Has a stay at high altitude benefited your health ?

  • Yes , short term

    Votes: 5 38.5%
  • Yes, long term

    Votes: 6 46.2%
  • No changes

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • Felt worse

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • Total voters
    13

Mauritio

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Live high:train low increases muscle buffer capacity and submaximal cycling efficiency - PubMed
Showing intermittent time in altitude around 3000m having benefits ,e.g. less oxygen consumption . So even just a few hours every day at high altitude can have a good effect.



Metabolic and work efficiencies during exercise in Andean natives - PubMed
10% less oxygen consumption through long term stay at approximately 4500m .
"Measurements of respiratory quotient indicated preferential use of carbohydrate as fuel for muscle work, which is also advantageous in hypoxia because it maximizes the yield of ATP per mol of O2 consumed. Finally, minimizing the cost of muscle work was also reflected in energetic efficiency as classically defined (power output per metabolic power input); this was evident at all work rates but was most pronounced at submaximal work rates (efficiency approximately 1.5 times higher than in lowlander athletes)

Nonhematological Mechanisms of Improved Sea-Level... : Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
"In an animal model, it has been reported that 25-30 d of simulated altitude exposure equivalent to 5000 m via hypobaria for 5-6 h·d−1 resulted in improved mitochondrial efficiency (49). Lukyanova claims that the mechanisms responsible for this improved efficiency are related to the ability to maintain high coupling of oxidative phosphorylation and synthesis achieved by an increase in number of mitochondria in the cells accompanied by a reduced cytochrome content possessing a higher activity, new kinetic properties of NADH oxidation allowing maintenance of key enzyme activity in conditions of high NADH reduction under hypoxia, and reducing the role of the less efficient succinate oxidase pathway."

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Less risk of hypertension and diabetes-anemia for population living at 2500m.


High-altitude living decreases the risk of heart disease: A major risk factor for development of heart disease, stroke and diabetes is lower in people that live at higher altitudes; this also applies to people with a family history of these diseases
The results were quite clear -- the higher the altitude, the less likely you were of developing Metabolic Syndrome. Interestingly, using information about the participants' family history, the researchers could also assess if those more prone to this health problem also saw these benefits. "We found our results were independent of the genetic background of the individuals,"
 
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Lejeboca

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Thanks for the finds, @Mauritio !
Showing intermittent time in altitude around 3000m having benefits
Cool!
Measurements of respiratory quotient indicated preferential use of carbohydrate
I guess, this is at the heart of the lactate paradox Dr Peat et al. spoke about.

Now, I am curious, whether muscles at rest burn as much fat at altitude as they do so at sea level, all other varables being equal?
 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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Thanks for the finds, @Mauritio !

Cool!

I guess, this is at the heart of the lactate paradox Dr Peat et al. spoke about.

Now, I am curious, whether muscles at rest burn as much fat at altitude as they do so at sea level, all other varables being equal?
Good question . But would it even be desirable to to burn less fat through the muscles during rest?
 

Lejeboca

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Good question . But would it even be desirable to to burn less fat through the muscles during rest?

I want more :D fat burning at altitude or at least the same since it is the only "safe" way to burn fat But since at altitude muscles are more efficint at burning glucose (in exercise ), I began to wonder about their doings at rest.
 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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I want more :D fat burning at altitude or at least the same since it is the only "safe" way to burn fat But since at altitude muscles are more efficint at burning glucose (in exercise ), I began to wonder about their doings at rest.
Yeah I was thinking similarly. But I lost weight when I was in the Himalayas so it something has to burn fat . If the rest of the body burns more glucose as the study said then its probably still the muscles that do the job . Anyways high altitude works for loosing weight, I think that's pretty safe to say .
Altitude Causes Weight Loss Without Exercise | WIRED
It's interesting that they had a 15 % increase in basal metabolic rate in just 7 days at 2650m.
 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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Ascent to Altitude as a Weight Loss Method: The Good and Bad of Hypoxia Inducible Factor Activation

BMR increases in lowlanders by 6–27% over the first several days after arrival at high altitude which is directly proportional to altitude gain. At 3650 m BMR increases by 6%, whereas increases of 10% and 27% occur at 3800 and 4300 m respectively (1416). With acclimatization there is a variable decline in BMR to some lower steady state, but BMR generally remains above sea level values. In one study acute altitude exposure to 4300 m increased basal metabolic rate by 27% over that of sea level and remained elevated by 17% after 3 weeks of acclimatization (16).

Interesting is the switch from 3800m to 4300 m =500m yields in approximate increase in 17% more in the BMR!
 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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Georgi on the benefits of high altitude .
At 1:35:29

 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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Adaptation to high altitude, which stimulates the formation of new mitochondria and increased thyroid (T3) activity, has been used for many years to treat neurological problems, and the effect has been demonstrated in animal experiments (Manukhina, et al., 2010).
Ray Peat, The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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Altitude
High altitudes are usually sunny.

[5,740 feet = 1,750 m] That's high enough to make a difference.

[6,000 feet = 1,830 m] I think those moderate elevations are very helpful. My place in Coeneo is only 6600 feet, but my nearsightedness always improves when I'm there for a few weeks. People who are very sensitive to altitude would have a headache at 14000 feet, so that was a good test.

[6,560 feet] 2000 meters has a noticeable effect after a couple of weeks, higher is better, but it's necessary to take some time to adapt to the higher altitudes before being very active.

[How long does it take to reap benefits?] During the first couple of weeks, the body usually has stress reactions that have to settle down, then the improvement continues for years. A couple of months at altitude will usually cause changes that last for several months even at lower altitude.

[What is the lowest elevation, that one could reap good benefits?] Statistics for New Mexico showed improvement for every increase of altitude within the state--I think it's continuous, from below sea level up to around 12,000 feet.

[Are there any conditions which high altitude is negative for? I think I remember saying something about asthma?] I should have said respiratory diseases, meaning things like emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis. Asthma is usually improved at high altitude, above 6000 feet, for several reasons. Even in polluted Mexico City, at 7500 feet, there's very little asthma, but people who vacation in Acapulco often get asthma.

[After settling in for a week or two, is light exercise OK? Short runs?] I think walking should be the main exercise for the first several weeks.

[Can one really reap the same benefits with bag breathing, and other artifical ways, as they would with actually LIVING in high altitude?] No.
 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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"Those were Ray's words. I myself am aware of one confirmed case of a person living to 168 and he spent most of his life at about 6,000 feet altitude.
Shirali Muslimov - Wikipedia"
 
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Mauritio

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"Our basic anti-glycolytic factor
is carbon dioxide, which can be
quickly delivered to the glycolyz-
ing areas, suppressing glycolysis
and restoring oxidative energy
production."

Ray Peat
 
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Mauritio

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Even short exposures to high elevation can unleash a complex cascade of changes within red blood cells that make it easier for them to cope with low-oxygen conditions. What's more, these changes persist for weeks and possibly months, even after descending to lower elevations.

When scientists examined the oxygen-carrying proteins, known as hemoglobin, in volunteers' red blood cells, they found multiple changes affecting how tightly it hung onto its oxygen load. Roach says a simplistic analogy is comparing this to what happens when baseball players loosen their grip on a mitt. "If I relax my hand, it will let go of the ball," he says. Such changes had been observed before in the lab, but never in humans, and never at high altitude, the team reports this month in the Journal of Proteome Research. The scientists also found that the metabolic processes producing these changes were considerably more complex than suspected. And because red blood cells live for about 120 days, the changes last as long as the cells do.
 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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However, while hypoxia is supposed to limit the
antioxidant potential of RBCs in vitro30 and promote oxidative/reductive oxidative and nitrosative stress at high altitude,57 here
we show that RBC metabolic adaptations to hypoxia in vivo result in higher levels of GSH and decreased GSSG. This finding is suggestive of either decreased oxidative stress or increased de novo biosynthesis of GSH, an ATP-dependent
phenomenon58 that could be favored by transient increases of ATP levels during early responses observed on days 1 to 7,
consistent with recent observations on anaerobically stored erythrocyte concentrates for transfusion purposes.59 This adaptation is notably lost at the POST time point, which
showed a decrease in GSH levels and an increase in GSSG levels mirroring increased oxidative stress associated with transient re-exposure to normoxia.

Nitric oxide generating pathways (arginine catabolism and citrulline accumulation) were apparently upregulated upon early exposure to hypoxia but were downregulated after 7 days
at high altitude

Arginine consumption could be also interpreted in the light of increases in creatine anabolism, especially after 7 and 16 days at high altitude.

These results are consistent with improved athletic performances of the AltitudeOmics subjects following 16 days at high altitude
Finally, we show that, contrary to other transient
physiological adaptations (hematocrit and hemoglobin levels33), metabolic adaptations are retained after descending to lower altitude for 1 week, consistent with improved physical
performance.
 
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Mauritio

Mauritio

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Interesting video with a huge amount of citations .
He also mentioned making a video on the health benefits of living at high altitude.


View: https://youtu.be/vBPI3TivO6A
 
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It would seem that sleeping in altitude simulation would actually help prolong lifespan and health span then.
 

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