Mountain House Farts

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Man it sounds like it would be rough to share a tent with some of you guys.
I wonder if a guys typical diet the rest of the year plays a role in how a MH affects him?

For me, I think this is one of the main causes of issues. I eat low carb 90% of the time, and anything soy destroys me 100% of the time. Mountain House has a boat load of carbs, and plenty of soy to get the protein counts up. I actually think they taste really good for the most part, but I just can't handle them. It's too bad...I have a box of at least 50 meals I'll need to get rid of.

The breakfasts don't seem to bother me, and I really like those. A very welcome alternative to oatmeal.

 

[ben h]

I've had similar issues that many of you have had. Those things make me fart like crazy! My own theory is they are manufactured from old farts and reconstituted into "food". After a few days on that stuff, I don't really get diarrhea, but I do get what I call "soft serve", which sort of reminds me of the ice cream cones you get at a fast food place except they're orange. On the plus side, it only takes about 5 seconds to take a dump.

 

[cbat]

I will never loan my chapstick ever again.

 

[Stein]

It's MH for sure. My first experience was a backpack trip with my cousin in MT circa 1989. We had MH 3x a day and on day three it hit. No GI issues, just a bad smell at night, then another and another. Both sets of air biscuits had the exact same smell. It was creepy how they smelled exactly the same for the next three days.

So, that's pretty much scientific proof with a 2 man metabolic ward conditions study.

 

[bogeyboy555]

I can personally attest to this not only affecting men who hunt, but also women who backpack. My hunting partner and I have both had horrid horrid horrid gas from MH and any of the other dehydrated meals. Its odd though, because its not a regular smell - but rather a more "chemically" scent that seems more toxic smelling than my usual number. The odd part is how the gas actually smells the same between me and my hunting buddy....

Here is where it gets really interesting though.... My lovely girlfriend, has the exact same reaction. WEIRD.

 

[elkstabber]

Thank you Josey Wales (the OP) for bringing this to everyone's attention.

Myself, my family, and friends have suffered just as you have.

First, I have to share two quick stories and then I'll tell you what worked for us.

A number of years ago my buddy and I were hunting elk and eating just one MH meal every night. On the fourth morning it happened. And happened again. And then it wouldn't stop happening. It's hard to hunt elk when you think you might explode at any minute. Our supply of toilet paper was running out quick. The gas was so bad at night that we slept with our heads sticking out of our tents. Even the rain on our faces was still better than breathing that horrid air that was trapped in the tent.

Just this past summer I took my family on a camping trip. We had stopped at REI and my wife saw the MH scrambled egg breakfasts so we picked some up. She loves scrambled eggs so much that she'll sometimes have them for dinner. We had been eating hard boiled eggs, subs, trail mix, and other heavy foods early in the trip but had to go to MH toward the end. After the MH breakfast (which tasted good) I knew that I'd need to go to the bathroom so my family hiked up the trail ahead of me. After I finished my business I was surprised that one of my daughters had hiked back down to me. She said, "Daddy, Mommy needs the toilet paper and doesn't want you to bring it to her". It seems that the freeze-dried scrambled eggs had attacked my wife's normally solid GI tract like never before.

The problem:
There is something about MH meals that upsets some people's GI tract. Everybody is affected differently. BeanO, Gas X, and Tums can't fix it. We've tried. It isn't the result of bad water. It isn't gulping air. It isn't the high elevation. Maybe it's part of the freeze drying process that MH uses. Dehydrated is different than freeze-dried.

I like the taste of MH meals over most other brands. MH meals pack a lot of calories and their meals pack down tighter than other brands (saving space).

We have found that Chili Mac is the most offensive. We've found that Beef Stroganoff is the least offensive. Spaghetti and Lasagna are in the middle. Which is ironic since I love spicy foods and don't typically eat such bland foods as beef stroganoff. Your results may be different.

THE SOLUTION:
What has worked for me is to slowly get the system used to MH meals before a big trip where I'll be eating a bunch of MH. Two weeks before the trip eat a single MH meal. Then the week before eat a couple of meals. This allows your digestive system to adapt to freeze-dried meals. For the last two years that has solved the problem almost completely.

 

[lintond]

Try the chili Mac that should take care of it. Try something besides MH. I don’t eat MH anymore, unstressed I prefer dehydrated foods. You can even make it yourself at home if you have a dehydrator.

You might also try to get on the pro staff for Gas-X.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk