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How are you Hydrating?
Many times, when we focus on nutrition, whether it be for health, weight loss, or athletic perfor-

mance, we often times neglect to take hydration into consideration.

60% of our body weight is water, which means water is an important component in our bodies and

we need to work to maintain that. The minimum goal is to intake half of your body weight in ounces

each day. (Example: 200 lb person should have at least 100 oz water.) For the average person, sim-

ply getting enough water on a daily basis can help prevent disease and other conditions including

kidney stones, asthma, and coronary heart disease. Most people can even see improvements in

brain power, mood, and weight loss when water intake is adequate.

For the athlete, there may be even more benefits seen. Numerous studies have proven that ad-

equate hydration during activity and recovery has benefits on performance. Over half of all athletes

from youth to professional will enter exercise dehydrated. This will lead to decreases in strength,

power, and anaerobic endurance. These decreases are related to muscle fatigue and can contribute

to injuries. There’s even an impact on attention, cognition, and spatial awareness. In most studies

done, the adequately hydrated athletes perform significantly better than dehydrated athletes.

Hydration is especially important in young athletes due to their lack of ability to regulate body

temperature as well as adults. Maintaining fluid intake during activity will help to cool the body dur-

ing times of sport when the body temperature tends to increase. By making water available during

activity and encouraging athletes to take a few drinks every 15-20 minutes maintenance of hydra-

tion is supported. Not only will water intake be important during activity but leading up to activity

as well. This is where maintaining water intake throughout the day remains important.

A simple way to monitor hydration status in athletes is to weigh before and after long bouts of ac-

tivity like practices or events. The recommendation is to replenish with 1.5 Liters of water for every

kilogram of weight lost. In other words, for every pound the athlete loses in activity they should be

drinking an additional 34 ounces. This is going to provide the necessary recovery for the next time

the athlete participates in activity.

In working towards optimal hydration, individuals many times may be inclined to use sports drinks.

These drinks have a time and a place to be beneficial to performance. Sports drinks can be advan-

tageous in activity lasting longer than one hour, conditions such as high heat and humidity, and

with excessive sweat loss. These drinks provide electrolytes that are lost through sweat and simple

sugars to maintain energy levels. These drinks are not recommended for short bouts of activity and

should not be used as a day-to-day beverage. The sugars and electrolytes in sports drinks are not

necessary unless under activity conditions listed above.

While being hydrated has its benefits to performance and health in general, more is not better in

this case. There are not additional benefits reported with excess hydration, in fact, too much water

can cause serious health issues. It’s about finding that happy medium, making sure we’re taking in

what we need throughout the day, having fluids available during activity, and using water to recover

properly. By Hannah Boyl

Jabir Akhtar, MD MOVE AT THE
Board Certified - Family Medicine SPEED OF THE
Maria Livieratos, MD | Allison Nichol, DO, ATC
Board Certified - Family Medicine STORM.
Shannon Cournaya, MSN, FNP-BC
Board Certified - Family Nurse Practitioner Wolverine Sales & Service Inc.

2750 Main St. | Suite 2 | Marlette, MI 665 S. Sandusky Rd., Ste 2. Sandusky, MI 48471
989-635-4614 and 989-635-4104
marletteregionalhospital.org (810) 648-4983

curt@wolverinesalesandservice.com

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