Effect of Dietary Supplements on Acute Mountain Sickness

Abstract

Four fit young men participating in a high altitude mountaineering expedition took part in a 15-day trial of two high-calorie dietary supplements. They ate either a high carbohydrate or a high fat supplement, alternating every 3 days. All dietary intake was recorded. Subjects completed a daily questionnaire assessing the severity of symptoms. Within a single-subject design no statistically significant differences were obtained between the severity of symptoms and dietary carbohydrate or total calories. This suggested that the dietary supplements had no effect on symptoms, a finding that is discrepant with the existing literature. However, we did find that subjects consumed more calories while on the high carbohydrate supplement.