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Water & Food: Food
You may find that your appetite decreases in really hot weather. Food planning for desert travel incorporates both preference and practical elements.
- Heavy, fatty foods (like cheese and sausage) are likely to seem unappetizing. Foods like crackers, cereal bars, and dried fruits might seem easier to digest or at least more appealing.
- Take plenty of snacks and food that can be eaten cold, for when you do not have the luxury of water for cooking.
- Think meltdown: Foods like cheese and chocolate can be messy in hot temperatures. If you do take them, stick them in the coolest middle portion of your pack, and - if you do find yourself camped near a cool spring - harden them up by dunking the food (in its zipper-lock bag) in the water.
- Hard candies or throat lozenges help stave off thirst if you're temporarily out of water.
- GORP is a great desert snack because it replenishes the salts (from the nuts) and sugars (from the raisins and whatever goodies you add to it) you've been losing to heat an exertion.
- Avoid caffeinated coffee and tea: They are diuretics.
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