Practical Reflections on Nutritional Intervention to Regulate Body Hormone Levels Under Survival Conditions in Extreme Environments

Abstract

Extreme working conditions such as high-altitude hypoxia, polar cold temperatures, and limited field supplies continuously impose physiological stress on the human body, keeping it in a prolonged state of high metabolic pressure. These harsh environments disrupt the dynamic balance of the endocrine system, triggering hormonal imbalances, physical performance decline, and weakened immune function—key factors contributing to reduced environmental adaptability and diminished work efficiency among field personnel. Based on practical experience in frontline physiological support, traditional pharmaceutical protection methods and standard dietary models are often inadequate for the complex and variable demands of extreme field operations. This study takes three typical extreme environments—high-altitude hypoxia, polar cold, and energy scarcity in the field—as research contexts, integrating existing academic findings with real-world operational experience to analyze the underlying mechanisms by which these environments disturb hormonal homeostasis and to summarize nutrition-based interventions suitable for different field scenarios. Field practice has demonstrated that optimizing daily dietary structures and strategically supplementing functional nutrients can effectively alleviate stress-induced hormonal disturbances and maintain stable metabolic and endocrine function. Compared to pharmacological interventions, nutritional approaches offer greater safety, broader applicability across diverse settings, and the potential for long-term, routine implementation, better meeting the practical needs of field physiological support. This paper systematically categorizes targeted nutritional intervention strategies for various extreme environments, identifies current research gaps and shortcomings, and provides practical reference for enhancing physical fitness maintenance, health protection, and the optimization of field physiological support systems for outdoor workers.