Affording Food in Korea

Coming from Canada, we knew it would be a bit tricky finding the particular health foods that we were used to buying at home. We eat a lot of organic, and fresh produce and it's everywhere. In coming to Korea, we expected it to be a little more difficult to find the stuff, and variety that we're used to, at the prices we're accustomed to paying. We knew it would be difficult, but because we're in a rural town, it's even more difficult. Frozen blueberries cannot be found, avocados are $3+ each, apples are $1.50 - $2.00 each... Produce (unless locally grown) is expensive here, if available at all. We're slowly developing a strategy for food and supplements that allows us to get what we need / want.

Our current strategy is 4 fold.

1 - Hwarang Mart - Our local grocery store. We get basics there like lettuce, seaweed, eggs and a few others.

2 - The local market - we get some produce here also, but still not a 'write home about it' value. Every 5 days there is an extra big market day with a TON of vendors selling pretty much the same stuff. We get fresh fruit and vegetables there often also.

3 - iHerb has been a lifesaver. The prices are pretty good. We make at least a 4 or 5 purchases a month through iHerb for everything from vitamins and fish oil to protein powder, flours, nuts and seeds. Here's a short list of what we buy fairly regularly.

Greens – http://bit.ly/1SNOwrO
       Great ingredient profile and I trust the brand. Taste is mediocre, but it's greens. 

Omega 3 – http://bit.ly/1OPKy1u
       Can't go wrong with NOW foods brand. They source the oil from small, cold water fish and it's molecularly distilled, so we like. 

Vit D – http://bit.ly/1DaCBCS
        NOW Vit D. For the winter mainly, but still good to take here and there throughout the summer. 

Chia – http://bit.ly/1Mx6al5
        An absolute staple in our diet. We go through a lot of this so we always buy in bulk for extra savings. 

Probiotic – http://bit.ly/1glb9s8
         Mercola brand is top notch. These probiotics are not cheap, but they are incredibly good quality. Neither of us have gotten sick while here (first 5.5 months) and I attribute that in large part to these beauties. 

Pea Protein – http://bit.ly/1U86CaO
        Julia's plant protein. Good value and she loves the taste.

Enzymes – http://bit.ly/1LYQC9N
          We use some digestive enzymes on occasion if we're going out for dinner or eating something out of the ordinary. 

Stevia – http://bit.ly/1DQuQwM
           I prefer stevia to sugar. :

Whey – http://bit.ly/1DaDfR5
            Brian's protein. No bells and whistles, just the basics.

Cocoa – http://bit.ly/1DaDivW
             Straight cocoa. No sugar, but nice to add to chia or smoothies. 

Coconut Oil - http://bit.ly/1LSfDSs
             If you don't fry your food with coconut oil, check yourself. 

B Complex - http://bit.ly/1IrsHIM
           B Vitamins - energy, stress etc... Good stuff. 

If interested in any of these products (or anything else on iHerb) and you're a new customer, go here:

iHerb New Customer

and use coupon code JKM400 at checkout to save $10!

4 -  GMarket. GMarket is like amazon / ebay. You can buy just about anything. We've been finding more and more stuff on GMarket that we're going to start buying. Frozen blueberries and avocados are a couple of examples. Avocados are 11 for $22, so a definite savings there! We can save by buying some things in bulk. 

Below are some random photos of the products we've bought through iHerb and GMarket as well as our local market / street vendors: 

 

SUPPLEMENTS!

Spending 4.5 months in the wilderness (or most of it anyways) and having to carry all your nutrition means that you concern yourself more with getting in the necessary calories to fuel your 20+ miles per day of hiking, than you do QUALITY nutrition. Getting in enough calories is definitely a priority, but for us, getting in the quality nutrients our bodies will need is equally important. Hiker food, for the most part is exactly fresh. You don't get to carry with you fresh fruits and vegetables as they just weigh way too much for the calories they provide. Everything is measured against a gold standard of 100 calories per ounce. We'll be eating lots of oatmeal, nuts, dried fruits, noodles and rice dishes with spices and some dried vegetable flakes, but we'll be supplementing our diet with some key items that will ensure we're getting in what we need to keep us not only moving, but thriving! The following is a list of "staple" supplements that we'll take pretty well every day.





VegeGreens - One serving of this stuff will provide the nutrient value of 6 - 8 servings of dark green vegetables, the ones known for nutrient density. These will help keep energy levels up, aid in digestion, and just keep our bodies running as efficiently as possible. This is something we use everyday at home as well, since we are very active in endurance sports and have very busy work schedules. Anyone can benefit from VegeGreens, it's certainly not exclusive to athletes.







PhytoBerry - PhytoBerry is an incredible whole body antioxidant. This will be huge to keep our immune systems running at full capacity and help get rid of the free radicals we'll be creating while hike all day long! Another product that we use everyday (or just about everyday). We use it after training sessions, especially longer ones or workouts in extreme conditions, where our immune systems may be compromised. Again, anybody can benefit from PhytoBerry since we all consume or create toxins and free radicals everyday!

Men's And Women's Active Multivitamins - With the stress we'll be putting on our bodies everyday and the lack of variety in our diet, it will be nice to know that we're getting in all the vitamins and minerals we'll need to keep us healthy! We've both been using the multivitamins for year's now and love them!








Protein Powder - Since Julia is Vegan, and I only eat fish, our protein sources at home are somewhat limited. This becomes an even bigger issue while hiking because our muscles will be constantly under stress and so we'll need to give them the amino acids they require to adequately repair! We'll be using products from Progressive and Vega.

Nutrition Bars - Neither of us are fans of chocolate bars, but realize the value of convenience of these prepackaged treats. We prefer nutrition bars that offer quality along with the taste. We'll be using ELEVATE ME! bars as they have all the qualities we look for in a bar. They are essentially comprised of dried fruits and nuts with whey isolate protein. No added sugars or preservatives. These bars won't melt on us in the heat, won't get crushed easily in our packs and they're bars that we already know we can eat DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY without getting sick of the taste. Another bar that's of equal quality, and new on the market is the Precision All Natural Bar. I've fallen in love with their Chocolate Cherry Bar and will be eating a ton of these also.