HOW TO: Stay HYDRATED during the day
HYDRATION - why is it SO important?
We all know staying hydrated is important for our health. It's even more important when you're an athlete and there are certain things we don't know about it (or at least I didn't before coming across PhD. Stacy Sims over the internet).
So let me start from the beginning. I first heard about PhD. Stacy Sims on the Beyond Athletic podcast and you can hear her episode here. She's the co-founder of Osmo Nutrition, environmental physiology expert, and an expert in hydration and sex differences.
Okay, you won, I want to know more!
I started researching, hearing other podcasts where she was a guest and this one really got my attention - Endurance Planet Podcast. Listen to that episode here.
I have always known deep inside that we (girls) are different from guys on so many levels, especially for what concerns professional sports and performance. Now I have an answer to a lot of my questions, but in this blog post I'll try to share with you what I've learned about hydration from listening to Dr. Sims.
Since the volume of the information is HUGE I strongly suggest you go and listen to those podcast episodes for yourself. And for those of you who like to read, I will try to sum it up briefly.
VENUS vs. Mars
Dr. Stacy Sims says a lot of the stuff we read, all the research and basically almost everything out there is based on men. Scientists seem to miss to acknowledge the fact that women have these hormonal kicks throughout the month that are at their peak few days prior to the menstrual cycle. This so called "high-hormone-phase" (HHP) affects our fluid dynamics, our nutritional balance is off, we usually suffer from GI distress and are having difficulties adapting to heat.
The reason for all of the above is that during the HHP progesterone levels are too high and they kick out more sodium from our bodies. We end up having less plasma volume in our blood (meaning less water) and lower total body sodium stores. To top that women only absorb up to 25% of the fructose that men can!
Wait, what?! For real?
I guess I'll have to take that hydration-thing seriously.
Plain water DOES NOT hydrate!
When exercising you have between 60-80% blood flow diversion from the gut. Intestines are under huge hypoxic and heat stress load. Imagine the effort your intestinal system has to make to deliver nutrients when there's not enough blood flow, meaning not enough oxygen, adding up the internal heat you produce from the effort, plus the external heat you produce...okay, intestines, how do I help you?!
Well certainly not by drinking PLAIN water!
We need sodium and glucose in our small intestines (where 95% of fluid absorption takes place) to activate the transport systems that rapidly take that water into our body. So basically drinking plain water forces our body to bring sodium and glucose from other places (like our body stores), in order for this process to begin.
The SIMPLE solution
The easiest thing you can do is adding some salt (I prefer pink Himalayan salt) and some maple syrup in your water as a source of glucose.
Why maple syrup and not honey for example? Dr. Sims explains that maple syrup is composed from glucose and sucrose. Our bodies, then, transform the sucrose into more glucose and some fructose. There's a little "but" here tho...we can easily clog our small intestines with too much fructose and that's the reason we want maple syrup and not honey, since honey is composed of glucose and fructose.
In that case we might end up with tons of carbs/fructose just sitting in our intestines, waiting for more water to come in and delude it. Meanwhile it will form bacteria around it and cause other unpleasant effects on the overall sensation in our gut.
So be smart when choosing your carbohydrate source. You can as well take it with food instead of adding it to your water, but consider that dry apricots and raisins, for example, contain the incredible 12gr. of fructose vs. only 1gr. in dates!
Go, go, dates!
I know what I'm buying tomorrow from the grocery store...!
Why having ELECTROLYTES tablets is NOT the same?
Electrolytes tablets are convenient, but they don't work as well as the simple "salt-maple syrup" water. Why is that, you would ask? When we exercise we lose so much sodium and minerals. Yes, true, but whatever we do we can't recover them while exercising. So there is NO point of taking this concentrated amount of Sodium Chloride, since (much like with fructose) we can't absorb it, it just sits in the intestine and even worse - it draws out water from our tissues to dissolve all the Sodium. That means we end up being less hydrated instead of more. All of this is added stress to an already stressed system.
In my experience as a volleyball player I (and I'm sure many of you that have ever done any kind of competitive sport or are working to exhaustion in the gym) have faced the moment during competition where you "hit the wall". Blood sugar levels are low, head feels dizzy, concentration and performance are compromised and long story short - you can only think of crashing on the ground and closing your eyes. Every person I've known so far, including the team staff, would tell me - drink a carbohydrate gel, eat a banana, drink a Coke, drink some water with sugar...and etc. Wrong, wrong, wrong & wrong.
Why is that Wrong?
The symptoms we experience are symptoms of hyponatremia which basically means we need more sodium in our blood. It's somehow related to being dehydrated, because sodium regulates the water levels around your cells. So during competition what we need to do is get more water in our system! How? We discussed that already, but there's something very important I don't want to miss on here.
How we prepare for competition is the key factor! Meaning that the synergy between hydration and nutrition weeks prior to competition is crucial for our performance.
You can't just add up a bunch of extra things to do on competition day and think it will work miracles, because it won't. Look at the entire picture and prepare well! Also don't overlook the importance of hydrating post exercise. These first 3-4 hours are the time slot you can help your body to recover. Hydrate slowly, eating watery fruit and veggies, drink slowly - no less than 500ml and no more than 800ml per hour. That's all our physical bodies can absorb, if you drink more it will just flush right through you!
BOTTOM LINE
Here are my TAKE OUTS from listening to Dr. Stacy Sims sharing her knowledge:
1) Simple solution for staying hydrated - water with a pinch of salt and a splash of maple syrup
2) Drink no less than 500ml and no more than 800ml per hour
3) Women are different than men so be smart and hydrate on schedule instead of "drinking to thirst"
4) Don't go for the quick fix of Electrolyte tablets, because let's face it - what easier (and cheaper) than water with salt and maple syrup?
5) Last but not least: Paying attention to the overall systemic effect between food and fluid absorption can really affect your body and performance in a positive manner!
I hope this post was useful and you try adding some of that to your daily regimen. Stay hydrated and set yourself up for success and amazing performance!
XOXO,
Gabi K.
If you feel bored with having scrambled eggs or sunny-side-up eggs then try this hand pie that looks just like a taco shell, filled with creamy eggs!