Last week I provided clues about the one nutrient, or “supplement”, that I consider the ultimate performance enhancer. It is not something that you would purchase at a specialty nutrition store nor is it an item that is backed by a substantial marketing campaign. The answer, quite simply, is water.
I reviewed with you some of water’s lesser known functions such as its ability to help maintain acid-base balance in the body as well as its pivotal role in protecting the brain and spinal cord. As for some of its others functions, many of us already know that water helps to maintain body temperature. Water also helps cushion your joints and aids in the delivery of nutrients throughout your body.
Despite its multitude of responsibilities, water is still often overlooked in the active adult’s diet. I have counseled many individuals who previously would not even begin drinking water until after they got to the gym or until the first break in action of their sport. Athletic performance can begin to suffer with only a 1-2% water loss and your thirst sensation typically does not kick in until a 2% water deficit. If you do the math, you realize that waiting until you are thirsty before you take a drink is not a good nutrition practice. A joint recommendation of the American Dietetic Association and the American College of Sports Medicine is to drink about two cups of water two hours before activity and to also take fluid breaks every 15-20 minutes , depending on tolerance. (By the way, if you are wondering whether you should choose water or sports drinks please review this blog entry: http://healthsourcemag.com/blog/healthy-eating-habits/water-vs-sports-drinks)
The intensity of the summer heat can rapidly accelerate your fluid losses so a good hydration plan is critical to success. There is ‘no one size fits all’ recommendation for water consumption either – it is not the ‘eight cups a day’ which was the cornerstone of water guidelines for years. A better estimation can be found by taking your weight in pounds and dividing it by two. The answer would be the number of ounces of water your body would need each day. Therefore, the standard eight cups a day (64 ounces) would be just right…… if you weighed 128 pounds. A good hydration program should stimulate a bathroom trip about every two hours during the course of your day. You should notice a urine color that is clear or very pale.
There is a familiar nutrition refrain that states “You are what you eat.” Perhaps it should be modified to state “You are what you drink.”
- Jon Vredenburg, MBA, RD, CSSD, LD/N
