Managing Tendinitis Naturally

hiking

The Trail Show Salty Segment April 2019

The Question

Dear Salty,

What diet or supplements would you recommend to help combat tendinitis?  I’ve been suffering from Achilles tendinitis for a couple of months now.  I’ve been in PT for 5 weeks. It seems I may have turned the corner, but I’m wondering if you can give me some specific foods or supplements that can help me continue to heal.  I have friends who swear by collagen and bone broth, but I haven’t tried these things. Anything you suggest for on the trail or at home would be great.

Thanks, Lemuel

The Answer

Great question, Lemuel, as this is something a lot of hikers struggle with. As a health and nutrition coach, I don’t diagnose, prescribe, or treat, but I can share what I’ve seen work for myself and others when it comes to tendinitis. Here are some ideas for how you can support your body in recovering more quickly.

What is tendinitis?

For anyone unfamiliar, tendinitis (also called tendonitis) is an inflammatory condition of the tendons. The tendons connect muscles to bones. Tendinitis is often caused by repetitive movements, injuries, or built up inflammation. It can affect people of all ages, sizes, and physical ability, and it’s quite painful. Inflamed tendons are more prone to stress, strain, and tears. Traditionally, treatment involves rest, ice/heat packs, PT, and anti-inflammatory medications.

How To Combat Tendinitis with Diet & Supplements

Follow an Anti-inflammatory Diet

Because tendinitis is an inflammatory condition, the first thing to implement, if you’re not already doing so, is an anti-inflammatory diet. Food can have a dramatic effect on inflammation levels, with some foods combating inflammation and others feeding the fire. This is something I talk about a lot with your trail diet.

An anti-inflammatory diet is one that’s heavy in plants, especially cruciferous veggies (like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale). This is because plants tend to be high in antioxidants. Antioxidants combat oxidative stress and free radical damage, which are the primary drivers of inflammation. Vitamin C is an antioxidant found in high quantities in berries, and it helps rebuild collagen, a key component in tissues.

It’s also important to eat high-quality proteins sourced from grass-fed, pastured animals. This helps the body repair and rebuild damaged tissue. Aim for 4-6 ounces with each meal. Examples include cage-free eggs, grass-fed beef, and wild-caught fish. Fish are also a great choice because they contain anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids.

Also aim to include a wide variety of herbs and spices, which are potent sources of anti-inflammatory compounds. Ginger and turmeric are great options.

On the other hand, inflammatory foods to avoid include alcohol, excess caffeine, sugar, processed foods, and hydrogenated oils.

Click here to download a FREE guide with the top 5 anti-inflammatory foods to eat daily.

Supplementation

It’s best to get your nutrients from whole foods, but if you want to supplement, consider the following.

  • Zinc: supports the immune system and tissue repair
  • Curcumin (found in turmeric): very effective anti-inflammatory properties
  • Fish Oil: contains high amounts of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids
  • Magnesium: supports muscle recovery and restful sleep
  • Bone broth: contains collagen, which helps form tissue in the body

That’s my A to your Q, Lemuel. Hope you heal up quickly and get #backonthetrail.

To learn more about how you can get your health completely dialed in for your upcoming adventures, click here to check out the online Adventure Ready course!

If you’d like to submit your own question for a future Trail Show Salty Segment, click here.

Why All Electrolytes Aren’t Equal & How to Choose a Good One

thru hike

The Trail Show Salty Segment March 2019

**updated May 2021**

The Question

Dear Salty,

There are a LOT of electrolyte powders and pills out there and I’m not sure how to choose the best ones. I’m obviously going to stay away from high fructose corn syrup but aside from that, I know there are different kinds of salts and sweeteners in there. Are there specific things I should avoid and/or look for? Should I just scrap electrolytes and go with POD’s method of water and plain potato chips? Should I just lick the salt off my own skin? Do I even need electrolytes if my trail meals have salt in them? Please help this guy hydrate!

Saltlick

The Answer

This is a great question because Saltlick is right, there are SO MANY options out there, and it’s helpful to know what you’re paying for and whether you even need it. Being a frugal hiker who likes to keep things simple, I get it.

What is an electrolyte?

Let’s lay some groundwork and cover what an electrolyte is and what purpose it serves in the body.

Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals that help balance fluid pressure and maintain blood pH in the body. Proper nerve, heart, and muscle function depends on adequate amounts of electrolytes dissolved in the body’s fluids. These minerals can be lost from the body through sweat.

For optimal performance, it’s important to consume both water and electrolytes. A deficiency or imbalance of electrolytes can result in dehydration, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, cramps, and spasms.

Do I even need electrolytes?

Water and food are our primary sources of electrolytes, but depending on one’s diet, water source, and level of exertion, it may be necessary to supplement with exogenous electrolytes. In general, if your activity doesn’t involve much sweating or is less than an hour in duration, the electrolytes found in whole foods should be sufficient. During activity lasting longer than an hour and in extreme heat, electrolyte powders can be a great way to supplement.

And while I 100% support POD’s method of salt intake via potato chips, sodium is just one of the minerals you need to replace to keep your body functioning optimally. So, while you’re welcome to continue licking salt off your own skin, if you’re on a long distance hike, I’d encourage you to supplement with an electrolyte powder or pill.

How do I choose a good electrolyte supplement? Here’s what to look for & what to avoid.

If you’ve determined that you could benefit from electrolyte replacement, here’s what I’d look for:

A power that contains all of the electrolytes lost through sweat, is tasty, has a reasonable price per serving, and is convenient to use.

At minimum, all electrolyte powders should have the following electrolytes: Sodium (Na+), Chloride (Cl-), Potassium (K+), Calcium (Ca++), and Magnesium (Mg+). According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), “all electrolytes work together to maintain fluid balance in the body at rest and during physical activity, so be sure [to focus] on all electrolytes, rather than focusing on only one or two.” This is important because some outdoors people talk about taking supplements of one mineral (often sodium, potassium, or magnesium), when the body really requires all of the electrolytes. A good mix will have everything that it should and nothing that it doesn’t.

Ideally, an electrolyte mix contains the most bioavailable form of a mineral. Bioavailability refers to the amount of ingested material which is absorbed and available to the body. For example, the magnesium in the aspartate, citrate, lactate, and chloride forms is more bioavailable than magnesium oxide or sulfate.

Cost is also an important consideration. Based on my research, you should be able to find a quality electrolyte replacement for $0.35-0.60 per serving .

Taste and convenience of use (such as ones that dissolve easily and come in single serving packets), are also important considerations, especially for use in the back country.

What to Avoid in an Electrolyte Supplement

To reduce adverse reactions, an electrolyte mix should be absent of common allergens, such as soy, gluten, dairy, nuts, and artificial colors or sweeteners. Additionally, I would look out for unnecessary additives or fillers, like sugar, maltodextrin, or cornstarch. Some of these are linked to inflammation and gut dysbiosis, and some are just unnecessary in an electrolyte replacement.

Good Electrolyte Options

Based on a thorough meta-reviewed I performed for Treeline Review, my top choices considering the above information were Ultima Replenisher, Lyteshow, and Nuun. Though I haven’t tried it yet, LMNT also looks promising.

That’s my A to your Q, Saltlick. Drink up and be safe out there!

To learn more about how you can get your health completely dialed in for your upcoming adventures, click here to check out the online Adventure Ready course!

If you’d like to submit your own question, click here.

Five Steps to Prepare for a Successful Thru-hike

thru-hike

So you’ve got a thru-hike planned for this summer and you’re deep in preparation mode as hikers are wont to do in the cold, dark months of winter. But it feels like there are a million pieces to get in place. Where do you even start? What are you forgetting? As you dream of alpine lakes and sunshine, here are five key steps to consider before embarking on your adventure.

This post is designed to provide a very broad overview of the planning process and some things that you should likely be thinking about. Each of these topics alone could be an entire article (and they may be at some point).

Here’s what I’ve learned from ~5000 miles of backpacking and planning multiple thru-hikes.

thru-hike
Cross country travel on the Oregon Desert Trail

Master Your Mindset

  • Commit. You can’t be wishy-washy. You must commit in your heart to what you intend to achieve because thru-hikes don’t just happen accidentally. You can’t go out with the mindset of “well, I’ll give it a shot and see what happens”. That rarely works. Yes, be flexible and fluid, but also know your end goal. That (not fully in) was my mindset when a friend asked me join him on his thru-hike of the AT. I figured I’d tag along, and who knows, maybe I’d thru-hike. Of course, I didn’t. Shit hit the fan in my off-trail life and I had to bail early. Compare that with my PCT hike, where I went in with the mindset of “I will do everything in my power to thru-hike this trail”. And I did. Because I’d been mentally preparing for months.
  • Take personal responsibility. Commitment means taking personal responsibility for the results in your life. This means you take responsibility for your thoughts, your feelings, your words, and your actions. You stop blaming and complaining and outsourcing your happiness to the control of anyone other than yourself. When you fully step into this mentality, it’s incredibly liberating. You realize you create the results you desire and you get caught up a lot less by all the road bumps along the way.
  • Know your WHY. To stay motivated over the long haul, have a clear sense of why you’re out there. If you know your why, when the going gets tough (and it will), you’ll find reserves of energy and perseverance you didn’t even know you had.
  • Anticipate challenges and how you will work through them. Know that you’ll miss your loved ones, you’ll be physically & emotionally uncomfortable (frequently), things won’t work out as you planned, and you may be alone more than you’re used to. Be mentally prepared for all of this. But also know that your time spent on your adventure will likely be deeply transformative and nourishing to your soul, so prepare for that too 🙂
  • Spend your energy on the right things. Preparation begins in the mind, but it doesn’t end there. It helps to prepare your physical body as well. Many hikers spend far too much time obsessing over gear, food, weather and other minutiae, and while those things have their importance, it’s physical preparation (more on that in a moment) and mindset that will result in a successful journey.
thru-hike colorado trail
Snacking and strategizing on a Colorado Trail thru-hike

Start Planning. All the Planning.

  • Dial in your budget. Running out of money is one of the top reasons hikers quit long trails. That’s unfortunate because it’s totally preventable. There are lots of planning resources out there. Know your budget. Start saving months in advance.
  • Get the maps you need and know how to navigate. Do your research to determine which maps you need. If you’re hiking one of the triple crown trails, the ATC, PCTA, and CDTC are good places to start. Learn how to navigate here.
  • Know the skills you’ll need for your chosen adventure and prepare accordingly with classes, practice, and proper gear. Will there be snow travel? Desert travel? Off trail navigation?
  • Learn Leave No Trace ethics and practice them on trail. Also learn about proper town etiquette and practice that as well. Remember, that you’re an ambassador of the trail.
  • Make an itinerary and share it with loved ones. You’ll almost certainly stray from it, but it’s good to have a general outline of where you’ll be and when. Learn more about how to stay safe in the backcountry.
  • Talk with someone who has done what you’re planning to do. This can help you spot holes in your preparations and relieve a lot of anxiety (and get you even more excited). The American Long Distance Hiking Association-West Rucks are a fantastic opportunity for this. You can also read blogs and visit forums, but be careful with that. It can be a total time suck and, remember, everyone will have an opinion, but that doesn’t mean their advice is right for you.
  • Plan, but don’t over-plan. Realize that life on trail is no different than life at home and that things happen which you can’t predict. Stay fluid and flexible and willing to roll with whatever comes your way. Remember that you’re capable and nearly everything is figure-out-able. One of the greatest gifts of the trail is the self confidence gained from realizing that you can handle whatever comes your way, and that in most cases, it’s not that big of a deal.
  • A lot of anxiety comes from fears in the back of our mind. Because we haven’t articulated those concerns, they feel nebulous and give us a sense of dread. Try ‘worst case scenario’ thinking. For example, say your resupply box doesn’t show up at your town stop. Now what? What’s the worst case scenario? What would you do to fix the situation? You’ll likely come up with a solution. Play out these scenarios ahead of time and you’ll often find that you’re overemphasizing the negative consequences in your mind and it really wouldn’t be that bad.

Dial In The Gear

  • Proper gear is worth the investment. I’m not saying you need to spend a fortune, but you do need to find gear that’s durable, functional, and fits your body. I’ve made the mistake of carrying a backpack that didn’t fit me properly, but it was given to me, so I went with it. That resulted in months of back pain that didn’t resolve for weeks, even after my hike was over. Silly mistake. You don’t need to obsess or spend months shaving ounces and researching fabrics, but do make informed choices and purchase decent gear. In the same vein, replace old or worn out gear. This is essential in avoiding injury.
  • Once you’ve acquired your gear, field test it. Know how to use it. Go on a shakedown hike. You may find there’s something you need that you don’t have. Or more likely, things you have which you don’t need. Be selective. This will all be carried on your back for mile upon mile and a heavier pack means more wear and tear on your body.
  • Get a pack shakedown. Find a seasoned hiker to look over your gear. They may see something you don’t. Having an outside opinion can help you evaluate your choices.
  • Choose what’s best for you. What works for your hiking buddy or for the guy in the forum or for your sister may not be what works for you. Test your gear and choose what’s best for YOU. After all, you’ll be the one using it for months.
tiny town healthy resupply
A relatively healthy resupply bought from a tiny town convenience store on the Oregon Desert Trail

Strategize Your Food/Resupply

odt trio
Happy hikers on the ODT

Optimize Your Health

  • Physical preparation is essential to a smooth transition to full time exercise. You’ll be hiking for 8-12 hours per day. The body is incredibly adaptable, but to avoid injuries, it’s wise to prepare the body for this endeavor. There are several training plans on the internet. There’s also an entire 5 lesson module devoted to developing a personalized training plan in our online course Adventure Ready. Suffice it to say, physical preparation is a good idea.
  • Get as healthy as you can before your hike to build resiliency and to get the most out of your experience. Don’t just survive out there. Instead choose to THRIVE. Backpacking can put a tremendous strain on the body and a long hike is incredibly depleting. Illness and injury take hikers off the trail every season. Give yourself the best possible chance of success by getting your health dialed in for a successful adventure.
  • We cover all of this in the online course Adventure Ready. It’s the ultimate road map to optimizing your energy and endurance so you can take on your adventure with confidence and stay healthy to the finish line. You’ll learn mastering your mindset, eating for endless energy, optimizing gut health, preparing yourself physically, hacking sleep for better performance, and managing stress so it doesn’t undermine all your other efforts.

I hope this gave you some ideas and helped fill in gaps in your planning process. What did you find most helpful here? Which of the steps do you want to hear more about? Leave a comment below!

Get inspired, get outside, and have a safe and healthy adventure!

Healthy Daily Detox Practices

health

Spring is just around the corner and our minds naturally turn to cleaning, both for our physical spaces and for our bodies. After a season spent mostly indoors, we yearn for sunlight, movement, and fresh food.

Though our bodies are built for detoxification, we are exposed to an unprecedented number of toxins. This includes herbicides, pesticides, air pollution, medications, household cleaners, cosmetics and body care products, artificial ingredients in our food, and pollutants in our water. That’s just to name a few!

Think of your body like a cup.When toxins are coming in too quickly, they begin to accumulate and build up. The cup overflows. When that happens, we can experience all sorts of issues from weight gain to brain fog to hormonal imbalances and more. That’s why it’s essential to support our bodies detoxification processes.  

While deeper cleanses are helpful a few times per year, incorporating detox into your daily life is imperative for long-term health. Here are 6 practices to get you started.

hydrate detox

Hydrate First

Start each day with 8-16 ounces of filtered water with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Detox with Food

Focus on eating organic food, especially when it comes to meat and dairy. If you can’t afford to always go organic, check out the Environmental Working Group’s “Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen” to decide what to prioritize. Eating foods in their natural state will help you avoid many of the added chemicals in processed foods. Prioritize fresh veggies and aim for a salad every day. Bonus if you can incorporate bitter greens like arugula and dandelion to stimulate the liver.

veggies

Support the Liver with Herbs

The liver filters blood coming from the digestive tract before sending it to the rest of the body. It detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs. Among other metabolic processes, the liver produces bile, which breaks down fat into fatty acids to produce energy. Liver health is also essential for healthy hormones. Herbs such as dandelion root, milk thistle seed, and turmeric root used in teas, decoctions, and tinctures help the liver function better. See this post for more.

Have a Daily Bowel Movement

Ensuring that the bowels are moving daily is akin to cleaning out the garbage. A daily BM moves toxins out of your body. Eat plenty of fiber from whole foods, especially dark leafy greens, to help keep things moving. Stay hydrated. Add in a 2-3 tablespoons of fresh ground flax daily to help bind toxins and move them out of the body. You can also supplement with magnesium citrate in the evenings to get you going.

Sweat

Sweating is one of our body’s natural processes to move toxins out of the body through the skin. Sweat on a regular basis through exercise and sauna.

Detect & Remove Food Intolerances

Food allergies and food intolerances are more common than most people suspect. Intolerances cause a low-grade reaction in the body. Detecting and removing foods that trigger a response can reduce inflammation and improve detoxification.

For a free step by step guide to uncovering food intolerances, click here.

By using these simple practices on a daily basis, you’ll notice better energy, improved brain function, and a better mood within a few weeks.

Like what you’re reading? To stay in the loop when the latest posts are released, and to receive subscriber-only content, click here.

Fasting On Trail: Good Idea or Not?

fasting

The Trail Show Salty Segment February 2019

The Question

Dear Salty,

I noticed in one of your Instagram posts you talked about fasting and I did an “american amount” of research. Looks interesting and healthy and I always thought fasting meant just not eating for days and days, I didn’t realize there were different kinds. Anyway, it seems like it is really good for your cells and I wondered if fasting is a good thing to do on trail, and if so, how in the hell could you do it? The thing I look forward to most is my bedtime snack of cashews and coconut flakes, and then I usually eat as I’m walking out of camp, which means I have about 8 hours of not eating. I can’t imagine going longer than that on trail!!!

Please educate!

Wolfmoon

The Answer

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. If you follow any medical advice given on the trail show and it turns out poorly, please send any complaints to trailshowlegal@thetrailshow.com.

Now, on to the question.

Is fasting a good thing on trail?

Eh, it could be. But it could also be risky considering how much other stress you’re putting your body under. Here’s what I mean.

There are lots of types of fasts, like the extended multi-day fasts you refer to, alternate day fasts, liquid fasts, and more. What the listener is referring to is intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting usually refers to compressing your feeding window to 12 hours or less in a 24 hour cycle. For example, 14 hours of fasting followed by a 10 hour feeding window. The point is not to reduce overall calories but to compress the feeding window to give the digestive system and metabolic processes a break.

What would be the potential benefits?

There’s a lot of research happening around fasting right now. It’s been shown to increase autophagy & clear out damaged cells, improve immunity, improve mental clarity and concentration, support fat loss, lower blood insulin levels, and increase energy, among other things.

And what are the risks?

It’s important to remember that fasting is a stressor and your body is already under a lot of stress on a long hike. Exercise is a stressor. Eating crappy food is a stressor. The body responds well to small amounts of stress, but too much stress on the body leads to chronic inflammation, which is counteractive to what you’re trying to accomplish with a fast.

You can also throw your adrenals and hormones out of whack, both of which happened to me in the past. Not from thru-hiking specifically, but from thru-hiking plus having a lot of other stress in my life. Which leads to another important point: women should be especially careful with fasting, on trail or off, because our hormones are really sensitive to disruptions. If your adrenals are already stressed or if you’re underweight, fasting would not be a good idea.

So, while fasting is a really helpful health tool, I’d say for most people, it’s probably smarter to leave the fasting for when you’re at home or when you’re in town for a few days.

But…if you do try it, here’s how I’d go about it.

In terms of timing, fasting overnight is easiest because you’re sleeping most of that time. I wouldn’t go much beyond a 12-14 hour fast, which would mean a 10-12 hour feeding window. It’s already difficult enough to get in the calories you need on trail. Of course as hikers we’re known for shoveling it in, but the shorter your feeding window, the more you risk not eating enough in that window. Chronically under-eating makes it hard to properly refuel your glycogen and rebuild muscle. When that happens, your body breaks down and your endurance suffers.

If you know it’s something you want to try, I’d highly recommend experimenting with it at home first. Train your body to rely more on fat stores for fuel than incoming glucose, which will make fasted hiking less…uncomfortable. This could be achieved by gradually lengthening your current fasting window. Eat dinner earlier, avoid evening snacks, and push breakfast later. Doing fasted morning workouts would also be beneficial.

So, that’s my A to your Q, Wolfmoon. Hope it helps provide some clarity!

To learn more about how you can get your health completely dialed in for your upcoming adventures this year, click here to learn more about my course Adventure Ready!

If you’d like to submit your own question for a future Trail Show Salty Segment, click here.


What I Wish I’d Done for My Health Before My First Thru-hike

thru hike

This post originally appeared on the Trek.

Imagine this: You’ve just hiked 2,660 miles and you’re in the best shape of your life. You luck out and get an entry into a well-known race you’ve been eyeing for years. It starts in a month. You give yourself a week to recover and you set out on your first training run.

But something is off. You can’t run more than a couple of miles without extreme muscle fatigue. You’ve been exhausted for days and no amount of sleep relieves the fatigue. You’re cold all the time and you’re unmotivated. You wonder, “What is happening? Isn’t this the body that just hiked 2,660 miles?” You have no choice but to pull out of the race.

This was essentially my experience after hiking the PCT. The point is not that thru-hiking caused this health crash. That’s a story for another time. The point is that despite living a very healthy lifestyle before the PCT, I was not as bulletproof as I thought.

Reclaiming my health has been a roller-coaster, but I’m grateful for the journey because I can now share information on how to optimize your health before a hike, so you can thrive and have a successful journey. After all, it’s a lot more fun to be out there when your body is at its peak.

Whether you struggle with a specific health condition or you’re just out of shape from sitting at desk for eight hours a day, use these practices to dial in your health for an upcoming adventure. It’s what has moved the needle the most for me (and those I’ve worked with) in terms of having incredible energy, endurance, and resiliency on my next hike.

How I Prepare My Health for a Thru-Hike

Prioritize Gut Health

Let’s face it: you’re going to encounter a lot of less-than-optimal foods on your hike. Thru-hiking doesn’t exactly lend itself well to healthy eating. From lack of fresh foods (too heavy) to tiny resupply towns with limited options, it can be hard to meet nutrient requirements on trail. Couple that with the intense physical demands you’re putting on the body and you can quickly become depleted and develop deficiencies.

This translates into less energy, slower recovery, and compromised immunity (i.e., slower wound healing and an increased likelihood of getting sick from eating your hiking partner’s GORP). You can try to make up for deficiencies and take care of your gut in town with lots of fresh food and probiotics. But a) that’s unlikely to happen, especially if you’re busy eating beer and pizza, and b) you have a much better chance of staying healthy if you build resiliency before you leave home. It all begins in the gut.

Gut health impacts your immune system, nutrient absorption, energy levels, hormone production, weight, and much more. I thought my gut was fine going into my hike. I lived a pretty healthy lifestyle and I wasn’t experiencing any noticeable digestive symptoms. However, it turns out there’s much more I could’ve been doing to build a healthy, resilient gut.

Short of getting your microbiome tested, it’s difficult to quantify gut health. Luckily, that’s not necessary. You can ensure good gut health, and therefore your ability to get the most nutrition from your food, with the following tips:

Increase Variety and Prioritize Whole Foods

The more diverse the diet, the more diverse the microbiome, and the more adaptable it will be to disruptions.

Up Your Fiber

Aim to eat at least 30 grams of fiber daily. Research indicates that soluble fiber is the best food for sustaining a healthy, diverse population of microbiota. Legumes, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are all great choices.

Probiotics

Consume probiotic-rich foods, like sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, and kombucha or supplement with a high quality probiotic.

Limit Inflammatory Foods

Lastly, it’s important to stop taking in inflammatory foods (discussed next) as well as behaviors that inhibit gut health. These include taking antibiotics (obviously), consuming alcohol, consuming preservatives and food additives, smoking cigarettes, not getting enough sleep, and being stressed.

Limit Inflammatory Foods with a Personalized Diet

One of the largest sources of inflammation in the diet for many people is undetected food intolerances. These are foods, specific to you, that trigger inflammation.

Because I didn’t have any overt digestive symptoms, I assumed I was healthy. I was a baker at the time and even though the bread I was eating was made from organic, locally milled wheat, it turns out that it was creating a lot of inflammation that kept me from being my healthiest.

I figured this out by completing an elimination challenge. This is where you remove potential food triggers for three to four weeks, then reintroduce them one by one to see if your body reacts. This method is the least expensive and most reliable way of detecting food intolerances.

Once I discovered and removed offending foods from my diet, things turned around quickly. My inflammation went down, my energy soared, my digestion improved, and my muscles stopped aching.

Even if you don’t think you have any food intolerances, I encourage everyone to try this at least once. Often it’s not until you remove a potentially triggering food, allow the body to reset, and then reintroduce it, that you may find it’s not working for you. Sometimes you don’t know how good you can actually feel.

To complete an elimination challenge at the most basic level, follow the following process:

  1. Eliminate gluten, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, sugar, and processed foods for 28 days.
  2. One by one, reintroduce each food. Ideally this is twice daily for two to three days before moving on to the next food.
  3. Track your symptoms. If you notice a reaction in your body (such as changes in digestion, energy, or sleep), remove that food again. If not, move on to the next.

Focus less on the idea of elimination, and more on removing the impediments to success, so your body can become stronger and truly thrive.

To get the best feedback, it’s important to follow the process properly. Because this was a game-changer for me, I created a guide on how to properly complete an elimination challenge. No more guessing in the dark about which foods are good or bad for you. You can find out exactly what works for you and what doesn’t. This leads to better energy, better endurance, and it may just clear up any nagging symptoms you’ve been dealing with, like skin rashes, headaches, joint pain, and digestive issues, like bloating, gas, and heartburn.

Live an Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle

There’s a lot that goes into this piece, but here’s what it boils down to: we live in a time when most of us have some level of chronic inflammation.

Acute inflammation is a beneficial healing response. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, slowly breaks down the body and is at the root of most diseases. Inflammation is caused by different stressors. Sources of stress can include environmental (i.e., pollution), physical (i.e., overtraining or eating inflammatory foods), and emotional (a fight with a partner or inability to pay your bills).

We can’t control it all, but we can manage it. With every action or decision, I ask, “Will this lead to more or less inflammation in my body?”

Use the following three practices as a foundation to manage stress:

  1. Make sleep a nonnegotiable. Aim for eight hours per night.
  2. Engage in some form of mindfulness practice, such as meditation, for ten minutes daily.
  3. Have a wind-down ritual each night, whether that’s dinner with a partner, a walk with your dog, or a good book and a cup of tea.

Applied consistently, these practices can make a massive impact on your overall health, as well as on how you feel each day of your hike. It’s a great starting point.

We dive much deeper in these topics in the online course Adventure Ready. It’s designed to optimize your health, so you have the energy and endurance you need to hike long days and stand at that terminus monument, having successfully completed your adventure.

My Favorite Herbal Allies for All Stages of a Woman’s Life

Herbs are a beautiful complement to help women gracefully move through life’s different stages. These plant medicines are highly effective and, in almost all cases, come with a higher degree of safety and fewer side effects than conventional medications. Along with food and mindfulness, herbs can be a powerful force in solving many health issues.

The herbs discussed here support women’s health through the challenges that may come at different times of the month, the year, and throughout a woman’s life. While herbs can be highly beneficial for pregnant and nursing mothers, that’s not the focus of this post, and not all herbs discussed here are appropriate for mothers or mothers to-be. Please do your own research.

The following are some of the most powerful herbal allies to support a woman’s health over the course of her lifetime.

herbs

Vitex (Vitex agnus-castus)

One of the most effective herbs at regulating women’s hormones is Vitex, or Chaste berry. It supports the production of progesterone and luteinizing hormone, both of which are necessary for ovulation and regulating menstruation cycles. Vitex can help reduce PMS symptoms including depression and irritability, bloating, breast tenderness, cravings and acne. It can help with irregular cycles. Vitex may also support women struggling with PCOS and infertility.

Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa)

Wild Yam has a long history of use in supporting women with reproductive health. Contrary to common belief, wild yam does not contain estrogen or progesterone, and it cannot be biologically converted to active hormones in the body. However, Wild Yam does contain the steroidal saponin aglycone diosin which may be converted to diosgenin in the body. Diosgenin then may act on estrogen receptor sites, which may aid in estrogen balance. It’s important to note that this conversion requires healthy gut flora.

Crampbark (Viburnum opulus) & Black Haw (Viburnum prunifolium)

Two herbs which are helpful for women during menses are Crampbark and Black Haw. These herbs have similar actions in the body and are used to soothe the occasional discomfort associated with menstrual cycles. Cramp bark also has a history of use for endometriosis and miscarriage.

Black Cohsoh (Cimicifuga racemosa)

Black Cohosh supports a healthy endocrine system and hormonal cycles throughout a woman’s life. It has a long history of use with menopausal women for relief from hot flashes, sweats, and the effects of declining estrogen. It is also used in the treatment of arthritis and muscle pain.

Additional Allies

Additionally, there are other herbs which can support healthy hormones and moods in women. For liver support and proper elimination of hormones, Burdock root (Arctium lappa) and Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) are great considerations. For emotional support, particularly during menstruation, beneficial herbs include Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata), Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), and St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum). Finally, adaptogens, such as Eleuthero root (Eleutherococcus senticosus) and Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra), can be be used as tonics to support healthy mood, hormones, sleep, and immune function.

No matter the life stage, herbs can be highly effective in supporting women’s optimal health and vitality.

Dialing in your diet is an excellent complement to using herbs to support a healthy lifestyle. To find YOUR triggering foods and get to the root of your imbalances, click here to download a FREE 12-page guide that leads you step by step through a 28 day process. Come out the other side with balanced hormones, better energy, and improved digestion.

Enhance Digestion & Recover from Overeating

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The Trail Show Salty Segment January 2019 on supporting digestion

The Question

Dear Salty,

It’s that time again…when I go ahead and have that fourth piece of pie and then wake up feeling a little icky…but you know, hair of the dog is the best medicine so I have cookies and pie for breakfast too.

I know I can decide to eat fewer sweets, but I usually am really disciplined and enjoy eating these homemade treats that only appear once a year in my house. I avoid the store bought crap but don’t think twice about a homemade cobbler or almond holiday cookies made by my sister and niece.

This type of eating also mirrors what happens in town when I am on trail…I get into town and want to eat everything just because it is there. I feel like I generally eat a pretty healthy diet both at home and on trail. I am not going to not eat these treats once a year and at times when in trail towns, but I’m wondering if there are any foods I can eat before and/or after that will help regulate the sugar and help with digestion.

Thanks for your tips and thanks for not judging me!
Sea Ray

The Answer

Great question, Sea Ray.

Before I dive into the tips, I want to start with that last thing you said about not judging you. This is important. When I’m out with friends, hiking partners, anyone who knows what I do for a living, they often say ‘I know this isn’t Salty approved’, or ‘Don’t judge me’ before eating something they feel guilty about.

The thing is, I genuinely don’t care what you eat. It’s not that I don’t care about you as a person, but I’m not here to guilt anyone into eating one way or the other. If you want guidance, I’m happy to share my experience and knowledge on a topic in the hopes of helping you achieve your goals.

More importantly, you’re taking away your own power and personal responsibility. It’s up to you what you want to put in your body and how you want to feel.

But, truly, it’s not about rules and judgement. It’s about taking self responsibility and being comfortable with the consequences of your choices, regardless of what you decide.

No rules, only choices.

And whatever you decide, please don’t judge or criticize yourself either. Because honestly, that’s a waste of energy.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, here’s an answer to your actual question.

Follow these diet and lifestyle tips to support digestion.

Stay Hydrated

Done beforehand, it will help you to not overeat quite as much. If you do overeat, staying hydrated the next day supports healthy digestion and metabolism, so you process the extra salt, sugar, and other less-than-ideal ingredients.

Take Digestive Bitters

Bitters are herbs that stimulate digestive juices, like stomach acid and bile. These include herbs like dandelion, burdock, gentian, milk thistle, motherwort, goldenseal and angelica.  Bitters break down food and assist in the absorption of nutrients.

Other bitter foods, like green olives and arugula do the same thing, so have these as an appetizer to stimulate digestion. Similarly, you could take a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to support stomach acid production and proper digestion. Low stomach acid is surprisingly common and can contribute to reflux, gas, and bloating.

Consider Digestive Enzymes

These are enzymes that help you process extra starch, fat, and protein. You produce these naturally, but often not in sufficient quantities. Join my online dispensary for 10% off professional-grade supplements.

Relax before you begin to eat

By taking a moment to see the food, breath in the aromas, and appreciate your food before you dig in, your body will actually digest food better. You’ll produce more enzymes, like amylase in your saliva, and more bile and pancreatic enzymes that break down food. This is part of the cephalic phase of digestion. It begins in your mind before you even take a bite.

Support liver function, elimination, and detoxification

A lot of people are tempted to starve themselves after a period of overeating, but that usually leads to rebound overeating later in the day (or week). Instead, think about giving your digestive system a rest.

Focus on nutrient-dense liquids, like broths, soups, and green smoothies. Eat simple whole food meals and prioritize fiber and protein. For now, steer clear of inflammatory foods like gluten, dairy, and processed oils.

Get Plenty of Sleep

This gives your whole system a rest. It will reduce inflammation and improve digestion. Additionally, proper sleep supports balanced hormones, like insulin and cortisol, so you don’t find yourself face first in the cookies again.

Move Your Body

The intention isn’t to burn off extra calories per say. It’s to stimulate lymph flow and sweat to help you move toxins out of your body. It also literally helps you move food through your digestive system faster through gravity and mechanical force.

Love Your Gut

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Trail Show podcast without me talking about gut health! Support your gut before and after a big meal by eating probiotic containing foods, like kimchi and sauerkraut, and prebiotic foods, like lots of veggies.

That’s my A to your Q, Sea Ray. Enjoy grandma’s pie and get back on track towards your goals by taking care of your body.

If you’re ready to go all in on your adventure dreams and optimize your health for an upcoming backpacking trip, join us in Adventure Ready!

If you’d like to submit your own question for a future Trail Show Salty Segment, click here.

How to Optimize Your Health for Your Next Big Adventure

thru hike

What I wish I would’ve done for my health before my first long hike.

Imagine you’ve just hiked 2660 miles and you’re in the best shape of your life. You luck out and are chosen in the lottery for a well known local race you’ve been eyeing for years. It starts in a month. You’ve given yourself a week to recover and you set out on your first ‘training run’.

But something is off. You can’t run more than a couple of miles without extreme deep muscle fatigue. You’ve been exhausted for days and sleep isn’t helping. You’re cold all the time, your hair is falling out, and you’re unmotivated. You have no choice but to pull out of the race.

This was essentially my experience after hiking the PCT. This is somewhat of a cautionary tale, but what I’d really like to share with you is not just how I recovered, but more importantly for anyone considering their own endurance endeavor, how I prepared for my next long distance hike so that I had incredible energy, endurance, and resiliency.

play outside

I’ve been a lifelong endurance athlete, competing in swimming and cross country when I was younger, and ultra running in more recent years. I was your typical overly ambitious Type A go-getter, and I still am to some extent, but with more wisdom, earned through my own dark night of the soul.

It wasn’t hiking the PCT per say, that triggered my health issues. Though months of physical stress is a lot for the body and many hikers do end up extremely depleted, gaunt, and with disrupted hormones. I actually felt great on my hike, which I attribute to eating real food.

My health crash upon returning home was the culmination of several factors. This is known as allostatic load, the process of accumulated stress on the body, which often leads to a ‘tipping point’ where the body can no longer cope.

Yes, there was the physical stress of hiking for 4 months, but I also had a lot of emotional stress and likely some degree of intestinal permeability. This is a fairly common condition where tight junctions in the gut lining don’t work properly, allowing toxins, bacteria, and food particles into the bloodstream (where they don’t belong). It’s often caused by chronic stress, poor diet, toxin overload, and bacterial imbalance. It’s been linked to a host of conditions, including inflammation disorders, immune issues, food allergies, and chronic fatigue. I had no clue this was happening because I wasn’t experiencing any digestive issues.

oregon desert trail

How I Recovered & Prepared for My Next Long Walk

The point is not that long distance hiking is going to cause you to develop adrenal issues, thyroid disease, or any other condition. It’s that despite living an extremely healthy lifestyle, I was not as bullet-proof as I thought. And though reclaiming my health has been quite a journey, I’m grateful for the experience because I can now share information on how to optimize your health BEFORE your hike, so you can thrive, and have a fulfilling, successful journey.

Here are the top 3 practices I did both to recover my health and to prepare for my next long hike. These allowed me to have incredible energy and endurance, day in and day out, and to remain truly healthy, season after season.

Dialed in My Diet for ME

I assumed that because I was vegetarian and I ate healthy, including lots of plants, and because I didn’t have any overt digestive symptoms, that I was healthy. Turns out that’s not always the case, and it’s not until you remove a potentially triggering food, allow the body to reset, and then reintroduce it, that you may find it’s not working for you.

I worked as a baker at the time and even though the bread I was eating daily was made from organic, locally-milled wheat, and baked in a wood-fired oven, and even though I was certain I didn’t have issues with gluten, it turns out it was still doing me harm.

I didn’t realize this until I did an elimination challenge and learned which foods I was not tolerating well. Once I removed those from my diet for a while, things turned around quickly. My inflammation went down, my energy soared, my digestion improved, and my muscles stopped aching.

This is just ONE piece of the puzzle, but it’s a powerful piece. Plus, it’s free.

Focused on Gut Health

Again, I assumed my gut was in good order because I lived a pretty healthy lifestyle and I wasn’t experiencing any noticeable digestive symptoms. I ate probiotics a few times a week, and plenty of fiber.

However, it turns out that 15 years of relying on grains, legumes, wheat, dairy, and other fairly inflammatory foods as a vegetarian had led to a bit of gut dysbiosis. This is where you have inadequate amounts or diversity of the ‘good’ gut bacteria and overgrowth of more pathogenic strains.

Gut health impacts your immune system, nutrient absorption, energy levels, hormone production, weight, and much more.

Led an Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle

There’s a lot that goes into this one, but when I thought about all my daily actions, I could boil it down to ‘Will this lead to more or less inflammation in my body?’.

Knowing that inflammation is at the root of most chronic conditions, and living in a world where we’re bombarded by stressors from every direction, it makes sense to instill habits that reduce the burden.

This includes making adequate sleep non-negotiable. It also means making sure I actively manage stress levels, whether I feel stressed or not. This means daily mindfulness, like meditation or keeping a gratitude journal.

One of the most important practices I do now is listen to my body. I used to train hard every day, no matter how I felt. I now take time for rest. I slow down. I train in seasons.
Knowing how to eat and train is important, but I’ve also learned how to trust the ebb and flow cycles of the seasons and my body.

I tend to go hard in the summer. And to do that for the long haul, I need a period of repair and rebuilding. With dark days and cold temperatures, winter lends itself well to a season of nourishing the body. I’ve learned to hear my body before I’ve pushed too far.

We dive deeper into these topics in Adventure Ready, an online course designed to help you optimize your health, so you can be standing on that summit or at that terminus monument later this year.

7 Ways to Control Appetite Naturally, without Pills, Stimulants, or even Willpower

health

Feel like your appetite is out of control?

For many outdoorsy folks, winter is the ‘off’ season, which translates into 1) more days spent sitting at a desk (saving money for next season), and 2) fewer outdoor activities. Days are shorter, the weather is colder, and we naturally tend to spend more time on the coach planning our upcoming adventures rather than out on them.

Furthermore, many hikers and outdoor enthusiasts who are coming off a season of being more active have difficulty adjusting their food intake to a less active lifestyle. Weight gain, and manatee season (as my friend likes to say) are the result.

So, you’re less active, you still have your hiker hunger, and you’re finding yourself standing in front of the fridge when you know you’re not actually hungry. You’d rather not spend the winter in ever-expanding sweatpants, knowing in the back of your mind that you’re compromising your goals for the upcoming season.

It’s one thing to know what you should and shouldn’t be eating, but tackling the psychological aspect of food is a whole other beast. Identifying true hunger versus emotional hunger is a skill gained with experience. I encourage you to when you’re truly hungry and use the following practices to keep your appetite in check when you’re eating out of boredom/frustration/etc.

Stay Hydrated

Confusing hunger for thirst is incredibly common. When you’re less active and the weather is cooler, it’s easy to drink much less than normal. You may be looking for something to eat when it’s actually water your body needs, not food. Next time you’re about to snack, have 12 ounces of water, wait 20 minutes, and if you’re still hungry, grab a healthy snack and go for it.

Looking for something a little more exciting than water? Consuming calorie-free seltzer water, mint water, or other herbal infusions can be another tasty way quench the desire to consume something without the calorie load.

Limit Your Options

Studies have shown that having a greater variety of foods to choose from leads to consuming more calories. This phenomenon is called sensory-specific satiety and refers to the declining satisfaction experienced by consuming a certain type of food, and the renewal in appetite resulting from exposure to a new flavor. This is why buffets can be so dangerous and why you seemingly have room for a piece of pie even when you’re stuffed.

While, in general, it’s a good idea nutritionally speaking to eat a wide variety of foods, at any one meal, it may be best to limit your options in order to avoid overeating.  

Use Smaller Plates & Bowls

Visually, the same amount of food will look like more on a smaller plate than on a larger plate. I recently read a study that this technique may not be as effective as we thought at controlling how much you eat if you’re truly hungry; however when it comes to mindless eating, you’ll most likely still do less damage by using smaller serving dishes. Portion out one serving and put the rest away rather than snacking out of the container. We’re less likely to eat more when it requires effort.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Rather than keeping tempting, calorie-dense treats front and center in the fridge or on the counter, put them out of sight. Research indicates that if you see food sitting in front of you, such as in a candy dish, you’re more likely to eat it. Keep food out of sight entirely, either in the pantry, in non-transparent containers, or in the fridge. Make healthier items easier to see and access. Finally, don’t hang out in the kitchen (or in front of the food table at a party) if you don’t want to eat.

Remove Distractions

Many people watch TV, read magazines, or scroll through their phones while they eat. This keeps you from fully being aware that you consumed a meal, and also from recognizing when you’re actually satisfied, so you’re more likely to overeat. When you sit down for a meal or snack, be intentional. Breath in the aroma, see the food, be present, and fully enjoy your meal.

Fill Up on Fiber

Fruits and vegetables have a high water content and a lot of fiber. This makes them great for filling you up for fewer calories. It’s easy to eat 1000 calories in a few handfuls of nuts, but to eat the equivalent calories in apples in one sitting, you’d have to eat 10 apples, for example. Not easy to do. Yes, that’d be a lot of sugar, but most likely you can’t eat more than an apple or two without feeling pretty full.

Slow Down

With eating and with life, take a moment to slow down and savor it. Along with the tip about not distracting yourself, slowing down while you eat give your brain a chance to register that you’re eating, to prepare your body to better digest and absorb nutrients, and to register when you’ve had enough. Chew thoroughly rather than inhaling food. Sit down rather than eating in the car. Slow down, savor the food, the experience of sharing a meal with others, and you’ll not only enjoy your meal more, you’ll likely consume less.

Of course, you can use these practices year round, but they’re often particularly pertinent in the off-season. They are just one of many ways to support your health in the off season and prepare for next season’s upcoming adventure.

Adventure Ready is an online course designed to up-level every aspect of your health, inside and out. You’ll reach a healthy weight naturally, balance your hormones, and increase your energy. Don’t miss another hiking season feeling sidelined with sub par health. It’s not worth it.