Awesome spot in the picture, isn’t it. There is nothing like this place in Australia.

TextSonya Muhslimmer

Qifeng Park, Dongguan, China

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In fact, this is taken during a day stroll in China, where I went for work just recently. I had a day to explore the surroundings, and I found a beautiful place called Qifeng Park in Dongguan. My work colleague and I climbed a mighty mountain. It was just short of 200 metres high, an awesome effort when the weather forecast was for a severe and excessive heat alert, 35 degrees but a real feel of 42 degrees, real feel in the shade of 39 and with an average humidity of 95%.

However, the cover photo is only for attention. So, now I have your attention, read on. After a couple of months away from BWA due to family commitments, I am back to bust some myths this time around. There is a lot of bad information circulating out there, so I hope to de-myth some things today.

Myth: Carbs are supposed to be bad.

Well, they are not. You need carbs as they are vital for providing energy. This is the most important energy source for the body and the brain. There are different types of

carbohydrates, such as simple and complex carbs. Simple carbs come from sources such as fruit, honey and dairy and are absorbed quickly in the body, while complex carbs are digested slowly and come from pasta, rice, grains, potatoes, whole grains and nuts. Simple sugars give you a quick boost of energy whereas complex carbs can be stored and used at a later time. We need them both. Now if you were to eat sugary snacks and white bread all the time, this would be bad. If you were to eat these on a not so often basis, this would not be a problem and for us who like to get active by hiking, this quick burst of energy we get from simple carbs (sugary snacks, fruit or dairy) could benefit us in a short term, like getting up the hill. Then the complex carbs that come from pasta, rice, grains, potatoes, whole grains and nuts that we have stored for later will be used to sustain us throughout the day. The body converts the carbs to glucose, and the brain, as I said earlier needs carbs as the brain takes about 20% of the glucose in your body. See, carbs are good after all.

Qifeng Park, Dongguan, China

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Myth: Sugar causes inflammation.

Well, sugar is not all that bad. In saying that, sugar found in processed foods can be bad, and if you eat too much sugar and processed food, yes it can cause inflammation. But I dare say that the inflammation will not just come from sugar, it will come from a variety of things, such as wheat, meat, deep fried foods and potentially trans-fat, stress, lack of sleep and environment to name a few. If you follow a healthy diet, exercise regularly and get enough sleep most nights, I say everything is good in moderation. So, enjoy your chocolate and lollies occasionally. This type of sugar, known as simple sugars, gives you a quick feel-good feel and a short burst of energy.

As I said earlier, great for getting up that hill. Just a quick summary on inflammation - it is a normal body response to either an illness or something that simply does not belong in your body. Acute inflammation is the redness and swelling you experience after an injury which heals in a short time, whereas chronic inflammation can lead to cardiovascular disease or even type 2 diabetes. You can fight off chronic inflammation in your diet if your gut microbiome is healthy by following a well-balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, fermented foods, probiotic foods, low to no meat intake, low to no intake of alcohol, regular exercise and quality sleep.

Myth: Fats increase body weight.

It is true that fat has more kilojoules per gram than carbs or protein have, but it is not just as simple as this. There are a few different types of fat such as saturated, mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fat. This is just the chemical make-up of the fat. Saturated fats come from animal sources. Too much of this fat can raise your cholesterol, which can be bad for you. Mono-unsaturated fats come

Qifeng Park, Dongguan, China

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from olive oils, avocado, seeds and nuts. These fats can lower bad cholesterol whereas poly-unsaturated fats come from peanut or sunflower oil, fish, soybean, chia and flax seeds which can also lower cholesterol. So, all types have a part to play in your diet, just don’t eat too much of the saturated fat all the time.

There is also an article going around about how eating a high fat treat before going to bed helps you to stay warm. This is simply not

true. As the article suggests, this is about the body’s mechanism to regulate temperature and it relies on a lot of other factors, way too much detail to go into here to explain. Just use a hot water bottle instead.

Myth: Protein is thought to be hard to digest, and you can only absorb 30 grams per meal. Protein is essential, it fuels our muscles and is needed for growth and repair. We need protein all the time. Our body is made up of amino acids, and amino acids are the building blocks of protein. We can absorb a lot more than 30 grams, the body can also store it for later, for use when you need it and it is not hard to digest at all. Protein rich foods consist of eggs, almonds, quinoa, peanut, fish, Greek yoghurt, turkey, chicken, lentils and the list goes on.

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Myth: You run out of energy as you didn’t eat enough.

Well, this is somewhat true but it is not just about the food you had on your last meal. This is about the food you consume over a period of time, such as how much carbs, fat and protein you eat over a period of say a few months, your stress level, how much sleep you get on an average and your water intake. A lot goes into it. For outdoors types like us, we need a lot more energy to do the things we do such as hike, climb, cycle or paddle on a regular basis. So I kinda sort of think you would all have a fairly good diet and a relatively good fitness level already. However, before an endurance adventure such as multi-day hike you should look at your diet way before your adventure starts to prime your body into it. This would aid you when your body runs out of energy, so you won’t hit the wall quickly and your body will maintain the stamina for longer. For day hikes however, most bodies do not need as much preparation and can cope much better with a bit of stress and less preparation.

Energy comes from the food we eat and of all the research out there, and all my years of working in the food industry, studying food science and following a few top scientists in nutrition and gut health, I dare say following a Mediterranean diet is the best kind of diet to follow for long term health, and to help our body maintain stamina, as I mentioned before.

Myth: Drinking water prevents heat stroke.

Now this is a big one as it is actually false, drinking water alone will not prevent heat stroke.

You may remember the late and great Professor Michael Mosley. He is believed to have died of heat exhaustion as he was walking in extreme heat on a Greek Island recently. Also, just after that there were other tourists that suffered the same unfortunate fate. In Australia over a ten-year period, a total of 293 deaths occurred due to heat stroke, so let’s get into a little more detail here.

Water makes up 50 to 70% of the body’s weight and without water, things can be fatal. A 3% loss can decrease the blood content, a 5% loss means you will become disoriented and confused and at 10 to 20% loss, well, you could die. So being hydrated before and during prolonged exposure to heat is important but it won’t prevent heat stroke.

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Heat stroke is when the body temperature rises above 40 degrees and can no longer control its own temperature. Your sweating mechanism changes and cardiovascular side effects such as low blood pressure and elevated heart rate occur. This then affects the nervous system and organs and ultimately the brain starts shutting down. Although water is extremely important, once the body reaches a certain stage of heat stroke it requires a lot more to treat.

Treating heat stroke requires you to reduce the body temperature as quickly as possible. Cold showers, wet towels, fans and ice packs. Fans can help, and wet towels can be placed on the neck, groin and armpits (or running cool water if available), and if the person is unresponsive or not alert, they need to go into the recovery position and possibly may end up needing CPR.

Cramps can be a sign that you may be going too hard on a hot day. Get in the shade, rest, take off some layers of clothing, drink water and electrolytes to cool down before you get any other symptoms.

Myth: Freeze-dried foods have less nutritional value.

In fact, freeze-dried food maintains a lot of nutrition compared to dehydrated foods. They are literally snap-frozen, so in this snap-freezing process, they maintain their vitamins and minerals, especially the water-soluble vitamins.

Myth: Dehydrated foods have less nutritional value.

This is somewhat true in regard to water-soluble vitamins as when the water is dehydrated out of the food, there will be some vitamin loss. But in terms of mineral and vitamin loss in our diet, this will not be catastrophic to our body as it is usually for a short-term basis. When you go back to eating your super healthy Mediterranean diet, your body will adjust and restore itself back to normal, hence the key to prime your body and diet way before you do an endurance adventure, as I was talking about before.

So I hope this has cleared up a few myths for you, and I hope you get out there and keep hydrated and fully fueled with a wide variety of foods so you can keep doing what you do. See you out there sometime soon.

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