Getting enough fuel for your favorite aerobic activity can be challenging if you have starch intolerance. My favorite summertime activity is hiking and backpacking. Unfortunately for me, I have starch intolerance.

Individuals with starch intolerance experience stomach distress after consuming starches and sugars. Starch intolerance is the body’s inability to completely process carbohydrates (sugars and starches) due to inadequate or absent enzymes needed for their digestion.

Hikers/backpackers and individuals participating in other sports rely on carbohydrates to provide the fuel their bodies need during high energy activities. Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) are our body’s primary source of energy.

Energy bars loaded with grains, seeds/nuts, dried fruit and sugar are popular pack-along-food for hikers and other weekend warriors. Unfortunately, this food combination can be “lethal” for those with starch intolerance who experience gas, cramps, bloating and diarrhea and/or constipation from such foods.

Do you throw in the towel and give up the activities you love? Or do you get creative in gathering foods for your adventures?

I choose to get creative. I admit some of the foods I am packing for my upcoming hiking/camping trip are not ones I ever pictured myself eating. For instance, pemmican, a blend of jerky, animal fat and sometimes berries, was previously not on my shopping list but now it is. Pemmican was a food used by ancient peoples that was packable and full of energy.

Here are some other ideas for packable but low-starch foods.

•Pemmican
•Jerky
•Hard-boiled eggs or pickled eggs
•Kale or similar veggie chips
•Homemade fruit leather (minus the added sugar)

This week I have been making watermelon and cantaloupe leathers. The recipe is simple.

What you need

8 cups watermelon or cantaloupe, cut into cubes

What you do

If you have a juicer, juice the watermelon or cantaloupe. Reserve the juice for another time and focus on the pulp or solids from the juicing process.
Spread the pulp on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Place in your oven, set to 175 degrees, for about four hours or until the fruit is dry.
Cut into pieces and store in Ziploc baggies for your adventures.

Alternative for no juicer:

Puree the fruit in your blender. Pour the puree through a cheesecloth over a bowl to separate the solids from the liquid. Remember to use the solids for your fruit leathers and save the liquid to drink.
Why use watermelon or cantaloupe? Both of these fruits contain sugars which are easily digested by those with starch intolerance. However, you still must limit how much you eat.