Read 33 times since Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Dehydration is a serious issue. Especially when thinking about exercise. During a workout your body loses a large amount of fluids, and they need to be replaced in order to maintain body function. Without adequate replenishment of fluids it's possible to dehydrate, and this can have some rather undesirable effects. Headaches, fatigue and dizziness are not really what you want when you've finished at the gym and are heading back to the office. If you're an athlete, dehydration could result in a performance reduction of up to 30 percent. Indeed, in hot or humid environments it's possible to dehydrate with very little physical activity.
So you need to take on fluid. Water is a great hydrator, obviously, so you should make sure to take on sufficient amounts. But for any kind of athlete, there is a problem - sometimes water is not enough. As you perspire, you lose the natural salts in your body through sweat (which is salty). These need to be replaced to maintain energy. A low concentration of sodium in the blood can have dramatic effects. This occurrence is known as hyponatremia, which is very serious and can be fatal.
So we need a more helpful way of rehydrating yourself during exercise that allows you to both rehydrate and reenergise by maintaining an intake of electrolytes during and after a workout. Electrolytes are essentially salt that provide an electrically charged ion. They are important as they are what your nerve, muscles and heart cells use to carry electrical impulses across themselves and to other cells. They essentially help your body to function more efficiently and maintain energy. The deplete during exercise, so you always need to replace them. Although they occur naturally, and are replaced naturally, electrolytes are lost through sweat and it is desirable to maintain an intake during exercise so as to not impact performance and also to improve recovery time.
There are many products available that contain electrolytes. It's quite possible to make an electrolyte drink yourself. But I'm afraid it's just slightly more complicated than that. There's no point taking on any kind of electrolyte or nutrient if your body isn't absorbing it fast enough to make use of it during your workout. The speed at which your body can absorb salts or sugars is determined by how concentrated they are in your drink. The result of using a drink that is highly concentrated with salts or sugars, is an increase in the speed that the drink's ingredients can pass from your gut into your bloodstream. Making such a drink yourself would be difficult, so when you're looking for a drink to suit you - lookout for a good concentration of electrolytes for increased speed of absorption.
As mentioned, dehydration is a serious issue. However it's possible to get nutrient enriched water that hydrates, energises and nourishes at the same time. The ultimate combination of necessary ingredients required for a good and productive workout, as well as maintenance of good health. Jeffrey Nevil writes on a number of subjects including nuun hydration. To read more information about nuun hydration see http://www.u-thrive.com/nuun/10050-B/electrolyte-hydration-8-x-12-tabs-+-free-500ml-bottle.aspx
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