained within the flesh) do not disappear in the drying process. It only concentrates it. Unless you like the idea of pesticide seasoning as part of your trail food, purchase organic. Because backpackers tend to consume a lot of dried foods (to keep up with calorie needs and satisfy caloric needs), pesticide exposure will be much GREATER than consuming fresh food. If you eat a lot of dried fruit, organic is very important because it’s easy to overeat dried fruit when the water is removed. A few handfuls of dried fruit can equate to consuming an entire bowl of fresh fruit since fresh fruit is often 80% or more in water.Organic dried fruit also prohibits the use of problematic allergens such as sulfites.

Want to know more?

See our website for more information

Related Posts:

• Backpacking with Peanut Butter
• Why Nuts make you a Stronger Backpacker
• Coconut: Your Backpacking Food Companion
• Nutritional Yeast is More than a Vegan Cheese: It’s A Powerhouse of Nutrients
• How Food Provides Energy

References

Protein in the Vegan Diet — The Vegetarian Resource Group Vrg.org from https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.php