Wondering whether Boost Oxygen helps with altitude sickness? A common misconception is the difference between supplemental oxygen and canned oxygen for altitude sickness. In this post we'll answer does boost oxygen help with altitude sickness, and also the science behind oxygen and altitude sickness.
Altitude sickness, or acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a common problem that affects people who climb rapidly to altitudes above 8,000 feet (2,440 meters) sea level. It can affect anyone who goes to a high altitude, including athletes, tourists, and even mountaineers and climbers.
There are many factors that contribute to altitude sickness, but the most common cause is a lack of oxygen. As you increase in elevation, there is less and less oxygen in the air, causing the body to struggle with intense physiological stress. This can have serious effects on your body, especially if you are not prepared for it.
Symptoms of altitude sickness include:
Continue reading to learn our investigation on does boost oxygen work.
Boost Oxygen is one of the first canned oxygen that you can take to help improve your health. Using 95% oxygen, you can take in on-the-go when you need it.
Among other touted benefits to boost your immune system, improve athletic performance, help with focus, speedy recovery, boost oxygen for headaches, and even boost oxygen hangovers -- its claim to help altitude sickness is what we'll review here.
While it's boasted for athletic performance, does boost oxygen help with altitude sickness? And is it the best canned oxygen for altitude sickness?
At sea level oxygen content is about 21%, but at 12,000 feet it drops to 13% while at 24,000 feet it's only 8%.²
The oxygen deprivation that occurs at high altitudes can be a serious problem. This is the root cause of altitude sickness, which varies in severity and duration, including symptoms such as headaches, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, difficulty sleeping and loss of appetite.
Boost Oxygen is meant to give all-natural respiratory support with 95% oxygen, and to replenish lost oxygen levels at high altitudes.
We did an investigation on the science behind Boost Oxygen and find out does Boost Oxygen work for altitude sickness. We found three notable things:
Our conclusion, does boost oxygen help with altitude sickness? No, based on science it's not clear that it contains enough oxygen to help altitude sickness. Alex Derr estimates that you'd need a two 5-liter Boost Oxygen cans every five minutes to be effective based on the science.¹ The study showing high altitude improvement with oxygen was specifically done with medical grade supplemental oxygen coming from oxygen tanks. There's not enough evidence to conclude Boost Oxygen contains enough volume of oxygen to be effective.
That being said, outside of the science there's anecdotal stories and evidence of oxygen deficit improvement by taking Boost Oxygen. We'd encourage you to find out for yourself if it'll help you with altitude sickness.
Some think supplemental oxygen is the same as canned oxygen, however, it is not.
Supplemental oxygen is often referring to oxygen tanks, as in the altitude study done by the University of Pennsylvania Schools of Medicine and Nursing. Even oxygen bars are considered to use supplemental oxygen.
Oxygen tanks use 99% medical grade oxygen that give a higher volume of oxygen than canned oxygen, and are typically used for medical issues or even professional athletes.
Canned oxygen are small containers of 95% oxygen, like Boost Oxygen, but with overall significantly less oxygen volume than oxygen tanks which are considered supplemental oxygen.
According to Boost Oxygen, the best way to use it is by placing the mouthpiece around your mouth (just under your nose) and press the trigger down to inhale for 1-3 seconds. Then repeat 3-5 times as desired.
While there is not specific directions from Boost Oxygen for altitude sickness, based on altitude studies it appears you would need to do this inhalation pretty consistently every few minutes.
Oxygen, when shown to be effective in altitude sickness, is actually being fed consistently with oxygen tanks and not in short intervals like with Boost Oxygen.
10 liters of Oxygen is Boost Oxygen's largest can. It is approximately 200 seconds of continuous oxygen flow, equivalent to 200 one-second inhalations.
Alex Derr estimates you'd need a 10-liter Boost Oxygen can every five minutes for effective results on altitude sickness.
While that is unreasonable to follow as you'd go through many canistered of Boost Oxygen in a day, we'd recommend to start by trying one large can of Boost Oxygen in an hour to help at high altitudes.
The Boost Oxygen Shark Tank episode is what put the product on the map. It appeared on Shark Tank in October 6th 2019 (Season 11, Episode 2).
Famed investor, Kevin O’Leary, invested 1 million dollars into Boost Oxygen.
If you're shopping the pros and cons of Boost Oxygen, we researched them for you to review.
Based on this we think Boost Oxygen might be the best canned oxygen product, however, canned oxygen in general does have its cons.
Boost Oxygen Pros and Cons chart:
| Pros | Cons |
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• Portable
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• Not 99% medical grade oxygen
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• Mouthpiece for inhaling
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• Not TSA friendly nor allowed
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• Lightweight
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• Questionable oxygen quantity for results
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• 100% recyclable aluminum
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• Bulky to travel with
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• Fast way to get oxygen
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• Packaging is expensive
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• Founded in 2007
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• Unclear evidence for altitude
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SOURCES:
1. Does Boost Oxygen Help With Altitude Sickness on 14ers? It’s a Brazen Scam
https://thenextsummit.org/does-boost-oxygen-help-with-altitude-sickness-on-14ers/
2. Oxygen Levels at Altitude
https://wildsafe.org/resources/ask-the-experts/altitude-safety-101/oxygen-levels/
3. Effects of high altitude on humans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_high_altitude_on_humans
4. Physiological Effects of Supplemental Concentrated Oxygen in VO2 Kinetics During Steady-State Exercise
https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/7319401/Physiological%20Effects%20of%20Supplemental%20Concentrated%20Oxygen%20in%20VO2%20Kinetics%20During%20Steady-State%20Exercise-1.pdf
5. Supplemental oxygen and hyperbaric treatment at high altitude: cardiac and respiratory response
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17571664/
