Don’t Let Festival Food Hinder Your High
Music festival season is roaring along, and it’s one of the best times for gathering with friends and strangers alike to share in the whole experience. The experience is real, too—The music may lure us, but there is so much more to living the day-in-day-out of a festival that creates lifelong memories. So often, though, these festivals are in the heat of the summer with minimal shade. The straining heat, energy spent dancing and exploring, and copious amounts of inebriating substances all put us at risk of having a totally lame time. It’s important to do what we can to prevent crashes and promote only good times ahead.
These basic tips will help you be prepared for long days of festival going and feel amazing the entire time. Trust me, your body will thank you.
Hydration
Water is essential when out in the heat for any period of time—All of your bodily functions depend on it. Water maintains our blood pressure, which keeps our heart and brain working and feeling right. Your body also uses water to clear dust and debris that we breathe in when we’re at a music festival. Before you wonder if anything else counts as water, don’t go there. Anything else contains dehydrating ingredients such as caffeine, sugar, or artificial sweeteners—Some sport drinks even contain more than half of an adult’s recommended daily sugar intake in just one serving. But electrolytes, you wonder…
Electrolytes
If you are in the heat, sweating, dancing, and walking the grounds, you will definitely need to address the situation of having diminished electrolytes. Your body pulls certain nutrients—sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, just to name the most common—to allow your body to literally move and function at the most basic cellular level. Feeling light-headed or having cramps or muscle aches are possible effects of having low electrolytes. While sports drinks can be a solution, you can also put some salted almond butter on a banana—The salt contains sodium chloride, the nuts contain magnesium, and bananas are a delicious high potassium food. You could even make these into balls with cocoa powder before your trip and have them ready to go.
Food
This brings us to feeding your body. All that dancing requires energy (calories) to keep you going all day long, and most food trucks don’t fit the bill. Taco trucks are a good place to get minimally processed protein, natural carbs, and even veggies. Limit high fat, high carb foods (think burgers, fries, fried chicken) that can weigh you down. Pack some food in a cooler before you leave, such as a buffalo or BLT chicken salad, fruit, salted nuts, protein bars, peanut butter crackers, instant oatmeal, and/or jerky. Choosing to munch throughout the day is a great way to reduce the fatigue of being out on the grounds all day.
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The most important part of being at a music festival is being there with others who share your love of music, art, culture, and experiences. Make sure you support your body with the right things so you can truly live your best life at any festival you attend. The kind of experiences you have are completely up to you, and largely depend on how you nourish your body.
