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Digestive changes while on the trail

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I'm curious if others have noticed digestive changes while they're out on the tripping trail. Every Boundary Waters trip, I've noticed my toileting becomes more consistent and less frequent, and my lower GI area feels better, too. The change happens on the second day of a trip, and I wonder if it's due to the very low-fat, high-protein diet while I'm out.
 
While my digestion pretty much remains the same, it's my appetite that wanes; especially during the warmer months. In all seriousness, the warmer it gets the less I want to eat. Even on some winter trips I have to force myself to eat something because the more active I am, the less active my appetite seems to be. I've always joked that I'd be a lot leaner if I could be paddling or hiking somewhere all the time.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...Be well.

snapper
 
I've noticed a change...I attribute it to less coffee and less fresh fruit. On trips, I have only water and dried fruits and rehydrated meals.
Actually, I intentionally alter my diet to produce something like deer sign!! Another bonus is that I do not need to bring along any bulky toilet paper!!
 
Change? Yes. When starting a trip everything gets backed up and it takes a minimum of two days to do number 2. Once it actually starts I'm fine. Not sure if a trillion mosquito's has more to do with it rather than my just being delicate. :rolleyes:
 
I tend to have the exact opposite experience. I'll spare you the details. But its not real comfortable I'll tell you that much. My experience is that we actually tend to have a fairly high fat diet on trips. I have no gallbladder. The result is predictable.
 
rpg51, I'm in the same boat as you - no gallbladder. I can't handle more than just a little fat at a time without a supplement (there's usually enough bile in the digestive tract to handle about 17g of fat, or 153 calories worth). I've found that ox bile extract works best, and after trying a number of formulations since my surgery in 2000, I recommend NutriCology ox bile in 125 and 500 mg capsules. You can find them easily on the Internet. An order of breaded walleye and wild rice in a restaurant requires one 125 mg capsule. A hamburger and french fries, two or three, and half a pizza needs 500 mg. Get some and experiment. Your GI tract will thank you for it.
 
more fiber and nuts on trips keeps me going better than at home.. Camping has a predictable morning routine. Its interesting that peoples reaction differs. Our camp diet is quite low fat.. Only olive oil goes and we use about 8 oz over two weeks for two.

Driving in a car for five days however has the exact opposite effect and I attribute that to not drinking enough water while in the car.
 
I am about as regular and on the same routine when tripping as at home, although my diet is much different and less varied.

This thread has the opportunity to get disgustingly graphic, but here goes.

I have the proverbial cast-iron constitution. But on a couple of occasions I have experienced traveler’s diarrhea, likely from some fecal/oral E. coli contamination. On one occasion that was almost certainly attributable to the morning’s free “continental” motel breakfast and it has made me a lot more leery of eating buffet style waffles and pastry that mystery folk have pawed through, even if they are free.

On group trips I would prefer to cook my own meals, but when sharing pots, pans and foodstuffs there is only so much you can do to assure good food handling hygiene. Having hand washing water and soap readily available helps, as does ensuring proper washing and rinsing of cookware. To that end adding bleach to the rinse water helps.

One thing I learned the hard way – when using a wag bag toilet system it is advisable to have the toilet assembled and ready to go before an explosive 3am urge necessitates scurrying around in the dark with a flashlight and puckering sphincter. Ever since that didn’t-quite-make-it episode I have set up the toilet soon after making camp.

In hot weather or arid environments I am mostly concerned about staying hydrated. I try to continuously drink water, even when I’m not thirsty, and to pay attention to the color and odor of my urine, and to the input/output.

In places where the routine is to urinate in the river I use my nighttime pee bottle even during the day, in part so I don’t have to hike down to the river every time, but also so that I can more accurately gauge the output quantity and quality.
 
I have IBS so regularity is a bit a illusion for me.

Generally I'm not as well off traveling or camping. My system likes a steady supply of fruit and veg with a daily yogurt. All those things generally are absent on the road or in the woods. I eat dehydrated food with less fresh fruit and no yogurt.

There are also times I don't eat so well even at home, and I definitely notice a difference. I'm not going to say the average dehydrated meal is horrible, but it certainly doesn't have the same effect as my regular eating. Luckily what I eat regularly works fast, and I don't have much trouble from a few days of eating out or eating dehydrated or freeze dried food.

On a lighter (and more disgusting) note, and I get razzed for this quite a bit; I have been known to dig a hole a few hundred yards from the trailhead (or a few hundred yards off the road just before we're there). Might be nerves, excitement or road food - I don't know... but it happens quite often.
 
"Digestive changes" . . . wins the coveted Euphemism of the Month award.

I don't recall any significant changes, so I suppose there haven't been any. Since I only trip in warm weather, I probably tend to be on the dehydrated side when paddling all day. That can have some effects on the frequency of "digestion".
 
Wag bag question.. that certainly could lead to some off color discussion. No pictures please..

Is there a technique to hit the poo powder in the bottom of the bag without a toilet seat and bucket? I am asking because we may be using a short length of PVC pipe with caps on each end to store used WagBags for a kayak trip. We can't carry a five gallon bucket in the kayaks..

I am not real excited about missing the bag and having to trowel the deposit to fit in the bag, rather than next to it.

I trust that maybe even though this is a canoeing site..someone might know.
 
L'oiseau; Have you tried dehydrating your yoghurt? you do it the same as fruit leather, and it comes out quite nice
 
No, I've not tried dehydration of the yogurt. Maybe I could? If I were going to be out for two weeks I'd seriously consider it. Seen as how a long trip for us is 4 or 5 days, it isn't usually a big issue. I can still run and dig a hole pretty quick :p
 
Wag bag question.. that certainly could lead to some off color discussion. No pictures please..

Is there a technique to hit the poo powder in the bottom of the bag without a toilet seat and bucket? I am asking because we may be using a short length of PVC pipe with caps on each end to store used WagBags for a kayak trip. We can't carry a five gallon bucket in the kayaks..

I am not real excited about missing the bag and having to trowel the deposit to fit in the bag, rather than next to it.

I trust that maybe even though this is a canoeing site..someone might know.

Maybe a reverse periscope aligned with a Norden bombsight? If you have a companion willing to make RATATATAT waist gunner noises it could make morning ablutions all that much more exciting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norden_bombsight

In all seriousness I never liked “groovering” my backside on an old ammo box or etc. It’s not very comfortable and not conducive to good aim. A small “seat” – - not an full-on toilet seat but just a small donut platform - routed out on the bottom to fit atop the PVC pipe would seem beneficial to centered aim and comfort. Maybe something hinged/folding for deck hatch storage.

What diameter PVC pipe? Not to get too graphic (probably can’t be helped) but the wider the aperture the more confident I’d be of hitting the poo powder target at the bottom and not smearing the sides of the inner wag bag with a miss drop.

(For those unfamiliar with “wag bags” they are double bagged, with a kitchen trash bag sized inner plastic bag that lines the toilet receptacle and an outer zip lock enclosure for storage/disposal. Ideally that inner bag has feces only at the bottom amidst the “poo powder” and not smeared up the sides, so you can cleanly twist it closed and stuff it in the more stinky-proof outer Zip-lock bag)

Last wag bag trip we carried bleach powder decanted into a plastic jar and sprinkled some atop each deposit in the wag bag. This necessitated a little pre-wiping, pants-around-the-ankles shuffling so the bleach powder was on the feces and not just atop the toilet paper, but it seemed to help with the malodor of wag bags carried over the course of a multi-week trip.

Carrying bleach powder might be helpful to cover the results poor aim. The (enzyme?) “poo powder” that comes in wag bags might be an even better additive than bleach powder, but I have no idea what it is or where to find it in bulk. Even powdered bleach is hard to find, and you may have to check a couple of grocery stores.

The screw-cap PVC toilet tube is on the shop list of DIYs, so I’d be interested in what you find. Pictures please, but no in-use illustrations are necessary.
 
I have no idea what it is or where to find it in bulk. [/QUOTE]

~I have never used a wag bag so I'm not sure of the make up of the poo power at the bottom. I've always assumed it might be similar to the stuff we used on vomit at the University. We called it pixy dust but its name is Supersorb. On frat-house Friday, you would want a six-pack of the stuff on your cart. Just sprinkle a bit on anything that has moisture in it and it instantly takes on the consistency of a gelatin salad at a Presbyterian potluck, easy to scrape up and a pleasing lemony odor to boot. http://www.cleaningstuff.net/cleani...ol/13146/Vomit-Clean-Up-Deodorizer-Powder.htm
 
L'oiseau; Have you tried dehydrating your yoghurt? you do it the same as fruit leather, and it comes out quite nice



oh dear we have a bit of an unfortunate juxtaposition of posts.. Ingress and egress probably should be separated. Lets go to ingress. I concur.. Dehydrated yogurt is very nice. Dehydrate on parchment paper . Then roll it up yogurt and paper together. That way you don't get a yogurt blob and you can get the paper off easily
 
l'oiseau, I wonder if powdered milk and probiotics would help. I use a mix of 1/2 Carnation (fat-free) instant milk and 1/2 Nido (whole) milk, which gives me pretty close to 2%. That's basically what lowfat yogurt is, without the live culture. Get the right probiotics (assuming they're available) and I believe you'd have the same thing, nutritionally. FloraJen is one brand I'm familiar with.
 
I believe the probiotics would work. I haven't tried them myself, but I know others who swear by them.

I'm not sure about using any milk that hasn't been cultured - I can't drink regular milk or eat ice cream, and it isn't the lactose. I eat cheese and yogurt with no issues. Also I've tried lactose free milk and ice cream and it gives me the same problems.
 
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