A boom in sports drinks have taken the beverage industry by storm, but can you really improve on the natural perfection of plain water?
Being active in the summer sun contributes significantly to happiness levels, but also impacts heavily on hydration. Whatever the activity of your choice may be – from swimming and surfing to riding and running – you must remain well hydrated, particularly in warmer months, to avoid the dangers of dehydration.
Our bodies depend on water
Around 60% of our body weight is water. It is found in all cells and the fluid that surrounds them. It supports many vital functions including:
- carrying nutrients around the body
- carrying away waste products
- regulating normal body temperature
When the temperature soars the best way to replace water lost through breathing, sweating and urination is with – you guessed it – water. This doesn’t mean vitamin waters or sports drinks loaded with sugar and fewer health benefits than the names suggest. In most cases, plain water suffices.
Dehydration is dangerous
There are 3 types of dehydration with the third kind being the most common:
- Primary loss of water (hypertonic dehydration)
- Primary loss of vital mineral salts called electrolytes (hypotonic dehydration)
- Equal loss of water and electrolytes (isotonic dehydration)
A water loss of 3% to 5% diminishes sporting performance by approximately 20%. This doesn’t just apply to cricketers out in the oval, but also children running around the beach.
Symptoms of mild dehydration are noticeable around a loss of just 2%. These can include:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Dark yellow urine with strong odour
- Dryness of eyes and mouth
- Flushed skin
In severe cases, your body may cease perspiration and urination to retain water. Aloysa Hourigan, Nutrition Australia’s senior nutritionist, warns that this challenges the kidneys and other organs. Symptoms increase with greater water loss. Dehydration becomes potentially fatal beyond 15%.
When you notice you are thirsty you are already slightly dehydrated. Thirst is also often mistaken for hunger. You may find having a glass of water when you have a hunger pang helps to control your appetite.
Water quality and quantity
Hourigan suggests consuming 2L to 3L of water daily, although you require more if you are engaged in vigorous exercise, particularly throughout summer. She recommends consuming adequate water before physical exertion, and an additional 500mL to 800mL per hour of strenuous exercise.
Health and fitness specialist, Ken LaVanda, identifies quality as another crucial factor. “Nothing beats plain water for rehydration, but it must have good mineralisation. Tap water contains chemicals to kill bacteria, meaning sometimes our cells don’t absorb it and excrete it through urine.”
For mineralisation and cellular absorption, LaVanda recommends placing a pinch of rock salt in 600mL to 1L of tap water.
Dangers of electrolyte deficiency
Despite its vast benefits, water generally contains no electrolytes. This is not generally a problem for most exercisers but if you are training hard in the summer heat, you might end up deficient in electrolytes.
Replenishing electrolytes, particularly sodium and potassium, is vital for hydration and the optimal functioning of our cells. Symptoms of loss of electrolytes include:
-
Mild: fatigue, dizziness, hand and foot numbness, lacking thirst
-
Medium: nausea, vomiting, rapid pulse, blurry vision, lacking urination
-
Severe: weakened reflexes, shock, unconsciousness
The more sodium lost, the greater the severity of symptoms.
Electrolyte supplements are widely available. Tablets placed in water offer a convenient method of replenishing electrolytes and water simultaneously, but ultimately, fresh is best.
“Many fruits are high in potassium, and foods like celery have a bit of sodium content, so drinking water and eating a piece of fruit often does the job,” suggests Hourigan.
Try:
Thirst-quenching and delicious detox juices
Sports drinks
The notion that synthetic sports drinks are the cream of the crop in restoring electrolytes is not the case. Hourigan says that while sports drinks may be suitable for elite athletes, they do not benefit the majority of exercisers.
A 1991 study by the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine suggested sports drinks offer little to no benefits for moderate exercisers provided they have well-balanced diets and exercise regimes. Nevertheless, the sale of ‘energy-boosting’ drinks is booming. Clever marketing promising peak performance creates misconceptions about what the product can deliver.
“These drinks are loaded with poor quality sodium and sugar, artificial colourings and flavourings, which can dehydrate rather than rehydrate,” cautions LaVanda.
Sydney-based sports dentist, Dr Brett Dorney, discovered a link between sports drinks and tooth decay in 1995 upon examining 25 elite athletes. This is not an unexpected finding, considering some brands contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar per 600mL, similar to the quantities found in soft drinks.
Check your diary to find out for yourself the sugar and sodium content of various popular soft drinks, vitamin waters and sports drinks. You might conclude you’re better off drinking water or, as it turns out, a coconut.
Coconut water
Coconut water is dubbed ‘Mother Nature’s energy drink’ and it is a growing trend for good reasons. Flavoured packaged brands generally contain fewer additives and more electrolytes than sports drinks, but LaVanda says nothing trumps sticking a straw directly into the source of a young coconut. It’s completely natural, affordable and accessible on supermarket shelves.
“Pure coconut water is rich in enzymes and amino acids and low in calories and natural sugars. It is by far the best drink to replenish electrolytes. Physicians have actually used it as IV fluid in remote regions worldwide for over 60 years,” he says
Serve coconut water icy cold to enhance flavour, and sip with a smile this summer.