Traditional basic pemmican can be a bit rough, and is limited as to nutritional value. My recommendation, as Rusty's dad later found, is to experiment with adulterating the basic recipe with various ingredients. I've gone so far as to incorporate chewable multivitamins that have been powdered into the mix with excellent results (I prefer the cherry flavored ones, but grape and orange flavors work well too). You can also add a little cornmeal, some oats, or even farina or rice flour so long as you don't overdo it. Sugar can also be added, making it more of a dessert taste.
Pemmican doesn't have to be eaten right out of the package,either. I've made up some recipes that, when mixed with hot water, form a hearty soup.
You can add things like nuts, seeds and dried berries, more traditional additions, and pulverized dried meats. In fact, I've added other such ingredients like dehydrated zuchhini and carrots and chives and such and ended up with said soup base.
The point is, pemmican is flexible. In it's most basic form, it is perhaps not as pleasant a dining experience as a good candy bar, but with a little thought and effort, you can turn it into a truly excellent survival food.
Also, from an energy standpoint, carbohydrates convert into glycogen, which if not consumed by the body are then converted into fats which are stored in our fatty tissues. Fats that we consume are broken down into fatty acids, which do not get reconverted back into glycogen, but are consumed by muscle tissue directly. The difference is that fats are consumed by muscles directly during aerobic activity, and require a good supply of oxygen. Glycogen is used by muscle tissue for intense but short durations of maximum exertion, such as sprint running or lifting maximum loads, when the oxygen supply to the muscles is insufficient for aerobic process. For sustained endurance work like hiking or shelter building or just staying warm, aerobic consumption of fatty acids is the dominant metabolic process. When running from a grizzly bear or hauling a body up a cliff, your body will burn carbs until the glycogenic metabolic process in the muscle tissue overloads, and all that's left is the aerobic process, which leaves you sucking wind. Our bodies only retain about a 2 day supply of glycogen, mostly in the liver, at any time; the rest being converted to fats and deposited in the fat cells throughout our body. Let me repeat that carbs are converted to fats in our body when it is working properly and we consume excess carbs, and that is a one way process. Our bodies are only able to absorb a certain amount of fats via digestion, regardless of how much we consume, because the amount of digestive enzymes required to break it down into absorbable fatty acids is limited. In contrast, we can absorb as much carbs, especially the simpler ones like sugar, as we can stand to eat, as the absorption process is not as reliant on enzymatic conversion in the digestive system. A tendancy to overconsume carbs, especially sugar, can lead to diabetes, as insulin production tries to keep up. Thus we see people with blood sugar levels spiking after eating things like cake, a precursor to the onset of diabetes. Dr. Atkins, among others, realized the distinction between these two processes could be used in our favor, thus the relative success of the low carb diet at achieving weight loss while also diminishing appetite.
From a survival perspective, I am more inclined towards a food source that will provide me with a sustained energy level, and not tend to spike my blood sugar too much. Some carbohydrate consumption would be desirable. I would rather the bulk of my consumption be fats and proteins. It seems easier to me to add a cup of oats to my pemmican mix than to wrap my snickers bars with a piece of bacon or two, though sometimes I do get these weird cravings...
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
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