[at-l] Cholesterol Levels After Extended Hike?

[orangebug74@yahoo.com (Orange Bug)]

Usually, I prescribe pills, and the bills are only a pleasant
additional treat (when they get paid). ;-)

Actually, the issue is more complicated. Cholesterol has much to do
with diet, but exercise, genetics, smoking and other factors contribute
to problems for folks. Exercise and diet changes are routinely
recommended initially for anyone with elevated cholesterol,
triglycerides and blood pressure. Usually, the only exercise that
occurs is in the doctor's attempts to prescribe life-saving lifestyle
changes. Patients are too quick to expect miracles for either the
latest diet or pill - while avoidant of anything that makes them sweat
or muscles sore. 

The diets we eat on the trail are not particularly healthy. If you ate
that diet at home, you would quickly become a hopeless blob. However,
this demonstrates that if someone burns 6000 calories a day, your body
can tolerate and thrive on just about any diet. 

My biggest concern is how a person fares 6 months after a hike. It is
impossible to manage an exercise regimen that approximates the effort
and calorie consumption of a thru-hike. This is a very major binge. We
know that binge diets result in yo-yo weight changes. I wonder if
similar changes occur in the long distance hiker on return to the
flatland.

I'd also remind folks of the example of Crash who died in Mass '00. A
thru-hike is a poor substitute for angioplasty. Don't wait for the doc
to pull out a prescription pad before maintaining your body.

Bill...

--- Lamar Powell <hopefl@juno.com> wrote:
> ... At the end of his trip, he was quit annoyed with his doctor who
> had prescribed bills rather than an bike. His health was very good,
> including his blood pressure and cholesterol.
> 

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