Water Break!

Welcome back! In this blog, I'll be discussing fluid and hydration, which are critical for sports and exercise as well as for our health in general. I'll start by asking these questions: what do you drink when you exercise or play sports? Why do you drink this instead of another drink? Throughout the rest of this blog post, I'll present to you some fascinating information that can give you a better idea of why you might prefer a particular drink for sports and exercise.

Hydration

First of all, what is hydration? It's simply the body's fluid status. Euhydration is a well-hydrated fluid status, hyperhydration is an above-normal fluid state, and dehydration is a below-normal fluid state. Certainly, we want to aim for euhydration. How can we assess our body's hydration? The osmolarity, or concentration, of our blood or urine provides an accurate indication of our hydration status. If the osmolarity is high, that means there is a high amount of substances in your blood or urine along with a low amount of fluid, which is a negative sign because it represents a dehydrated state. If the osmolarity is low, then your hydration status is normal or hyperhydrated.

While it's interesting to understand what the osmolarity of blood or urine shows about hydration, what's an easy way for us to assess our hydration status? Here's a solution, and you've probably heard of this before: observing the color of your urine. If your urine is pale or clear, then you are in a normal or hyperhydrated state. If your urine is dark yellow, then you are in a dehydrated state, which means you should try to drink more water consistently. The reason that urine becomes yellow in a dehydrated state is that the body wants to retain as much fluid as possible, causing urine to become more concentrated and contain less fluid.

A normal hydration state is definitely vital for everybody, but why is it especially imperative for athletes? It's because athletes sweat during sports and exercise, which results in the loss of body water. If your body loses water, and you don't drink enough to compensate for this loss, then you can easily become dehydrated. Dehydration is a serious problem that can cause symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, and confusion, which can hinder not only your athletic performance but also your overall health.

A dehydrated athlete may experience cardiovascular changes as well: your stroke volume (the amount of blood your heart pumps in one contraction) may decrease, reducing the amount of oxygen that your blood delivers to your muscles; at the same time, your heart rate may increase to counterbalance this lower maximal cardiac output, which can lead to adverse feelings of fatigue during exercise. The bottom line is that we want to maintain a normal fluid balance in our body at all times in order to avoid these health complications, so staying hydrated is crucial, especially for athletes.

Water vs. Sports Drink

So, what should we drink during sports and exercise? Without a doubt, one of the healthiest, most popular choices is water. We need to drink a lot of water every day, so it makes sense that it's a common go-to drink for sports and exercise. However, sports drinks are another fantastic option, and they are actually superior to water in some aspects. Do you know why? I'll explain.

Sports drinks contain two notable ingredients that water does not have: carbohydrates and electrolytes. Carbohydrates are pivotal because they serve as an energy source to provide us with an additional boost during sports and exercise. Electrolytes, minerals in our body with electric charge, play the important role of balancing our body fluid and hydration. Having electrolytes, mainly sodium, in our sports drink is helpful because we lose electrolytes through our sweat, so we can replace this loss with the electrolytes in the drink.

Our body has a thirst signal that changes in the opposite manner of the way our urine output changes. When we drink water, our blood becomes diluted, which causes our urine output to increase. At the same time, our thirst signal decreases, so we don't feel as thirsty, and we drink less fluid as a result. Due to this slower, less frequent fluid intake, our rehydration (the process of restoring our fluid balance) is slower. On the other hand, drinking a sports drink (which includes not only water but also carbohydrates and electrolytes) does not cause our blood to become diluted, so our urine output is relatively low, and our thirst signal remains active. Therefore, we continue to drink regularly, maintaining our body's fluid balance and facilitating the rehydration process.

Isn't that fascinating? Sports drinks are truly designed for athletes as their aim is to help us stay hydrated. However, some sports drinks may also be unhealthy due to factors like a high sugar content. Ultimately, it's important to consider all of the ingredients of drinks to make the best decision of what to drink during sports or exercise. In order to make that decision, we can't solely rely on the nutrition facts on the labels; we should also understand how sports drinks work in our body.

After reading this blog, now you know! What do you think you should drink during sports and exercise? Make a choice for yourself!