Hydrating effects of different types of drinking water?

[drbill]

I occasionally pollute my Scotch with a little water, but of course not before diving!

Seriously, I only use distilled water for my car batteries and steam iron (at least I used to before I stopped ironing). I use filtered spring water for drinking purposes. I'm not sure about the science behind this debate. It is my opinion (being the amateur chemist that I used to be) that electrolytes in water are a good thing... I just don't like the taste of our tap water here (although it is very safe).

 

[AggieDiver]

My wife and I take along a tube of Camelbak Elixir tablets and insulated water bottles (from cycling). Each morning, we will each fill a bottle and drop in a tablet and then put the bottle in the cooler on the dive boat. It is much lighter than packing gatorade in your luggage, is far cheaper than buying gatorade or electrolyte drinks on an island in the Caribbean, doesn't fatten you up like a bag or two of potato chips a day, and tastes better than drinking plain water.

 

[DandyDon]

Such an interesting thread here. I've had various opinions about water types & qualities over the decades, more so in the last one when I heard that dehydration was a serious risk for scuba diving - before I learned that was an unfounded claim. Excerpting some quotes here & there for clarification and/or comment - to see if I understand correctly....

The information there about caffeine dehydrating is false. At least one paper examining this has previously been linked in threads discussing the topic, and I'm too lazy to search for it right now.

Yeah, 5 or 10 years ago, the buzz among divers & chamber operators was that dehydration was a severe risk, caffeine made it even more serious, and one needed to work at hydration to improve safety. I think most of that has been debunked in recent years, but a lot of chamber docs in various countries who may not keep up with all developments are still pushing it.

Most of the bottled water I see in the store is merely purified tap water. Rarely is it spring water and never have I seen it as distilled water.

Look again. "Purified" is a nondescript word, but Distilled is there, or ask a store employee - or shop a better store. Distilled is package in similar jugs, but pricier, and I have picked it out by mistake at times. Usually I watch out for it, and it's always there in supermarkets.

And on a side note, Smart Water is awesome for hydration. It's water with electrolytes... tastes like you're drinking a cloud!

So who's the new girl? Howdy there.

Smart Water? I had to do some digging as there are so very many water fads these days. In my old days, when our home phone number started with the name Olfield or something similar - we just said OL4-3684, there was tap water that varies by arid locations, bottled spring water - which has always varied by sources, bottle drinking water (Deionized, then Ozone and some minerals added), and distilled. Then came the Cola Wars, followed by the Bottle Water Craze. I still marvel at the latter. Anyway, for the rest of my sources in this post, I am going to use Wikipedia mostly - not thinking that it's an expert source, but it does try to be factual and unbiased. So that's "distilled water and electrolytes with 10 mg of calcium, 15 mg of magnesium, and 10 mg of potassium per liter." What, no sodium?! I like a little sodium in my drinking water. I bet it's pricey! Energy Brands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I dislike desalinated water, for sure. It's gotta be ice cold or spiked with tea or something for me to stand it.

So that seems to be Distilled? Desalination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But my question is more in line with guarding against DCS by properly hydrating. This guy said that the water I generally buy (which is ionized and filtered) doesn't hydrate as effectively as, say, Evian or Minere water. He said that if we drink this impoverished water, we should add electrolyte powders to it.

Ok, wait! "Filtered" can mean a lot of different things, but "ionized" is water broken down into the two gases. Water ionizer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think maybe you mean Deionized? That's a process that can produce Distilled quality water, but with ion exchanges instead of heat. Purified water - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Or maybe the meanings vary in some countries?

I do still suspect that Distilled or DIed water, what I call "Empty water" with no minerals at all is insufficient - tending to agree with him to an extent.

I also have to say that the very best tap water I've ever had available to me at my home was water from the Evian region. I used to live just about 25 miles from Evian, and our tap/shower/cooking/laundry/gardening water came from the same aquifier. (Imagine doing your laundry with Evian water, LOL.)

I think the Bottled Water craze really took off abound 1990 when the Perrier source got contaminated somehow and imports were banned here. That's when I remember hearing about Evian, IIRD? Seems to be good & tasty, but only 1ppm Potassium? I guess you can just eat more fruit. Evian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seriously, I only use distilled water for my car batteries and steam iron (at least I used to before I stopped ironing). I use filtered spring water for drinking purposes. I'm not sure about the science behind this debate. It is my opinion (being the amateur chemist that I used to be) that electrolytes in water are a good thing... I just don't like the taste of our tap water here (although it is very safe).

Again, "filtered" and "spring" vary by sources. Your island tap water is a mix of well water and Desalinated, isn't it? It's probably flat tasting and lacking minerals.

I generally drink mostly plain,reverse osmosis or mineral water when diving or exercising. However, if its going to be very hot, I always bring a can of coconut water along to help replace electrolytes, along with something salty,as TSandM has mentioned.

Now I really want to know what RO leaves in water? My home tap water is from good wells and fine with me, but when I buy bottled - for my emergency reserves, camping trips, traveling, etc., I get that as it's the cheapest bottled water these days. I get it by the gallon tho, and still shudder at how many buy it in little bottles - everyone but me maybe?

Coconut water from the fruit lacks sodium! Yeah, bring the chips. Coconut water - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia You buy it in cans? :silly: Probably diluted a lot. Have to check the labels for contents.

My wife and I take along a tube of Camelbak Elixir tablets and insulated water bottles (from cycling). Each morning, we will each fill a bottle and drop in a tablet and then put the bottle in the cooler on the dive boat. It is much lighter than packing gatorade in your luggage, is far cheaper than buying gatorade or electrolyte drinks on an island in the Caribbean, doesn't fatten you up like a bag or two of potato chips a day, and tastes better than drinking plain water.

Never heard of that one! A low sugar sports drink? Lots of sodium, not much potassium. Looks pricey to me! CamelBak | ELIXIR Lemon-Lime Flavor Electrolyte Sports Drink, No Sugar

Again, I really would like to know what RO water has in it, or are there any standards.

You all were discussing so many water types it was like comparing apples to oranges to pomegranates to rutabagas?!

So, is there an expert opinion on what ppm of calcium, potassium, magnesium, and sodium that should be in water to enhance hydration? I doubt that it matters much, so drink what you like even tho I may have poked fun at it, but distilled or deionized do still sound too pure for me.

 

[TSandM]

Deionized water is very expensive and so is distilled, and neither is either necessary or desirable for oral intake.

If you are replacing free water loss -- urine and insensible losses through skin -- for the most part, anything that is more dilute than blood will work (meaning anything other than salt water). The exception is people who are experiencing major exertion in hot, humid environments with enormous sweat losses, who absolutely need SOME salt.

If you want to expand volume, you need some salt with your water. Ideal would be 140 meq sodium per liter of water intake. Potassium is largely irrelevant to insensible losses, and only looms large when you are having vomiting or diarrhea. Other ions (Ca, Mg, PO4, etc.) are irrelevant to people in normal states of health.

In most cases, you do not want volume expansion per se, because the major sources of loss are not isosmotic with plasma. In other words, what you are losing through sweat, urine, and respiratory sources is more dilute than serum, so you actually need more free water. That's why water -- of any sort -- with a couple of pretzels is a reasonable recipe for hydration and volume repletion on the average dive boat. If you are afraid of the calories, salt your fruit or tomatoes or other fresh vegetable or fruit.

 

[fisheater]

. . .

In other words, what you are losing through sweat, urine, and respiratory sources is more dilute than serum, so you actually need more free water. That's why water -- of any sort -- with a couple of pretzels is a reasonable recipe for hydration and volume repletion on the average dive boat. If you are afraid of the calories, salt your fruit or tomatoes or other fresh vegetable or fruit.

But where's enormous profit in that?



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[DandyDon]

Deionized water is very expensive and so is distilled, and neither is either necessary or desirable for oral intake.

Isn't that about all Quero can obtain locally tho? If that's all she can get, aside from tin mining ponds, perhaps she does need to add something...?

If you are replacing free water loss -- urine and insensible losses through skin -- for the most part, anything that is more dilute than blood will work (meaning anything other than salt water). The exception is people who are experiencing major exertion in hot, humid environments with enormous sweat losses, who absolutely need SOME salt.

Depending on how much one sweats or pees, aren't both as salty as sea water? In the 1960s we took salt pills after football, but a lot of our old ideas have failed.

If you want to expand volume, you need some salt with your water. Ideal would be 140 meq sodium per liter of water intake. Potassium is largely irrelevant to insensible losses, and only looms large when you are having vomiting or diarrhea. Other ions (Ca, Mg, PO4, etc.) are irrelevant to people in normal states of health.

In most cases, you do not want volume expansion per se, because the major sources of loss are not isosmotic with plasma. In other words, what you are losing through sweat, urine, and respiratory sources is more dilute than serum, so you actually need more free water. That's why water -- of any sort -- with a couple of pretzels is a reasonable recipe for hydration and volume repletion on the average dive boat. If you are afraid of the calories, salt your fruit or tomatoes or other fresh vegetable or fruit.

Ok, thanks. So I'll stick to RO water when I can't get good well water. I salt my food enough I bet. I'm still a heavy sweater tho. It doesn't take much yard work to get me going, and when I quit - I have to postpone my shower 30 minutes to stop sweating first. Well, I don't work hard, but I do at lot at 90-100F.

 

[chrpai]

Look again. "Purified" is a nondescript word, but Distilled is there, or ask a store employee - or shop a better store. Distilled is package in similar jugs, but pricier, and I have picked it out by mistake at times. Usually I watch out for it, and it's always there in supermarkets.

It's a very rare day that I'm actually "looking" for distilled water. Maybe a gallon jug every 5 years to poor into that oh so lonely clothes iron?

Yes, "purified" is meant to be nondescript and friendly sounding. Marketing... They go into more detail but use vague words also.

 

[ajtoady]

Hydrating to me means take into account what you will or are doing. If I am going diving I will drink a couple of glasses of, wait for it,,,,plain tap water. I work in manufacturing facilities across the states and Mexico, when I work a real job, and more than one of my projects are in high heat environments, 110-120+*F. Most of the time 35-40' over high pressure steam heated vessels and machines. Drink of choice is again plain old water, but with a few packs of table salt added. Have done a few in the Carolina's were I dropped 15-20 lbs of body weight in 2-3 days from not retaining water. Gatorade and the sports drinks just don't cut it, too sweet or maybe it's the synthetic tastes, I don't know. Water, wether bottled or tap seems to work the best for me.

 

[dfx]

Ok, wait! "Filtered" can mean a lot of different things, but "ionized" is water broken down into the two gases. Water ionizer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Ionized" water is nonsense, it's like that "left spinning" water that was so popular back in the day.

 

[boulderjohn]

Depending on how much one sweats or pees, aren't both as salty as sea water? In the 1960s we took salt pills after football, but a lot of our old ideas have failed.

One point that I recall from the paper mentioned above was that although sweat is salty, it is not as salty as the normal balance of fluids in the body--you are losing more water than salt. This means the balance of the regular fluids in the body has shifted toward being more salty. The balance of electrolytes to water in the body is important, and taking too much salt in immediately while rehydrating is counterproductive. That is why the current recommendation for athletes that I hear is to include electrolytes in water only for activities of longer duration.