Anyone familiar with high altitude eating?

[acey]

I am a sea-level resident of Florida who is planning a trip to Breckenridge, CO., with a bunch of gal-pals in July.

In doing research on the prevention of high-altitude sickness, I read that one should consume a HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE diet while at high altituedes, but it did not specify why.

We plan to stay with friends for 2 days in Denver (5,000 ft ele.) b4 we continue up to 10,000 ft.. That in and of itself will help with acclimitization, and I learned there is a drug called Diamox that has been used for high altitude sickness prevention, and I will ask my doctor about that, but I remain real curious about the diet recommendation.

(Dear Mods: feel free to post this question in a forum that might gain additional or more likely responses.)

Anyone have any clues???
Thanks,
Acey :wave

[not2late]

The only thing I know about high altitude is that your bod has to adjust because the concentration of oxygen is lower in the higher altitudes. The lower oxygen concentration will make your heart beat faster and can cause light-headedness, etc.

I'm not sure if diet affects it at all.....

[thenewkid]

I'm currently living north of Toronto Ontario. I travel often for work and have found that since starting this WOL I do get light headed more often then usual and the occasional dizzy spell when I'm visiting higher altitudes such as Germany, Switzerland etc. Nothing serious though -- drink plenty of H20 and don't over exert yourself.

It's funny but everytime I visit my parents winter house in Florida I notice that food cooks much faster there than it does here eg-an egg boils hard in less time in Florida then Ontario. Strange, eh?

[sadie147]

an egg boils hard in less time in Florida then Ontario. Strange, eh?

That's bizarre! My inlaws are snowbirds and are down in FLA, i'll have to ask the MIL if she's ever noticed that..I notice that some cake mixes etc have always had different instructions for altitude..but i'ld think toronot and fla would be pretty much the same.

Strange...

[NulloModo]

I'm currently living north of Toronto Ontario. I travel often for work and have found that since starting this WOL I do get light headed more often then usual and the occasional dizzy spell when I'm visiting higher altitudes such as Germany, Switzerland etc. Nothing serious though -- drink plenty of H20 and don't over exert yourself.

It's funny but everytime I visit my parents winter house in Florida I notice that food cooks much faster there than it does here eg-an egg boils hard in less time in Florida then Ontario. Strange, eh?

IIRC it has to do with air pressure. Water boils when there is enough energy (in the form of heat) applied that it can escape the liquid state into the gaseous state (steam). At a higher elevation there is less air pressure coming down on the top of that pot, and therefore the water molecules need less energy to 'break free' into the open air, thus the water boils at a lower temperature, and the cooking takes longer.

Offhand, this is also how a pressure cooker works, but increasing the pressure inside the pot the liquid can be made to reach much higher temps than its normal boiling point, this food can be cooked faster.

[Heidi3]

I never change anything eating wise in a high altitude with in the US....but I do not over exert...I used to ski in outside Santa Fe but it was down hill so I just had fun!!!......cooking ...wow that is another story...it took forever to make a pot of dry beans and ...I used the normal amt of yeast in for bread I made for the family that I do here in Washington well the glob was taking over the house!!!
drink plenty of water....

[swag]

Two general strategies for avoiding altitude sickness are to drink lots and lots of water, and to minimize alcohol. Both of which happen to be any-altitude advice for us Atkins-eers, anyway.

I'm a skier and never had altitude problems on my 1 or 2 yearly trips. Last year was my first low carb ski trip, and I did just fine. The hardest thing for me was passing on all the great Colorado microbrews.

Nuts are a great chairlift energy boost, by the way, if you are on that phase of OWL.

[pammie]

I live on top a mountain and well above sea level. I have never had a problem eating low carb.