Being Hydrated

[SmileMon]

Hi,

I've been doing some research and trying to figure it out, perhaps there's a professional here than can shed some light.

Where I'm from everyone knows that drinking water is not enough, that's why my native country is so full of pickles (sodium), its basically inherited from the time that people spent in the desert and learned about this fact.

Its traced back to ancient egypt that people used pickled food for both helping to absorb water and keeping the food from spoiling.

I've read recently that sugar has the same effect as salt.

My question is, if I drink water and eat proper sources of sodium, such as pickles, will I keep my body hydrated throughout the dive or am I messing with unknown territory here and by consuming salt I will actually cause the opposite effect?

Btw, Gatorade is just that - water, sodium and artificial flavors (maybe to prevent the sugar from overloading the system?)

Explanations will be appreciated!!

 

[in_cavediver]

Btw, Gatorade is just that - water, sodium and artificial flavors (maybe to prevent the sugar from overloading the system?)

I'm not an expert but my copy of the Encycolpedia of Technical Diving recommends diluting gatorade and fruit juices 50/50. I don't have the book with me now to give an exact reference but its in there. I'll try to dig it up later as I don't recall the exact reason given (and I don't want to spread misinformation)

 

[DandyDon]

Well, I agree that water is not enough, but we may not find many in agreement here. A lot of them will drink bottle Rev Os/Empty water. I've seen Instructors ill with heat exhaustion after drinking that. Where is your home country...?

Somewhere I got the idea that sodium, potassium, and sugar are all good for hydrating, but I forget where. I make kool-aid and add 1/8 teaspoon of Morton Lite (half sodium chloride, half potassium chloride).

I'll look forward to the comments....

 

[BigWhiteSquare]

Where I'm from everyone knows that drinking water is not enough...

Guess that "knowledge" didn't make it to the rest of us. Luckily.

 

[cummings66]

Actually I believe drinking water will hydrate you just fine, but what it doesn't do is replace the elements you lose such as salt and other minerals. So sure, you'll be hydrated but yet you can still suffer ill effects if you don't replace the elements you're losing. I've never heard of sugar however being useful, though I suppose it will help a bit energy wise but I doubt it helps replace electrolytes in a useful manner.

In other words, being hydrated is not enough in some conditions. It takes a proper body chemistry to stay healthy, you can drink too much water and die just as you can drink too little and die, although it's not an easy task it has been done.

 

[Quarrior]

Here's what I learned in Air Force survival school.

Your body uses water for everything. You need to drink 8, 8oz glasses of it per day if you are just sitting around and doing nothing. If it is cold you need to drink more even though you are not sweating because your body needs it to generate heat.

The elements such as salt and others can be obtained in sufficient quantities from the food we normally eat. If you are in a survival situation, that's a different matter.

If you are participating in sports, sports drinks are fine, but need to be in addition to water, not in place of water. Remember, any water in the sports drink will most likely be used to process the other stuff in the drink and most likely will not be enough, thus slowly dehydrating you over time.

 

[DandyDon]

Guess that "knowledge" didn't make it to the rest of us. Luckily.

See what I mean....

Actually I believe drinking water will hydrate you just fine, but what it doesn't do is replace the elements you lose such as salt and other minerals. So sure, you'll be hydrated but yet you can still suffer ill effects if you don't replace the elements you're losing. I've never heard of sugar however being useful, though I suppose it will help a bit energy wise but I doubt it helps replace electrolytes in a useful manner.

In other words, being hydrated is not enough in some conditions. It takes a proper body chemistry to stay healthy, you can drink too much water and die just as you can drink too little and die, although it's not an easy task it has been done.

Technically, "hydration" is not just drinking water.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: link altho this deals more with severe dehydration....

Rehydration

Rehydration is the replenishment of water and electrolytes lost through dehydration. It can be performed by mouth (oral rehydration) or by adding fluid and electrolytes directly into the blood stream (intravenous rehydration).

As oral rehydration is less painful, less invasive, less expensive, and easier to provide, it is the treatment of choice for mild dehydration from infectious gastroenteritis. Because severe dehydration can rapidly cause permanent injury or even death, intravenous rehydration is the initial treatment of choice for that condition.

Symptoms of mild dehydration include thirst, decreased urine volume, urine that is darker than usual, tiredness, lack of tears when crying, headache, dry mouth, and dizziness when standing due to orthostatic hypotension.

In moderate to severe dehydration, there may be no urine output at all. Other symptoms in these states include lethargy or extreme sleepiness, seizures, sunken fontanel (soft spot) in infants, fainting, and sunken eyes.


Treatment
If someone is sufficiently dehydrated that he or she exhibits the signs of moderate to severe dehydration listed above, medical attention should be sought.

Oral rehydration can be accomplished by drinking frequent small amounts of an oral rehydration salt solution. One standard remedy is the WHO/UNICEF glucose-based Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) solution, which contains 75 mEq/l of sodium, 75 mmol/l of glucose, 65 mEq/l chloride, 20 mEq/l potassium, and 10 mEq/l citrate, with a total osmolarity of 245 mOsm/l.

And in support of sodium, potasium, and sugar

It is important to rehydrate with solutions that contain electrolytes, especially sodium and potassium, so that electrolyte disturbances may be avoided. Sugar is important to improve absorption of electrolytes and water, but if too much is present in ORS solutions, diarrhea can be worsened. Oral rehydration does not stop diarrhea, but keeps the body hydrated and healthy until the diarrhea passes.

Anyway, when I go diving, I'm usually sweating a hell of a lot more than I am at the office, and I'm more concerned about staying hydrated to prevent DSC, so I'm gonna stick with the spiked kool-aid...

 

[ScottB]

:: Disclaimer - I am NOT a Doctor :: Advice is free, but you get what you pay for ::

Water is for hydration, other elements are to maintain electrolyte balance..

Without the electrolytes you can suffer from some nervous system problems..

Hyponatremia is the one I have had the most experience with in the military..

National Institutes of Health article describing it:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000394.htm

Generally, with a well balanced diet you get more than enough sodium (salt) in your diet.. too much and you are looking at hypertension (high blood pressure) which leads into a whole slew of bad things potentially happening(enlarged heart, cerebral aneurism, aortic aneurism)

Take care,
Scott

 

[ScottB]

Addendum:

Dehydration is a contributing factor to formation of kidney stones... you don't want those.. so stay hyrdated =)

Reply:
Not really to challenge you Don, but I personally do not trust Wiki.. not that I really trust the originator of the source I used either.. but they have a little bit longer documented history than whomever may be submitting to Wiki...

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, you can run a Google on hydration or staying hydrated and get lots of opinions.

I have a 6 mile hike and a hill climb with my daughters family tomorrow. Going for heavy hydration.