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Keeping
your drink
By
Anna Niec
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Staying
well-hydrated is easy with the range of drinks available.
Photo by CPL Belinda Mepham
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How
many of you think about staying well hydrated? Drinking enough
fluids is important to keep up good energy levels, to prevent
kidney stones, gout and to help flush impurities out of the
blood stream.
Staying hydrated is particularly important for physically
active people because when we exercise we lose more fluid
through sweat and increased breathing.
Let’s take a look at the fluid losses during exercise
and ways in which we can replenish. Physical exercise increases
fluid loss
When we exercise, our heart rate increases, as does our breathing
to accommodate for increased oxygen needs. Our core temperature
goes up and this requires cooling – we start to sweat.
Lets take a brief look at the amounts of fluids lost during
some types of exercise.
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Typical
fluid loss for different exercises
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Exercise
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Temperature
degrees
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Sweat
loss ml/hr
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soccer
male
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20-28
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925ml
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netball
female
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20-28
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720ml
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rowers
male
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32
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1980ml
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rowers
female
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32
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1390ml
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runners long
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distance
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not
specified
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850ml
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Staying well hydrated.
If you are playing any of the sports in the above table you
could estimate the amount of fluid you need to drink during
training to avoid dehydration. Just multiply the amount of
fluid lost in an hour by the total time of exercise for example,
if you played soccer for two hours and you are a male then
you would lose approximately 925ml x 2 = 1850ml of water during
the game.
To stay well-hydrated you would need to drink 1850ml of water
during the two hours of soccer and that means drinking about
a glass of fluid every 15 minutes.
This may be difficult for some people so drinking before and
soon after training may be the way to go to avoid bloating.
For those of you who exercise heavily and enjoy a variety
of sports, the best way to assess your fluid needs is to monitor
your fluid losses during each of the main training sessions.
You would only need to do this once providing that you stay
with the same exercise routine.
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Step
1 Measure body weight prior to exercise. Locate or invest
in an accurate set of scales. Measure your bodyweight in
minimum clothing just before exercise. Record your weight
in kilograms.
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Step
2 Measuring your weight after exercise. Towel off following
exercise and record your weight again wearing exactly what
you wore at Step 1.
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Step
3 Subtract your weight at Step 2 from your weight at
Step 1.
Record the difference. Change your weight in kilograms to
grams by multiplying by 1000. Keep in mind that 1g of body
weight is equal to 1ml of fluid lost.
The difference in your body weight at Step 3 represents the
amount of fluid that you have lost during exercise and that
is the amount of fluid you need to drink during the exercise
to stay well hydrated.
To avoid bloating drink fluids uniformly throughout the exercise
and get a head start by drinking about half to an hour prior
to exercise. Continue to drink well for the rest of the day.
Hydrating vs Dehydrating Fluids
Some drinks are able to replenish body fluids faster than
others. Drinks can be divided into hydrating and dehydrating.
Drinks that contain caffeine are dehydrating as caffeine is
a diuretic – it actually speeds up fluid loss. Drinks,
which contain caffeine, include tea (both black and green),
coffee and most soft drinks.
Hydrating fluids don’t contain caffeine and are not high
in protein and other colloidal particles. Water is the best
hydrating fluid found in nature.
Sports drinks are synthetic drinks designed to improve the
speed at which water is absorbed from the stomach. Studies
show some, but not a great difference, between water and sports
drinks in their ability to replenish body fluids.
The difference may be relevant for athletes competing at their
peak.
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Watching
your levels of hydration
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Hydrating
fluids
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Dehydrating
fluids
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water,
fruit juice,
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coffee,
tea most
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cordial,
clear soup
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soft
drinks
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Nutrition for health message
Stay well hydrated. Aim to drink at least half of your daily
fluids as water and other hydrating fluids.
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