A polar diet contains over 6,000 Kcal, which is double the amount of energy used by a fairly active male under normal conditions. A quarter is used to compensate for the cold and another quarter is used to make up for the extra hard work. As the human body is stressed at the beginning of an expedition by the unusual conditions and hard work, an anorexiagenic reaction can be provoked. A loss of appetite is normal and only temporarily. The body has enough reserves to compensate in the first days. Therefore the food intake can be reduced, resulting in lighter daily rations in the starting phase of the expedition.

The challenge, however, is to keep the weight and volume of the rations down for the entire expedition and to find a mix of nutrients which will be accepted by the body during the different stages in the expedition. It is about eating the right food at the right time. The problem is that there are no standards except personal standards. Some explorers eat simple food without any change in their diet. Others prefer the reward of more luxurious food at the cost of more weight. But what should a polar explorer's diet consist of?

Often it is assumed that a polar explorer should get his 70% of his energy from fat. Weight wise that is very efficient. One gram of fat generates 9 Kcal compared to 4 Kcal for every gram of sugar. Especially at the start of an expedition it is not effective, however, to consume large amounts of fat. The metabolism has not yet adapted to breaking it down and absorbing it. It takes days, if not weeks, for the body to adapt the metabolism fully to the polar conditions.

Finding the balance

The percentages of the total amount of energy provided by proteins, fats and carbohydrates in a regular diet are (on average): 12%, 33% and 55% respectively. Typical polar diets have another mix: 8%, 66% and 26% respectively. This means that in terms of weight it has almost equal parts of carbohydrates and fats, while a little over 10% of the weight consists of proteins. Based on personal experience, Marc feels he can use more carbohydrates and proteins thereby reducing the amount of fat. Higher protein levels are also an important source for muscles to recover from damage.

Reducing the amount of fat will decrease the weight efficiency of the diet and could lead to better absorption and overall performance. The new balance that the expedition will put to test is: 12% energy from proteins, 55% from fat and 33% from carbohydrates. Expressed in terms of weight that will mean that 35% consists of fat, 17% consists of protein and 48% consists of carbohydrates.

Well, forget about all the figures. What does it all mean in terms of what to eat? The expedition team has been packing and mixing their food in the last weeks leading up to the test expedition. Most of the items can be bought in a supermarket such as nuts, chocolate and sausages, for example. These are the kind of things that take you through the day.

But what do you think of mouth-watering Italian tomato soup with macaroni, drizzled with a little olive oil for the mid-day break? Or what about a hearty, ready-made cereal breakfast with creamy milk and chocolate, topped with hazelnut oil? How do you prepare these scrumptuous meals you ask? Just add water. Even the oily ingredients are powdered so the expedition doesn't have to carry the weight of water. Because melting some snow creates an unlimited resource of water, why carry it in the food? All meals are freeze-dried including the deserts: chocolate mousse, strawberry mousse….