PDA

View Full Version : why is it I just can't eat food at the top of a mountain after a hard climb?



DavidNH
06-18-2016, 23:17
I love climbing mountains and here in New Hampshire's White Mountains there are plenty of rugged mountains to climb. I generally pack a nice picnic lunch (1 or 2 sandwiches, chips or cheese its, candy etc). The thing is.. once I finally get to the top.. my appetite just disappears. I am lucky to eat half a sandwich.. sometimes just some chocolate. Back home... or at restaurant on way home.. my appetite comes back with a vengence.

What is it about a strenuous climb that takes one's appetite away? is it just me or could there be some medical reason? any of you have this happen to you? I do drink plenty of water.. I always carry at least two liters and sometimes three liters. Today I wish I had 4. It was hot.

Wise Old Owl
06-18-2016, 23:27
Heat and/or humidity turns off the hunger signals...

MuddyWaters
06-18-2016, 23:30
Excercise suppresses appetite.

fiddlehead
06-19-2016, 00:10
I always assume my body will ask for what it wants or needs.
When I sweat a lot, I seem to be hungry for potato chips or some other salty snack.
When I'm working hard, I may have an urge to drink water, but usually not food until finished.
Thru-hiking is a different story of course.
I was always hungry then. (after a few weeks anyway)

Connie
06-19-2016, 01:42
When I get to a spectacular viewpoint, or, achieve a strenuous goal, I feel so much satisfaction and contentment I must be having endorphines doing their work, as well, either because I feel so much contentment at achieving a goal or because the scenery is so naturally satisfying I am incapable of feeling hungry at the same time.

Stay there longer, to find out if you would like to have your lunch.

It could be the altitude change from where you started.

It could also be that once you leave the sense of accomplishment and/or that satisfaction from beholding the natural beauty of the scene, hunger starts.

That could mean "hunger" is any perception whatsoever of insufficiency, or lack.

OkeefenokeeJoe
06-19-2016, 06:55
Nothing complicated here. No need to run out and get a CAT Scan or MRI. Simple physiological explanation.

Strenuous exercise = suppressed appetite. The more strenuous the exercise, the more suppressed the appetite. Once the body recovers, a need for massive caloric intake, through neurons, is realized by the brain and signals are sent to tell you to EAT. Accordingly, appetite is restored, usually in a BIG way.

It should be noted, too, that each person's appetite response to strenuous exercise varies. Some lose their appetite altogether. Some may have only a slight or moderate appetite. Regardless, the physiology is the same.

There you go ... case closed ... mystery solved ... TAH DAH ... next?

OkeefenokeeJoe

garlic08
06-19-2016, 07:02
I guess I'm an exception to the exercise/appetite rule. The only time I didn't have an appetite on a summit was the one time AMS (acute mountain sickness) kicked in. (That was at 14,000', but it was after a summer of climbing over two dozen similar peaks. Why it happened then is a mystery, but it was humbling.) Is there a chance you're getting a similar effect with elevation gain?

chiefiepoo
06-19-2016, 07:20
My guess is that your circulatory system might have been allocating blood with oxygen and nutrients to the large muscles in the legs, lungs, and core while you're under hiking strain. Digestion is creates its own demands on blood supply in the stomach and intestines. Maybe the loss of appetite is the bodies way of telling you that it is too busy doing more important things than taking on more demand to process food intake. I too, get this loss of appetite after a hard section or climb.

peakbagger
06-19-2016, 07:23
I rarely if ever eat a big meal hiking. The stomach is large muscle and requires lots of blood flow, I would rather that blood goes to my legs for hiking. If I do eat a big meal and then start hiking again I can feel it in my legs an usually get queasy stomach. I stick to frequent snacks and save the gorging for post hike. Avoiding big meals is especially important in cold conditions. When the blood shifts to a stomach after big meal my fingers get real cold and it takes a lot to warm them up. If I snack instead this doesn't happen.

OkeefenokeeJoe
06-19-2016, 07:28
O2 depletion relative to elevation is an interesting matter. As in your case, one can summit on multiple occasions with zero notable issues, then that single occurrence pops up out of the blue where you want to puke your guts out. Yeah, now that one is a mystery. I'm guessing, though, your sickness would be directly related to the degree of difficulty of the climb in an O2 deprived environment, causing a poisonous affect to develop within your body. Just a guess.

Interestingly, when I wore a younger man's britches, I was a body builder and could not even think about eating after a strenuous workout. Contrast that to a friend of mine who could go out and eat a half dozen tacos right after a workout. Of course, by evening, he would generally suffer from diarrhea to some degree, but it just goes to show that there are exceptions to the appetite rule.

OkeefenokeeJoe

Christoph
06-19-2016, 07:56
I did the same thing on my hike. Just not really hungry enough to eat, but I forced down everything I could (which still wasn't enough). Which is why on my next attempt, I'll eat more throughout the day and make sure I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That hike was really taxing on my body so the above posts explain it well. Makes sense to me, too bad I didn't think of that last year on my attempt. Haha

misprof
06-19-2016, 08:02
I am glad you brought this up as during a hard day climbing or putting on a tom of miles lunch hits my gut like a rock and I get wicked cramps. Chips or gatorade do not have this effect.

Connie
06-19-2016, 09:19
In Colorado, some roads are at 10,000 feet. I had less desire for food. I didn't eat much at Cripple Creek, out an unimproved road from Denver, CO. (I do not recommend that unimproved eoad, unless your vehicle is a mountain goat.)

I think the lowered appetite could have been due to so quickly changing altitude, compared to Washington State where we hike in to make a base camp and, if necessary, a high camp, to be able to summit early the next morning. You can see, the approach can take a day or two, and even more days to reach that particular mountain.

Even so, I was taught you never know, hike and climb mountains and, one day, you have altitude sickness.

Since altitude sickness includes risk of not thinking straight, we are done. One or two companions escort us to lower altitude. Our mountainclimbing at high altitude is over. We are done. Most of us hike or climb smaller mountains, take up rock climbing or bouldering, if we like. Others hike and backpack, or only hike locally.

I have never had altitude sickness.

I do not eat big meals out hiking, or mountainclimbing, and rarely at home. I seldom have a big meal.

I was taught it is important to get well hydrated, days in advance. I do that. I avoid snacking beforehand, and beforehand I have complete meals only.

On the hike in, I eat some, when I feel I have an appetite. I eat a little more, just enough, when hungry.

My experience agrees with the observations about the effort to digest a large meal.

I think it is necessary to be inactive to enjoy a big meal, and not overtax our system.

I know one man who ate two big breakfasts and two big dinners for lunch and worked hard. I did not see his one or two suppers. He carried heavy loads, and if there was hard work to be done he volunteered, and he did all of it alone refusing working together to get it done.

I thought maybe big men (I am small, by comparison) doing hard work outdoors have to consume that much food.

However, he died in his thirties, inexplicably, so I have discounted his method.

Me? I have endurance.

The big push? I take CytoMax sports drink as per the instructions.

I do not think CytoMax is for extending your limits for sustained activity, like a faster thru-hike. I have never used it for altitude. It is to avoid lactic acid buildup. I have thought I would use it to move faster, if weather imperative. I have used it to get in fast to a known location for a rescue.

daddytwosticks
06-19-2016, 12:39
I think it has little to do with the elevation gain and everthing to do with the strenuous exercise. There was a very long and thorough thread just a few weeks ago concerning hiking and appetite. Very good info. :)

DavidNH
06-19-2016, 17:14
Thanks for the feedback. Altitude is not an issue as all our mountains are below 6000 feet (save for Mt Washington). I'm guessing now it is a combination of heat (temps in mid 80's) and strenuous exercise. Glad this doesn't just happen to me. i'm going to later what I bring lunch wise. More nibbly stuff for the tough climbs. No large sandwiches!

rafe
06-19-2016, 17:22
+1 on salty stuff for hot weather hiking.