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With all the hard work
the team members must do on an expedition - skiing, hauling gear, and simply
staying warm - they burn
LOTS of calories. Therefore, they need to consume almost 6,000 calories
worth of food each day. That's the same
amount as in 70 slices of bread and is more than twice the amount of calories they eat
when at home. You see, your body needs calories in order to
function... and in
the case of our
explorers... to stay warm. Just like a car, they need fuel to run. An arctic diet is very hearty
and contains lots of
butter, Hilmar cheese, and even chocolate.
Breakfast consists of oatmeal or granola with milk, bread fried in butter with jam or
cheese, fried breakfast sausages, and hot chocolate, tea or instant
coffee.
Lunch time finds the team eating nuts, dried
fruit, granola bars, cheese, butter, sausage, instant soup or ramen noodles, chocolate, and
water or lemonade. Lunch on the trail is a somewhat hurried affair as
the team can get easily chilled when not moving. As soon as the team has set camp in the
afternoon and are in their tents, the gas stove is burning and the pot is on for tea or hot
chocolate and a snack to warm up.
Dinner is prepared on the stove as well and consists of
a large rice or noodle (carbohydrates) dish and is supplemented with venison,
fish, or caribou (protein). They also eat vegetables
and cheese (of course). The team also places a few "midnight
snacks" within arm's reach just before crawling into their sleeping bags.
Eating an energy bar in the middle of the night is just like putting a log
on a fire, it keeps the chill away.
Explorers need water for
drinking and food preparation. The team spends 3 - 4 hours each day melting ice and snow into
water for tea, soups, powdered milk, hot chocolate, and lemonade. Also
realize a "normal" water bottle would freeze solid; therefore, the
team uses thermos bottles to keep the drinks warm to prevent freezing.
The Polar Huskys' diets are also carefully
managed. The team needs the dogs to be strong.
Every day the dogs eat about 6,000 calories worth of Science Diet Endurance dog
food. If a
"normal" dog ate this much, its stomach would most likely twist and
the dog would be come seriously ill and possibly even die. The Polar Huskies,
however, are well adapted for this type of lifestyle!
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