Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board coca tea effect on acclimitization

Has anyone seen any studies on the effectiveness of coca tea or coca products such as coca candy on altitude sickness? I have heard anecodotal stories from friends hiking in Peru that they thought that the coca tea and coca candy helped their high altitude symptoms, but I haven't been able to find any studies. Does anyone know whether it just masks the symptoms (cue Joe Cocker's "Feelin Alright") or speeds acclimitization?

Brent N

When on a climbing trip in Bolivia in the late 1990s, we bought some coca leaves at a LaPaz market and used them to make tea on one of the peaks we did. We brewed it the traditional English way - cut up the leaves, put them in a pot of boiling water, and let it brew at a low boil for a few minutes. Conclusion: it had no effect and we all thought it didn't taste very good either. We went back to Lipton we brought with us and traditional green tea we bought in LaPaz.

Hi, I have read studies but I think they only sited caffine (but can't remember details). I don't have time but e-mail http://www.altitudemedicine.org/ and ask them. They are in-the-real-know about altitude!!!

A few years ago when we went to Machu Picchu, the hotel in Cuzco provided mate de coca tea. Given that we flew from Lima at sea level up to Cuzco at 11,000' or so, we figured it couldn't hurt. As noted in another post, it isn't very tasty. Not sure that it helped but I am VERY glad I didn't have to pass a drug test at work right after that trip...

By the way, if you ever get down to Machu Picchu, take the time to walk/scramble up to the top of Huyna Picchu. It's the peak at the end of the site in the postcard photo of Machu Picchu. Most of the "climb" is on Inca steps and trails although there are a couple of "interesting" spots. The view of Machu Picchu from the top is worth the effort.

Nepalis and Tibetans (maybe others) believe garlic does the trick.

On another note: while heading thru the Annapurna Region many years ago, I noticed that A LOT of pot grows wild in that area. Just pick it, dry it and smoke it. (Not really, I've always been afraid of that random drug test (which I have been subjected to as an employee of the gov't).

I was with a guide in Chile/Bolivia last year, and he chewed the leaves, claiming it helped him acclimatize. we didn't use any though.

A 2010 Wilderness Medical Society study of studies:
ranking of prevention of AMS (abbreviated):

graded ascent - strong recommendation, moderate quality evidence
Diamox - strong recommendation, low quality evidence
Ginkgo - weak recommendation, low quality evidence
Coca - never systematically studied, anecdotal use in Andes, Asia

I have emailed altitudemedicine.org and will post their reply if one comes. Hlankford, thanks for posting the abreviated results which seems to confirm that no one has studied legal coca products yet.

Could it be that injesting large quantities at a low dosage over an extended period mask affects of minor AMS?

Or just not care even if you had AMS?

I am not an expert on coca and the small amount of cocaine that might be absorbed.
Key word in the official Wilderness Medicine Society study was that it had not been SYSTEMATICALLY evaluated for AMS.

Your not going to get an argument from me there. I for one has never/will rely on anything other than accumation before I head above 10k. Even for a day hike, I'll take a day. Learned it young.

All I was suggesting was that long term consumption of that type of ingredient mask(or impede) the bodies ability to register symtoms associated with AMS.

no arguement. I think we are the same page.

Stopping in Cuzco on my way to Machu Picchu in 2009, my B&B greeted me with a small kettle of coca tea. I had developed a very minor headache upon arrival and after drinking one cup of the tea, my headache went away after about 10 - 15 minutes. Immediately after drinking the tea I walked around the Plaza de Armas for about an hour securing permits and information for Machu Picchu. Getting the exercise may have helped dissipate the headache. Nothing scientific, just a real life experience.

Oh and by the way, it is an illegal substance, not a legal one as someone above stated. There is an international treaty banning the substance but it is sold very openly in many of the shops surrounding the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco in small plastic bags. I can attest that it is not enough for a drug sniffing dog to alert on.

I always found dismissive statements from scientists/academics regarding food and plants that native people use/ingest for hundreds/thousands of years vaguely amusing.

. . . and in areas other than diet. One of the best examples is Scott's refusal to consider dogs for sled travel on his quest for the pole, despite the Inuit's long history with them. Horses or man-hauling would serve quite well, cheerio! Amundsen listened to the natives and used dogs. He also made it to the pole and back safely. Scott died trying, and was a massively heroic figure in Britain - basically for being stubborn and inflexible.

2 Cents... I've been offered coca tea from my buddies wife, who is from La Paz, Bolivia, elevation between 10,000 and 13,000 feet. Never drank it, but wouldn't be adverse to it.

I do however use Ginkgo, CoQ10, some coffee in the morning, 1/4 dose of Diamox and have used DMG (N-Dimethylglycine). Did they work? Have no idea, just know I didn't get a headache and felt fairly good at elevation. Oh yea.....probably the most important part: Snacked as often as I could and I drank lots of fluids, mostly Vitalyte.

Years ago, when Pope John Paul flew into La Paz, Bolivia, they offered him a cup of tea brewed with coca leaves as he descended the plane because, they claimed, it cures soroche (altitude sickness). I don't remember if he partook.

I just got back from S. America on Saturday and while there tried the cocoa tea in Cusco. I was a bit of a non believer of it's abilities to cure or curb altitude sickness, but after 3 cups I gotta say I it made my breathing abilities a bit better. (Absolutely no headaches at all).