The Best Fuel for High Altitude, Part 2

In my previous post on The Best Fuel for High Altitude activity, it seemed that Glucose would be more efficient from an oxygen availability standpoint. This may technically be accurate, but it may not be the entire story.

In June 2014, I was visiting friends in Vail, Colorado where we did some hiking. At this time, I had been in Ketosis for several weeks with an average BHB level of 1.5 to 3.0 mmol/dL. My cardiovascular performance seemed significantly improved, despite not doing anything to prepare for the lower oxygen environment.

Could it have been the Ketones?

According to this podcast (30:55) with Dr. Dominic D'Agostino, it does appear that Ketosis has several benefits that may balance out the higher oxygen requirement to obtain the Ketones. Dr. Dom states that some people note an increase in cerebral blood flow and hypothesize that the diuretic effect of Ketosis counteracts the inter-cranial pressure, as one experiences when diving underwater which is his area of study. 

Furthermore, Ketosis might be a natural defense against weight loss at altitude as noted in this Pub Med article, as Ketosis are noted to produce fewer reactive oxygen species in the brain and be more muscle sparing than Glucose. Least not of all, is that Ketones produce more ATP than Glucose making it a more efficient fuel per gram.

So, while it may require more oxygen to burn fat, it would appear that being in Ketosis and/or having some free Ketones in your blood would be beneficial for high altitude activity. For the latter, I would recommend Bulletproof Brain Octane and Keto//OS.

Stay well engineered,

Devon

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These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These statements or products referenced are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Sent Box Zero

Email Efficiency

It has been a while since I wrote about email efficiency. I have given a half of a dozen presentations on this subject to my coworkers over the past two years and have seen some steady results. This post is simple, yet powerful. I have been categorizing the email I receive for over a year now, but I have more recently started to categorize the email I send.

Why Categorize Sent Mail?

By default, Microsoft Outlook will clear any categories assigned to emails that you receive from other people and, therefore, any emails people receive from you. So, assigning categories to emails you send would seem to be a fool's errand. However, if you create a Microsoft Outlook Rule that states, that a copy of an email you send that is assigned to a category are moved to a folder you specify, you now have an automatic way to archive emails you send.

By default, Microsoft Outlook does not let you assign categories to a draft of an email, but this can be achieved with a little VBA Macro. For instructions on how to create a VBA macro click here.

Public Sub CategoriesButton()

  Dim Item As Outlook.MailItem

  Set Item = Application.ActiveInspector.CurrentItem

  Item.ShowCategoriesDialog

End Sub

Added Sent-Box Zero to Inbox Zero is a powerful way to be more efficient.

Stay well engineered,

Devon

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These statements or products referenced are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

The Best Fuel for High Altitude

I heard somewhere this weekend, possibly the GoPro Mountain Games episode of Boundless, that Carbohydrates are more efficient fuel for low oxygen (high altitude) activity. Being a fan of using fat as fuel, I had to see for myself.

If my math is correct, fat requires 13 times as much oxygen, making carbohydrates the more efficient fuel to burn at altitude. Fortunately for us closer to sea level, we have ample oxygen to burn fat for fuel.

Stay well engineered,

Devon

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These statements or products referenced are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.