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You are here: Home / Archives for hydration

Optimal Hydration

Woman athlete takes a break, drinking water from a reusable water bottle on a hot summers day

Addressing Optimal Hydration

Although everyone knows that water is essential for life, most don't understand why drinking enough water is so important. Without water, humans can only survive for a matter of days.

To prevent dehydration all land animals (us humans included) have evolved very sensitive physiological controls to maintain proper hydration by stimulating thirst. The kidneys play a key role in regulating body water, by retaining more water when inadequate fluid intake is sensed or excreting more water when water is consumed in excess. Furthermore, kidney function is optimized with an abundant water supply. If water is in short supply, this costs the body more energy and places more stress on the kidneys. When water intake is inadequate combined with a diet high in salt (think a processed, standard American diet) or toxic substances like alcohol, it is especially taxing on the kidneys.

Impacts of Dehydration on Health

Dehydration can impact our health in many ways. Short term dehydration can negatively impact physical performance as well as cognitive performance and mood. Chronic dehydration can lead to delirium, constipation, impaired kidney function, impaired heart function or blood pressure regulation, migraines, and poor skin health.

A recent study also found that chronic dehydration can age you faster! Do I have your attention now? The researchers found that individuals with a high normal serum sodium level above 142 millimoles per liter were more likely to be biologically older and have increased risk of premature death than those within 138-142 mmol/l. The results indicated that maintaining optimal hydration may indeed slow down the aging process. However, serum sodium levels in the lower range of normal, 135-137 mmol/l, is also attributed to increased mortality, either due to inadequate sodium intake or diseases causing electrolyte dysregulations.

General Recommendations

The National Academy of Medicine suggested an adequate daily intake of water to be 13 cups (104oz) for men and 9 cups (72oz) for women (10 cups if you’re pregnant and 13 cups if you’re breastfeeding). It is estimated in the USA that about 20% of water consumed comes from food, like water-rich fruit and vegetables. Therefore, the amount of water you need to drink should be around 8 cups for women and 11 cups for men.

Since body size, exercise, alcohol, medications, and temperature all impact fluid needs, it is hard to say exactly how much you need specifically. Unfortunately, studies highlight that most of us are not drinking enough. A recent research study of young college students found that only 58% of men and 48% of women studied met daily fluid recommendations in the USA. Furthermore, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2015-2018 found that on average adults only drank 44oz (5 ½ cups) of water per day, with those aged 20-39 drinking the most (51oz/6 cups) and those >60 years of age drinking the least (36oz/4 ½ cups). Studies have shown that sensitive physiological controls decrease with age, therefore it is wise for the elderly to learn to drink habitually even when they are not experiencing thirst.

How to Monitor Optimal Hydration

Besides checking in with yourself and seeing if you are even close to meeting the general recommendations of 9 cups per day for women and 13 cups per day for men, you can get a rough estimate by monitoring your urine frequency and urine color. As most of us know, if your urine is dark, you are dehydrated. Ideally urine should be clear or pale yellow in color, like lemonade. However, a recent study found that urine frequency can also detect dehydration with good accuracy. if you are urinating less than 6x per day and feel “a little thirsty” throughout the day, then you likely have suboptimal hydration status. Furthermore, you can monitor your serum sodium trends over time on your CMP (complete metabolic panel). A normal serum sodium range is considered 135-146mmol/l, but try to aim for an optimal range between 138-142 mmol/l. If you tend to be over 142mmol/l then drink more water, if you are between 135-137, then add more salt to your diet. Ideally, use all three tracking methods (urine color, urine frequency, and serum sodium levels) to keep you optimally hydrated throughout your life.

How To Support Optimal Hydration

Consistency is key! If you are already falling significantly short from the general recommendation start slow. Aim to add in 1 cup more water each week until you meet your daily needs. Meanwhile, monitor how your health changes as you get closer to your goal. You might be surprised how many of your daily ailments improve. Otherwise, here are some of my favorite ways to boost my hydration status and make sure I am staying optimally hydrated every day.

  1. Buy a large water bottle (32oz) and fill it up 2-3 times (women twice, men three times) throughout the day with plain water. This will add up to 64oz/96oz of water, or 8 cups/11 cups. Then any other water you get through your food or other beverages will be a bonus!
  2. Keep a tall glass of water at your bedside and drink some water if you wake up in the middle of the night to pee.
  3. If you don't like plain water, try mixing it up with sparkling water, herbal teas, or even sipping on plain hot water (I personally love this).
  4. Try to meet your daily fluid goal by drinking plain water. However, if you are looking for a little sweetness my favorite lightly sweetened beverages are coconut water, grass-fed milk, sparkling water with a splash of orange juice, or kombucha.
  5. Enjoy water-rich foods often like fresh fruits and vegetables, smoothies, soups, broths, and dairy/non-dairy beverages.
  6. Reduce or limit your alcohol intake, as this increases water losses.
  7. Add Trace Mineral electrolyte drops to your water for optimal hydration!
By Selva Wohlgemuth, Co-op News Contributor
Selva Wohlgemuth is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and owner of Happy Belly Nutrition in Bellingham, Washington. She specializes in gut health and has an in-depth knowledge of women's health. She is an avid outdoorswoman and mother.

HOT OFF THE PRESS| THE CO-OP DIFFERENCE| WELLNESS ask the nutritionist| hydration| nutrition| supplements| the co-op difference| wellness

Ask the Nutritionist: Getting Sweaty and Staying Hydrated

by Selva Wohlgemuth, Co-op News contributor

July 2017
Selva Wohlgemuth, meal planning instructor

Selva Wohlgemuth, Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist

Dear Nutritionist: As an outdoor enthusiast, I love to spend many hours on the trails, biking, running, and hiking. Do you have any recommendations on how to best stay hydrated for optimal performance?

As we approach summer, everyone is playing hard outside. With all the fun, strenuous outdoor activities, such as trail running, mountain biking, hiking, etc., we need to make sure we stay hydrated. And by hydrating I do not mean simply drinking a glass of water before and after your workout, or drinking a beer as a tasty hydrating reward after a long grueling ride or hike. There are more factors to address for optimal performance and for overall health and safety.

and by hydrating I do not mean simply drinking a glass of water

In the summer months we naturally have increased water losses as the temperatures soar and our bodies attempt to maintain a core temperature around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Sweating is one of the mechanisms that assist in maintaining this core temperature. If we add additional strenuous exercise to hot summer days, we are going to sweat even more, losing anywhere between 300 milliliters to over 2 liters of sweat per hour depending on the exercise intensity, duration, heat acclimatization, humidity, etc.

Why is this important? Water losses greater than 2 percent of your body weight can impair cognition and performance, whereas severe water losses of 6 to 10 percent of body weight can impact heart function, sweat production, and blood flow to the skin and muscles.

Getting Sweaty

Since sweat not only contains water, but also sodium (salt) and smaller amounts of other electrolytes such as potassium and magnesium, it is important to rehydrate in times of high sweat losses with water that contains some salt. This is especially true if you sweat a lot or tend to have very salty sweat. Although salt content is highly variable between one person to the next, it is estimated that on average about 1 gram of sodium is lost per liter of sweat. That is a lot!

This is important to note because it is often overlooked by recreational athletes who are aware of the importance of staying hydrated and drinking plenty of water before, during, and after their workout, but do not replenish their sodium. This can lead to hyponatremia (low plasma sodium) causing symptoms of bloating, puffiness, weight gain, nausea, vomiting, headaches, confusion, and can possibly even cause death if untreated.

Who would benefit from consuming salt during exercise?

  • Individuals with natural high-sweat production (about 1.2 liters of sweat per hour).
  • Those that have very salty sweat—do you have salt crystals on your skin post workout?
  • Participants in strenuous exercise that is longer than two hours, which I know happens a lot in the mountain biking and hiking community here in Whatcom County.

Euhydration (normal state of body water)

How can you stay in euhydration? Here are some great tips and tricks to keep your performance up and your health in check!

  • Drink 2 to 4 milliliters of water per pound of body weight 2 to 4 hours before exercise to allow enough time to rid excess fluid and achieve pale yellow urine.
  • Add a little salt to your pre-workout meal.
  • Stay hydrated during exercise as able. Some may benefit from a salty snack break. (See above for those who would benefit.)
  • Athletes can also weigh themselves before and after a strenuous activity to determine sweat losses. For every pound lost rehydrate with 2.5 cups of water. Once again, if sodium losses are high, adding a little salt will be beneficial.
  • Drink cold beverages to help reduce core temperature and thus improve performance in the summer heat.
  • Do not restrict salt in post-exercise meals, especially when large sweat losses have occurred.
  • Avoid drinking alcohol during the recovery period because it has a diuretic effect (stimulates increased fluid loss via urine). Afterwards you can meet up at a local brewery and celebrate the adventures of summer.

So drink up, stay hydrated, add a little pinch of salt, and play hard because summer is just around the corner.

A Recipe Suggestion

yellow juice in jar RefreshME sports beverage

See Selva's simple recipe for RefreshME! Sports Beverage.

Ask the Nutritionist

Have questions? Send them to [email protected]. Selva Wohlgemuth is a registered dietitian nutritionist. Learn more about her approach to general health and well-being at her Happy Belly Nutrition website, and see her recipes and other kitchen tips at Poppies and Papayas.

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