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High Altitude, higher calories?

BingeAndPurge

BingeAndPurge

Active member
I moved to Colorado a few months ago. Started a bulk in January and have been sitting here today thinking if because of the altitude if my calorie intake should be higher than what I'm used to at a lower elevation. I know the elevation makes the heart work faster and you need more water because of that and because of the dry climate so it would reason to me that more calries would also be in order for a mass plan. Not to mention the thin air would lead to my body working harder during workouts which would burn calories at a higher rate as well. Make sense to anyone else or is my deductive reasoning all off? Does the body adjust to it enough not to make that high of a diference?
 
Seems like some kind of flawed inductive reasoning to me. Probably a gross generalization excluding too many factors, and/or over-emphasizing the one's that contribute to that theory. JMO :)
 
I also hear people in Colorado have to wear stronger sunscreen in the Summer because the sun is a whopping 1 mile closer. :D
 
NPursuit said:
I also hear people in Colorado have to wear stronger sunscreen in the Summer because the sun is a whopping 1 mile closer. :D
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Funny, and I would be laughing here too, but it's true, and all year round. There are less filters for the UV rays so the sun is a lot more intense. I've never worn sunglasses so much as I have the past six months.

I know that I drink about 25% more water than I used to because of the climate. I just slacked off at breakfast this-morning and really felt the mistake in the middle of my squats 2 hours later and that got me to thinking about this. Nothing more than curiousity. Just wondering what you all thought.
 
He's not off base at all.

I used to live in Flagstaff, AZ at 7000'. You WILL need more calories for the first year until you fully acclimate to the elevation. There is short term acclimation which happens fairly quickly but most people at high elevation will tell you it takes almost a year before you don't get winded anymore doing basic cardio. The inefficiancy of the O2 gathering ability of your RBC and hemoglobin lead to a higher energy requirement. Not meeting this requirement calorically leads to a condition called high altitude cachemia..muscle wasting seen in mountaineers. So just up your calories to be on the safe side.

And yes you have to wear sunscreen more often. There's less atmospere to protect you from the UV. That's why skiers get such gnarly sunburns. The worst sunburn I ever got was at 8000' in March while fishing.

Get more sleep as well.
Do you notice you feel like taking a nap more often? lol
 
bioman said:
He's not off base at all.

I used to live in Flagstaff, AZ at 7000'. You WILL need more calories for the first year until you fully acclimate to the elevation. There is short term acclimation which happens fairly quickly but most people at high elevation will tell you it takes almost a year before you don't get winded anymore doing basic cardio. The inefficiancy of the O2 gathering ability of your RBC and hemoglobin lead to a higher energy requirement. Not meeting this requirement calorically leads to a condition called high altitude cachemia..muscle wasting seen in mountaineers. So just up your calories to be on the safe side.

And yes you have to wear sunscreen more often. There's less atmospere to protect you from the UV. That's why skiers get such gnarly sunburns. The worst sunburn I ever got was at 8000' in March while fishing.

Get more sleep as well.
Do you notice you feel like taking a nap more often? lol
Click to expand...
Intresting. You learn something new every day. Your explanation makes sense.
 
bioman said:
He's not off base at all.

I used to live in Flagstaff, AZ at 7000'. You WILL need more calories for the first year until you fully acclimate to the elevation. There is short term acclimation which happens fairly quickly but most people at high elevation will tell you it takes almost a year before you don't get winded anymore doing basic cardio. The inefficiancy of the O2 gathering ability of your RBC and hemoglobin lead to a higher energy requirement. Not meeting this requirement calorically leads to a condition called high altitude cachemia..muscle wasting seen in mountaineers. So just up your calories to be on the safe side.

And yes you have to wear sunscreen more often. There's less atmospere to protect you from the UV. That's why skiers get such gnarly sunburns. The worst sunburn I ever got was at 8000' in March while fishing.

Get more sleep as well.
Do you notice you feel like taking a nap more often? lol
Click to expand...
Funny I always thought skiers got sunburns because the rays reflecting off of the snow. I would also think if there is a month to get a bad sunburn it would be March. It's not like you were out there sunbathing the month prior.
 
its true, i live at an elevation of 2 freaking miles high. your right about the sun reflecting off the snow npursuit but the sun is a hell of alot more intense at this elevation too. ill get a sunburn like that. and everything that you do is like a cardio workout. hell, walking up the stairs gets your heart going and you'll be sucking wind. to me it is obvious that you would need more cals to maintain your weight.
 
Snow does make a big difference but the sun at altitide is just plain brutal..less atmosphere, a lot less moisture and even less pollution to screen you.

The cardio thing is totally true. It's a workout just to live up there.
 
NPursuit said:
There is a big difference between 1 mile and 2 miles in elevation as far as oxygen levels go though.
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i am just using my situation as an extreme example, i know that elevation effects metabolism. i realize that at 2 miles above sea level you need to bump calories to mantain body weight so while 1 mile is not as extreme i think you would still need to bump calories a little. at least untill you are fully acclimated.
 
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