Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Powder drinks and high altitude nausea

Many powder drinks have high levels of citric acic or ascorbic acids (vit C) in them. I cannot help but wonder if this contributes to the desire to puke on Whitney. Many recommend Tums to prevent the nausea and this does help a bit. Of course we have to balance our need for electrolytes too. But I wonder if we only make the acidic conditions worse by drinking acid laden powder drinks.

Any thoughts about this?

The cells in your stomach secrete a very strong acid (hydrochloric acid) and the normal pH there is between 1 and 3. Orange juice, which contains citric and ascorbic acid, has a pH of 3.5 - 4, so it is a much weaker acid than you normally have in your stomach.

Nausea is one of the symptoms associated with AMS, irrespective of drinking acidic drinks.

one of the general rules for altitude is:

symptoms at altitude are altitude related until proven otherwise.

nausea, headache,lightheadedness, fatigue and so forth do not all need to be present,they can present in various combinations at once or sequentially

but if sugary drinks or acidic drinks upset your stomach at sea level, then they are likely to do it moreso if you have nausea with AMS

My experience with sport drinks (Gatorade, Powerade, etc.) is that they contribute to high-altitude nausea if used in excess.

As a general rule of thumb, drink about three times as much plain water as you do the sport drinks. You lose a lot more water than electrolytes and while some 'lyte replenishment is important, there is no sense in exacerbating any nausea you may feel by overdoing it on the sport drinks.

And, from personal experience, although my stomach secretions may be more acidic than orange juice, it doesn't sit well if I drink much of it. Remember that your stomach acid is secreted in fairly small amounts and is diluted by food and consumed by the process of breaking it down in your stomach.

I always drink Gookinaid when I hike. I tend to drink more because it tastes better. If the info on their website is true, it's good for an upset stomach/nausea. They sell it at the portal store.

http://www.gookinaid.com/index.htm

During a layover day on a recent backpacking trip, I went on a strenuous hike and got altitude sickness. When I got back to camp, I mixed some Gookinaid Hydralyte and drank a half liter. It really helped as I wasn't able to eat anything because I was feeling so nauseous. I took a nap and felt better afterward.