One reason I posted this query is that I’m trying to find a way to drink more fluids (re: water) on the job without running to the bathroom to piss it out every half hour – which is what usually happens when I guzzle down 8 eight oz. glasses in a workday.
My morning schedule has me teaching from 8am to 10:50 am, with a 50 minute planning period (break) until 11:40. At 11:45 I go to lunch with the kids, then it’s back in the classroom from 12:30 until the end of the day, 2:45.
Because of Columbine-High School fears and other violent incidents in school districts, the teachers at my school are heavily pressured not to EVER leave our students even momentarily unattended, not even go down the hall ro relieve ourselves. (A mere three doors down the hall, for me.)
The end result for me is obvious: skimp on the fluids, period, until the end of the school day – but there has to be a better system that doesn’t involve chugging fruity sugared drinks daily.
I would say (as a Registered Dietitian) that water is better for you than Gatorade in almost any circumstance. The added calories of Gatorade (“empty calories”) are of no benefit to anyone, unless you are trying very very hard to gain weight or maintain current weight. I can think of no circumstance where sodium and potassium must be immediately replaced by a drink…if your lytes were so low you would need an IV w/ the lytes in it (preferably in a hospital setting). And of course some people has specific health conditions where too much sodium and/or potassium can have very negative consequences…and of course those people should never drink Gatorade.
You are definitely not the first dietician to shoot down the myth of “sports drinks”. The only people they are designed for are elite athletes who have every aspect of their daily exercise and nutrition carefully scrutinised by people such as you.
Obviously, most of us simply don’t fit that description…
I’m sorry. I can’t agree with Miss Means or Dvous Means. Anyone exercising over one hour needs to replace their glucose and electrolytes (sodium and potassium). You don’t have to be an elite athlete. ANYONE.
There have been cases where people had serious problems due to hyponatremia by drinking too much water. Those have been endurance exercisers (runners) who kept drinking water without replacing the sodium. You have to maintain your electrolyte level, which is lost through sweat.
It’s true that the average person doesn’t have to, but there are a lot of people out here (me included) who do engage in endurance stuff. If you’re going to run a long race or engage in a long bike ride or long swim, you need sports drinks. No if, buts, or maybes.
The OP says he keeps urinating too much and wants to know how to prevent it. If you’re urinating that much, you are already hydrated and don’t have to drink that much water. Don’t forget, you get a lot of water in food. Your urine is probably crystal clear.
I thought it summed it up pretty well. Gatorade is sugar-water. Period. Yeah, its got some salts and electrolyes in it blah blah blah. But it’s still just basically 7up without the bubbles.
Askia - One way to prevent having to go to the bathroom as much is to not take any diuretics. Drop the coffee or tea, and see if that helps.
barbitu8 - People on balanced diets get sufficient electrolytes from their food for a normal exercise program (mix of weight training and cardio). And most people eat more sodium than they need, enough that hyponatremia is unlikely. Generally exercisers are more likely to suffer from dehydration, so it is more important to increase fluid consumption in general than recommend sports drinks over water.
kinoons - Remember that our bodies are largely water, and unless you’re cooking your meat bone dry, your meals will contain a significant amount of water as well. Obviously people who eat salads and other vegetables (all largely water and fiber) will be consuming much more water than those who have a baked potato with bacon bits or a turkey club sandwich, but it’s there in sigificant quantities.
Gatorade and most other sports drinks have less than 8% sugar. Pop, for instance, has 12%, which slows down the absorption of water. Tests have shown that a solution with 8% or less glucose does not impede absorption and, in fact, with the little sodium added, actually helps absorption. I actually drink a solution which is even less than 8%, since I mix it myself.
I know for most people water will do and I believe I said that. Nonetheless, there are a significant number out here who are into endurance exercise. And anyway, I like the taste of a nice cold Gatorade after exercising on a hot day. Beats water any day.
After exercising the first thing one should do is replenish your glucose. Glucose is digested and taken up by the body more quickly right afte running. Then you should ingest some protein, to replenish that as well.
I’ve found when I start drinking large amounts of water each day on a consistent basis that the urge to ‘run to the bathroom every half hour’ usually goes away after a few days (I still go but not with the frequency that you’re talking about). I’m not sure if my bladder is just getting adjusted to the larger amounts of water (I usually drink soft drinks) or if my system has just been flushed out.
I recall reading some time back (can’t remember where, unfortunately) that your bladder does actually get used to your drinking more water. At first, you will have to go all the time because the full-bladder signal occurs before it is really completely full and afterwards it will get more full before you feel like you have to go.
He must eat a hell of a lot of celery or lettuce or something. Either that or he’s living ona fluid diet, being fed enterically or something. but even still, there’s not **THAT ** much water in any of these foods! Go figure…someone!
output – feces 4%
Sweat 8%
losses via skin and lungs 28%
Urine 60%
Still looks like a majority comes from liquid intake, but I would not have guessed food was as high at 30%
sure, it depends on the food, but I would think it would be safe to say that the avg person does not eat their own weight in watermellon each day. I would think that the avgs. from the anatomy text would be close to correct
The answer to the question depends on who you are.
If you are severely dehydrated, you are at risk of low blood pressure. Not only do you need fluid, you want most of it to stay in the bloodstream. Water is absorbed very well from the body, thank you very much, but after absorption it will equibrilate so that 2/3 of it goes into intracellular fluid and only 1/3 into the ECF (think blood). Adding more salt, to a point, keeps more fluid in the blood for longer. So “normal saline” 0.9% NaCl in water and “Ringer’s lactate” (roughly isotonic with blood) are given to burn patients. If losses are very severe, blood and blood expanders (solutions with proteins that slow diffusion out of the bloodstream) are given.
Oral rehydration solutions are also very useful, e.g. with cholera patients who can lose 40L of water per day! Pedialyte is the most proven, although the studies use the “natural pedialyte”. I know several pediatricians who tell their patients to avoid the flavoured kinds since they have a different composition and are “unproven”, though the difference would probably be small.
Gatorade contains sodium and potassium. I disagree that these would substantially change after an hour of exercise; the peole with psychogenic dilutional hyponatremia often drink 10L of water per day. It tastes good, but unless you are running a marathon I doubt it is more beneficial than water.
I said in an earlier column that one method of calculating daily fluids is giving yourself 4cc/kg/h (for the first 10kg of weight), 2cc/kg/h (for the 10kg between 10-20kg of weight) and 1cc/kg/h for each kg over 20kg. For a 70kg male, this is 40+20+50=110cc/h, or about 2.6L/day. Is this what you need? No. Nephrologists say that you can get by (i.e. not cause kidney damage) on just over 1L/day. This doesn’t provide optimum skin hydration, though. But no harm is done by peeing out the extra; better too much than too little.
Big drops in potassium are seen in those who vomit for more than a day or two.
The reason I said that you should drink an energy drink if you are exercising for at least one hour is not to replace the electrolyte but to replace the glucose. I agree with Dr. Paprika that you are not going to suffer from hyponatremia after just one hour of exercise. Those who had hyponatremia were those in long endurance events, like the Ironman and ultra-marathons. It’s primarily the glucose, but the little bit of sodium does aid absorption.
Coincidentally, Tufts U. Health & Nutrition Letter, Jan 2001, has an article about drinking 8 glasses of water a day. The article states that a study at Purdue U. found that women met almost 40% of their water needs with food alone. “That’s because almost any food ‘counts’ toward total water balance. ‘People are often surprised at how much water there is in food,’ says Tufts nutrition researcher Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc. Iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, and celery, for example are all about 95% water --more even than skim milk, which comes in at 91%. An orange is 87% water; a banana, 74. Even a sirloin steak is 59% water, and a slice of white bread, 37%.”
barbitu8, is is really necessary to replenish your glucose (muscle glycogen?) with an energy drink for the average exerciser? I can see athletes wanting to do it for performance reasons like improved growth or quicker recovery, but to the average Joe or Jane who’s just looking to lose weight, isn’t it counter-productive to be consuming empty calories? As a hypertension sufferer, I am careful not to take in any additional sodium, so I always just drink water, tons of it, even when I exercise. I’ve never noticed any problems as long as I’ve eaten correctly. Sports drinks are not a replacement for good nutrition.