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I've read that the expedition members left campsite selection to their Native guide. She wanted to camp where her herbs were plentiful. She (and her son) certai

I've read that the expedition members left campsite selection to their Native guide. She wanted to camp where her herbs were plentiful. She (and her son) certainly ate more than meat. If the rest had seen fit to follow her example they could have avoided many health issues including vitamin deficiency.

coward123 5y ago
I still don't quite understand how their diet could have been this troublesome... frankly, when I backpack I have almost the opposite problem, as walking gets me going. I'm just an amateur woodsman, but when I'm in the woods I eat a variety of berries, greens, mushrooms, etc - one would think their native contacts and guides would have been a source for information if they didn't have this knowledge for themselves, IE: why was their diet quite so high in meat? Separately - my understanding is that there were many native groups worldwide that ate a meat-heavy diet, so when we hear about native Alaskans (for example) eating an almost exclusive meat diet, why weren't they having those same issues? Maybe fish / whale / seal vs. bison and deer is the problem?
- thwayunion 5y ago
  > one would think their native contacts and guides would have been a source for information if they didn't have this knowledge for themselves, IE: why was their diet quite so high in meat? They did eat plenty of local plants and likely would have starved without crops shared by local populations [1]. However, they were a large group with prodigious caloric requirements. The corps needed an epic amount of food -- roughly one buffalo worth of meat every 24 hours, likely in addition to foraging. (Buffalo, if you haven't seen any, are huge. Apparently the equivalent of 4 deer, or 9 lbs of meat per person.) > Separately - my understanding is that there were many native groups worldwide that ate a meat-heavy diet, so when we hear about native Alaskans (for example) eating an almost exclusive meat diet, why weren't they having those same issues? Maybe fish / whale / seal vs. bison and deer is the problem? Chronic dehydration likely caused by a combination of insufficient water intake, excessive exertion, and prolonged periods of high sodium diets (their emergency rations were, essentially, boullion and jerky). In a healthy person, constipation is almost always ultimately an issue of under hydration. Fiber can help, because it pulls water in the digestive tract, but the best solution is staying well-hydrated. Hard to do when you're 30 men eating jerky and working so hard that the camp eats an entire buffalo each day. -- [1] https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/what-lewis-and-clark-ate/ https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/what-lewis-and-...

coward123 5y ago

I still don't quite understand how their diet could have been this troublesome... frankly, when I backpack I have almost the opposite problem, as walking gets me going. I'm just an amateur woodsman, but when I'm in the woods I eat a variety of berries, greens, mushrooms, etc - one would think their native contacts and guides would have been a source for information if they didn't have this knowledge for themselves, IE: why was their diet quite so high in meat? Separately - my understanding is that there were many native groups worldwide that ate a meat-heavy diet, so when we hear about native Alaskans (for example) eating an almost exclusive meat diet, why weren't they having those same issues? Maybe fish / whale / seal vs. bison and deer is the problem?

thwayunion 5y ago
> one would think their native contacts and guides would have been a source for information if they didn't have this knowledge for themselves, IE: why was their diet quite so high in meat? They did eat plenty of local plants and likely would have starved without crops shared by local populations [1]. However, they were a large group with prodigious caloric requirements. The corps needed an epic amount of food -- roughly one buffalo worth of meat every 24 hours, likely in addition to foraging. (Buffalo, if you haven't seen any, are huge. Apparently the equivalent of 4 deer, or 9 lbs of meat per person.) > Separately - my understanding is that there were many native groups worldwide that ate a meat-heavy diet, so when we hear about native Alaskans (for example) eating an almost exclusive meat diet, why weren't they having those same issues? Maybe fish / whale / seal vs. bison and deer is the problem? Chronic dehydration likely caused by a combination of insufficient water intake, excessive exertion, and prolonged periods of high sodium diets (their emergency rations were, essentially, boullion and jerky). In a healthy person, constipation is almost always ultimately an issue of under hydration. Fiber can help, because it pulls water in the digestive tract, but the best solution is staying well-hydrated. Hard to do when you're 30 men eating jerky and working so hard that the camp eats an entire buffalo each day. -- [1] https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/what-lewis-and-clark-ate/ https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/what-lewis-and-...