Planning a hike soon, a trek or maybe a road trip with friends? You undoubtedly know the importance of healthy snacking as you will be using lots of energy. However, eating well doesn’t mean taking a full heavy meal on your adventure. What you need is a light meal that you can eat in bits. Snacks make the best choice here. However, not every snack will do you good on the trip. A combination of equal measurements of carbohydrates, vitamins, and proteins is always recommended by nutritionists as well as tour organizers. And that is why trail mix should be the ultimate snack that should never miss in your backpack.
What is trail mix?
Some people call it gorp while others popularly know it as scroggin. The snack dates back in the early 18th century, when Horace Kephart, a celebrated outdoorsman recommended it as a great meal for campers. Trail mix is a type of snack consisting of a mixture of nuts, seeds, dried fruits and chocolate. The nuts include almonds, walnuts, peanuts, brazil nuts, pecans and cashew nuts. The most preferred seeds are pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. For the dried fruits, you can opt for either cranberries, apricots, raisins, apples or candied orange. You can also include some chocolate chips, chunks or M&M’s. Trail mix needs no refrigeration and therefore a great travel food for hikers, campers and backpackers, thanks to its light weight and hence portable. Again, it’s versatile. You do not have to buy the pre-packaged box from food stores; you can quickly prepare a homemade one and even get more creative with the ingredients.
But why do you really need to take trail mix with you on your next travel spree?
It is easy to prepare
Trail mix is easy to make since no cooking is required. Even better, most of the ingredients used to make the snack are in most cases already in the kitchen shelves. Particularly for travelers, there is never enough time for preparing heavy meals. In such situations, the mixing of the nuts, seeds, chocolate and dried fruits comes in handy. The fact that it provides an instant energy boost makes it a great snack for all.
Irresistible taste
Snacks are a favorite for many due to the tempting taste of them. Trail mix is no different, but the taste is even better. Bearing the mind that this is a combination of snacking items, there is no doubt the resultant product has a heavenly and unique taste. It gets even better since trail mix can be made at the convenience of your kitchen. This way you can prepare it in a variety of ways where you choose the ingredients to make use of. By so doing, you save some pennies from getting a pre-packaged box and above all, home-made snacks are always better for our taste buds.
Light in weight
Snacks should always be light for ease of carrying around. Although trail mix incorporates a variety of ingredients, it is light in weight and therefore easily portable when traveling. That explains why trail mix is the most preferred snack in the backpack of most travelers. The last thing you need during your hike or trek is a heavy bag that takes chunks of energy off your back. If you are a first timer in hiking, always ensure your backpack is as light as possible. Otherwise, you won’t have any fun that comes with traveling for adventure. So, if you haven’t been doing it, ensure trail mix won’t miss in the bag during your next adventure.
Good source of fiber
You definitely know the many benefits that come with a high fiber diet. From helping out in maintaining a healthy weight, normalizing bowel moments, lowering cholesterol levels, controlling blood sugars, just to name a few. The nuts in the trail mix contain high amounts of fiber. The carbs in dried fruits further combine with the fiber, and this presents an ultimate high fiber and highly nutritious snack in the name of trail mix.
Quick energy boost
You might have heard of the limitations of a high-calorie meal, but that is only applicable to meals taken on a regular basis. In our case, trail mix is a snacking item to indulge in once in a while when extra energy is needed. Trail mix is made of nuts, an ingredient known for healthy fats and rich in calories. The dried fruits further give a boost to the energy levels. As a result, there is enough boost of energy, and it is well sustained by the proteins in the nuts. In the end, it makes a great snack for anyone who needs a quick energy boost, and this is mostly the case for hikers, campers, exercise enthusiasts or anybody else who wants to enjoy the snack. The high calories in nuts act as a necessary fuel especially for hikers who need to forage for miles in the forest.
A good balance of blood sugars
There is everything right with a good balance of blood sugars. Trail mix contains nuts a food item known for stabilizing blood sugars. This way, your hunger pangs are kept at bay since the proteins in the nut provide you with nutrients in between meals. If you prepare the snack with almonds, you are further assured of a well-regulated blood pressure as you undertake the various activities of the day.
Contrary to the word out there, trail mix is one healthy snack you should be having. However, you need to have the proportions right when mixing. The ingredients used in trail mix are healthy when taken individually. However, when combined, there is a need to have proper measurements to get the right proportions for each of them. In most cases, those who talk ill of this snack often get the measurements all wrong.
Besides the healthy benefit, there is no doubt that trail mix lovers are mostly obsessed by the unmatched taste of this creatively mixed snack. If you have not yet tried it, then it’s time you made that move. You can be assured of a no turn back once you have the first tasting.
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