MBurke

Hello,
Any suggestions on a Healthy Trail Mix ?
I have read that not all trail mix's are that healthy. Just looking for something to snack on during the day.
I'm not real concerned about loosing weight just don't what to be eating a bunch of sugar or calories.
Any suggestions ?
Thanks

Machka 

Read the labels.

The first thing you'll discover is that most trail mixes have a lot of calories. If they've got nuts, they've got lots of calories.
Next, dried fruit has lots of sugar. If they've got dried fruit, they've got lots of sugar.

So ... find a trail mix without nuts or dried fruit. Oh wait ... that doesn't leave you with much.

Machka 

Just for reference, here's a visual guide to 100 calories of nuts:

100 Calories of Nuts: A Visual Guide ? Snack Tips from The Kitchn | The Kitchn


It doesn't take long to suddenly eat 400 or 500 or 600 calories worth of nuts.

MBurke

That takes out all the fun out of eating my home made Mix
I guess you better be burning the calories if you plan on eating trail mix's and nuts.....and that kind of defeats the purpose.....doesn't it ?

Machka 

Well, it is "trail mix" ... designed to be eaten while hiking long and challenging trails.

wolfchild

Buy your ingredients in bulk and make your own trail mix. That way you can easily adjust how much fat or carbs/sugar you want. Eating a handful of nuts by itself isn't going to make you obese, in fact it may even slim you down. Most nuts have a good balance of carbs, fibre, protein and fats and there is no need to mix them with anything that has sugar. The problem starts when you start mixing sugar and sweets with those nuts. Fats and sugars is a bad combo. Fats and sugars are both fuels but your body can only use one of those at a time. When you mix fat and sugar your body will use one and store the other as fat in your body.

MBurke

Thank you for the great information. ...very good advice. Thanks

Dunbar

I like the Trader Joe's Omega 3 Trail Mix (or something like that.) I put 30g into a greek yogurt to have after my rides. You can't get carried away with trail mix or you can scarf down 500+ calories easy.

Looigi

There're two reasons you need to eat; to gain materials (nutrients: protein, vitamins, minerals, etc.) your body is built from and needs to function, and for energy (calories: carbohydrates, fats...) to power your metabolism and activity. Kinda like a car. You build one from steel, aluminum, copper, plastic, silicon, rubber, but it doesn't go without gas (or electricity). Just about all the foods you eat are some combination of both material and energy but vary in the relative amounts. Some have a high energy content but little in the way of nutrients. The original intent of trail mix was to provide tasty and convenient calories during energy intensive hiking, so has energy dense constituents. Nuts and dried fruit (particularly without added sugar) are "healthy" in that they provide nutrients along with calories, but are energy dense, so are fine for small snacks...or while engaging in strenuous activities....

Carbonfiberboy 

We use a trail mix of 2:1:1 salted peanuts, raisins, and M&Ms. 1:1:1 is good, too. I've been using one or the other for almost 40 years. On the last 10-day backpack with my wife, we used a total of 55 oz. of the 2:1:1 mix. Guess what? We lost a little weight, lost quite a bit of fat, and gained some muscle. We also supplemented with whey protein twice a day. We were noticeably stronger on the bike the weekend after we got back than we were before our hike.

So no, that's simply not true. Your body is a lot smarter than that.

For those curious about the nutritional breakdown of our mix, per pound, the 1:1:1: mix is ~800 calories carbs (62%), ~425 calories fat (33%), and ~70 calories protein (5%).
The 2:1:1: mix is, per pound, ~640 calories carbs (51%), ~515 calories fat (41%), and ~90 calories protein (8%).

In the minor issue of taste and edibility, we did enjoy every one of those 55 oz. we ate. Delicious, never gets old, doesn't melt in the sun, etc.

wolfchild

Multi-day backpacking trips are physically demanding and burn many thousands of calories, so you can get away with eating all that stuff and not worry about gaining fat. Your body will find a way to use all those calories...Snacking on that type of trail mix and not having enough physical activity will pack on a lot of extra pounds.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yeah, we try for CI=CO on our hikes. We calculate the calories we'll burn and then take that many with us, plus just a little. We usually come out weighing the same as we did when we went in and with about 1 lb. of extra food. It was colder than usual this year so we lost a little weight.

tmac100

I agree on the ratios. 40 and 50 years ago while an undergrad and grad student I did a LOT of long distance hitch-hiking in Canada. Summer and winter - it didn't matter. The 1:1:1 ratio of trail mix was what I ate on the road. I could hitch from Ottawa to Winnipeg in 24 hours or Winnipeg to Vancouver in about 35 hours. I never stopped for sleep and a meal unless the drivers stopped for coffee, etc. The tail mix seemed to be a "good-enough" food supply on the road, especially while waiting at some highway junction for a ride in the middle of the night. The trail mix was quite edible at minus temps and it gave me enough calories.

This past summer I did a 2700 km bicycle tour in Australia and had a peanut: raisin/fig mix ( 1:1 ) which worked well too - but when I came to a roadhouse, I'd have a regular meal.

berner

I like trail mix on long backbacking trips for two reasons. It contains lots of calories in a relatively small package saving space in the pack. In with an assortment of different nuts I add in dried fruit of different types. Both nuts and fruit provide needed vitamins and minerals which get used up if not replenished. A friend of mine hiked the Appalachian Trail several years ago and suffered stress fractures in his legs after about 1500 miles and had to abandon. I believe the same need applies on long bike tours where fresh foods and variety are lacking.

MagicHour

G.O.R.P.
Good old raisins and peanuts works for me. I just buy a big bag of unsalted roasted peanuts and a bag of raisins, organic if that's important to you and mix up on-demand. Relatively inexpensive from Trader Joes, W.F. etc. I also sometimes add a pinch of sea salt, which is far better than using salted peanuts which have a ton of salt.

Have to try the MMs next time.

tmac100

Yes, that is what we also called it 40 years ago. But in those days we added Smarties to the r and p - but the GORP name remained. Funny how the 1:1:1 ratio was basically the same as users now use....

KonaRider125

The healthiest trail mix is one you make yourself from raw nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

My favorite is raw almonds mixed with raisins, cashews, and dark chocolate chips.