Robert Weinreb 
In the Khumbu region of Nepal 
a Sherpa girl herds goats past 
Tamang porters from the lowlands 
to the south, carrying rice and 
sugar to a weekly market. In 
both the Himalayas and the Andes, 
resources available at different 
altitudes are exchanged between 
neighboring populations. 
separately and thus are more apt to be 
affected by the cold. 
Sherpa adults probably experience 
the greatest cold stress in winter, when 
animals must be herded from high pas- 
tures to lower ones. The amount of activ- 
ity involved is so great, however, that it 
surely must provide some metabolic 
compensation. In addition, prodigious 
amounts 0 / Tibetan tea (tea and butter 
with a little salt) or tea with milk and 
sugar are consumed by everyone. Since 
drinking hot beverages elevates internal 
temperatures, this probably provides ad- 
ditional fortification against the cold. 
Mountaineering, trekking, and a 
growing cash economy have changed 
Sherpa conditions somewhat during the 
last decade. Men tend to wear Western 
mountaineering dress, which is designed 
to maximize protection against the cold. 
But mountaineering expeditions now ex- 
pose Sherpa men to high mountain ar- 
eas that are far colder than their normal 
habitation zone. And because Tibetan 
yak wool is becoming difficult to obtain, 
Sherpa women now often wear chubas 
of heavy cotton, which probably offer 
less protection against the cold. On the 
other hand, the recent introduction of 
kerosene space heaters — and possible 
future availability of electric heaters — 
may reduce cold stress considerably. 
In addition to cold, a high-altitude 
population must cope with marginal nu- 
trition. In part, poor nutrition may be 
attributed to cultural values concerning 
food selection, preparation, and distribu- 
tion. Nevertheless, high-altitude envi- 
ronments such as those of Nuiioa and 
Khumbu do limit the quantity and qual- 
ity of food crops, just as they limit other 
types of vegetation. In both areas, the 
soils tend to be poor. Of equal impor- 
tance are the hazards of low tempera- 
tures, frosts or snowfalls, and unreliable 
precipitation during the crop-growing 
season. The last is a particular problem 
on the altiplano , since planting is done 
during September and October when 
precipitation is very erratic. In the 
Khumbu region, dews and fogs provide 
moisture in the absence of heavy rain- 
falls. 
In both Nunoa and Khumbu, diets 
consist primarily of vegetable foods. 
Most common in Nunoa are potatoes 
and Andean grains, along with rice and 
maize (mostly imported from other 
areas). Depending upon the success of 
the harvest, potatoes contribute up to 48 
percent of the diet. Only 6 to 17 percent 
of the food consumed by the Quechuas 
derives from animal sources. Still, pro- 
tein consumption in Nunoa seems ade- 
quate, except for children under three 
and girls from nine to twelve. Caloric 
intake, on the other hand, is highly vari- 
able and may not be adequate during 
childhood years or during periods of 
physiological stress, such as pregnancy 
or lactation. 
In Nunoa, R. Brook Thomas of the 
University of Massachusetts has identi- 
fied four behavioral adjustments to the 
low caloric potential of the environment. 
First, the Quechuas depend upon a 
mixed and spatially dispersed resource 
base consisting of both crops and ani- 
mals that are well adapted to the envi- 
ronment and produce the most calories 
for the least amount of work. Second, 
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