These days people are obsessed with water bottles, I think I have a dozen branded water
bottles on my desk, but I never use them!
Am I dehydrated?
How would I know?
We did a video a while back about how much water we should be drinking that said we sometimes
drink too much water.
According to widely reported data published by the Associated Press in 2013, we're drinking
58 gallons of water per year (220L)-- or about 2.5 cups a day (0.6L), and that's a LOT.
Way more than we did the late 90s, when soda topped the beverage list.
But as long as we don't overdo it, it's probably better we drink a little more water, than
a little less.
Water helps balance the chemicals that keep your body working.
It fills our cells, helps regulate our body temperature by respiration and sweating, flushes
waste, forms saliva to intake fuel, lubricates our joints, cushions our spinal cord and brain,
and carbohydrates and proteins are metabolized and transported by water in our blood!
You commonly hear we are 75 percent water, but different organs are different percentages
of water.
The brain is 73 percent water, skin is a little less at 64 percent water, and muscles and
kidneys are a little more at 79 percent water; bones, however, are only 31 percent.
We can survive for weeks without food, but only a few days without water.
During sports, athletes can lose 6-10 percent of body weight simply from loss of water!
It's important to drink when thirsty, but don't PUSH FLUIDS.
A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found a 15 percent reduced muscle endurance
during dehydration but no effect on overall muscle strength.
Water does not alleviate muscle cramps or stop heat stroke, and too much can cause hyponatremia,
or a dilution of salt in the blood -- which can result in your death.
That said, even mild dehydration (a 1.5 percent drop in water) can mess with focus, alertness
and short-term memory, which is why you should drink water before a test at school AND during
rigorous exercise.
Even conditioned athletes who were mildly dehydrated scored highly in "fatigue, confusion,
anger, and vigor" on a subjective mood score.
Chronic dehydration puts people at a risk for type 2 diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure
and obesity!
A study in Physiology and Behavior found hypohydration -- a.k.a.
dehydration -- can cause increased error rates while driving and altered mood states in men,
and another study with women found, while they don't experience diminished cognitive
function, they do see increases in fatigue, tension and anxiety!
And that's just the mild stuff, excessive dehydration is when things get really dangerous.
As full dehydration sets in and the body realizes water is not being replaced, it will stop
sweating, stop urinating, and attempt to conserve as much water as it can.
This causes the blood to thicken, which, in turn, causes increased blood pressure.
The heart has to pump harder to push the sludgy blood around the body and cholesterol increases
as the water is lost from cells.
Ultimately, the heart suffers and chances of cardiac arrest increase, and cognitive
impairment worsens.
It's pretty unlikely for this to happen while playing sports, because eventually you'll
have to stop.
But, as we get older, the body's thirst mechanism worsens, increasing the risk of dehydration
without even knowing we're dehydrated!
If you're worried about dehydration, the best thing to do is watch your fluid intake, and
how much you're sweating.
Sweat allows the body to cool, so as dehydration sets in, the body will get increasingly warm,
and yet sweat less.
Sweat ALSO contains electrolytes, which are salts and minerals it needs to survive; like
sodium and potassium.
If you're drinking water on an empty stomach it can be absorbed through the intestine and
hit the bloodstream in less than five minutes -- but if you've eaten, it can take as long
as 45 minutes up to 120 minutes to fully "digest" the water!
Drinking water and/or sports drinks both during and after vigorous activity can help the body
recover from all that fluid loss AND help you cool off!
Even RIGHT AWAY.
But as long as we're talking about cool.
Toyota has been doing some really cool stuff with the TRD line of Toyota Trucks.
Enhanced to rule the off-road!