Hydrating in advance - How far??

[HammerNoMore]

I know a little about this subject, from my marathon experience. We have all seen thinks like "the human body is composed of X percent water" or "we can live without food for X number of days but need water on a Y timescale."

While the X and Y's in these equations are a mater of debate, the fact is water and proper hydration are essential to life. The role of hydration in DCI is just an example of how important is is to be properly hydrated.

You should not think of proper hydration as something you should do X number of days before a dive trip, but rather a lifestyle choice. As has been mentioned a simple rule of thumb is, if your urine is clear, you are properly hydrated.

What is the difference between sports drinks and water? Sports drinks contain glucose (which is important to athletes) and certain minerals, which aid in the absorption of fluids. A properly hydrated person with a normal activity level probably doesn't need sports drinks to stay hydrated. They also don't need the extra calories.

However, if you choose to ignore the fact that you should be properly hydrated at all times and want to hydrate quickly (a couple of days), or if you regularly dehydratrate your body through exercise, consumption, etc., sports drinks are a very good idea.

The biggest benefit of sports drinks is to endurance athletes. There are some very serious medical conditions that can occur if you drink too much water without the proper minerals. There have been a number of cases of marathoners getting very ill or dying because of a condition known as hypnatremia. Hypnatremia is an electrolyte imbalance caused by a significant decrease in salt levels. The most common cause is drinking too much water and expelling to much salt (i.e. through sweating.)

Endurance athletes are at a high risk of this because they are constantly loosing salt, and rarely taking in anything other than sugars (gels). If they drink only water an imbalance occurs. If they are drinking sports drinks, the drinks help to keep the electrolytes in balance.

So the question is should you go with water or sports drinks? It all depends on how you are eating. An endurance athlete doesn't stop for a nice sit down dinner with plenty of salt, so they clearly need the electrolytes. For a typical scuba vacation, a combination of a proper diet and plenty of water will probably fulfill your needs without adding useless calories.

James


P.S. I'm not a doctor. I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn last night...

 

[Wildcard]

As important as Sodium is potassium. Look for a drink that has a 2:1 or 3:1 sodium to potassium. I tell people to start drinking sports drinks if your activitys require you to drink more that a gallon of water a day, Just as a rule of thumb.

 

[scuba-sass]

...Of all the "fads" the US has gone through, bottled water is hands down the healthest.

While I agree that in general, water is the best thing for you, bottled water is missing one essential ingredient that municipal tap water has - Flouride! I don't have the statistics in front of me, but there has been a significant increase in childhood cavities since bottled water has become the rage.

So save some $$$ and take along some tap water!

Scuba-sass

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello readers:

Obviously I led with my chin when I advocated, “Drink early and Drink often.” :11:

Natch, I meant water sans EtOH. :35:

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[Wildcard]

While I agree that in general, water is the best thing for you, bottled water is missing one essential ingredient that municipal tap water has - Flouride! I don't have the statistics in front of me, but there has been a significant increase in childhood cavities since bottled water has become the rage.

So save some $$$ and take along some tap water!

Scuba-sass

Could it be that the little brats are eating junk food and not brushing? Lots of research out there that shows a lot of negatives to flouradation. I don't like the government sticking there nose into every part of my life like that. Just the Alaskan in me coming out.

Hey Doc, if the water is frozen then covered with some fine sipping whiskey, would that count?

 

[kidspot]

So how accurate an indicator of hydration is thirst? I usually drink 2-4qts of water each day (usually 1qt at a time), yet I still find I feel thirsty quite frequently during the day, even with no exertion. I think I'm drinking enough, so what role does thirst actually play in the scheme of things?

When I used to do a lot of hiking(15-20mile day hikes) I would carry 2-3 gal. of water which would be gone by the end of the day - and I'd still be thirsty and have lost between 10-20lbs... Does your body get used to large amounts of water and start demanding an excess of what it actually needs? - just curious about how all this works...

Tim

 

[Dive-aholic]

Your body does find an equilibrium it's happy with. Hiking in the jpast with large intake of water shouldn't make you be thirsty all the time now.

Not to worry you, but excessive thirst could be an indicator of diabetes. Make an appt with your doc and get checked out. It could be nothing...but better safe...

 

[kidspot]

lol - didn't mean to imply the past would affect it, just noted how it was true in the past and present... sry - clarity needed I guess... Just curious if the body adapts to excess as well as limited water availability -

yeah - Diabetes runs in the family so I get checked for it about every 2 or 3 years - so far so good

Aloha, Tim

Your body does find an equilibrium it's happy with. Hiking in the jpast with large intake of water shouldn't make you be thirsty all the time now.

Not to worry you, but excessive thirst could be an indicator of diabetes. Make an appt with your doc and get checked out. It could be nothing...but better safe...

 

[Wildcard]

The answer would be yes, kind of. If your not getting enough water ( Im making this real simple, it would take pages to get through the whole thing) your kidneys will start reabsorbing water back into your system while still excreating the wastes ( dark yellow urine). If your getting a little too much, the little nephrons will be very happy to keep pumping the excess off. Way too much water and the kidneys will start to reabsorb some potasium but have a limited ability to reabsorb sodium, in needed quanities anyway.....This is WAY too much. Not likely to see it except in hot weather athletics or the like. It's called exertional hyponutremia. Like I said, this is a simple, very simple version and there are a lot of other factors and variables.

Here's my rule of thumb again, If you need to drink more than a gallon of water a day, you need to suck up a couple of sports drinks with it from time to time. Helps the body stay happy ( homeostasis) and you will have more energy!

Parden my typos, Im hydrating with drowned ice cubes

 

[Stryker]

A friend of mine who is a real fitness buff (works out 3 times a day, uses all the supplements, ect) said that he read a study that stated that water takes approximately 3 hours to get to your muscles.

Keep this in mind though - You should CONSTANTLY be hydrating your body. Drinking 32 ounces of water a day isnt going to cut it. For the human body to operate effectively it needs at least 64 ounces of water a day (more definitely helps).

For those of you wondering how far before a dive you should hydrate, if you keep yourself up on drinking you wont have a problem.... its that simple...