Hydration and an Energized Life
Our body has a really awesome hydration and cleansing system, but it quickly loses its effectiveness with many body functions when fluid and electrolyte levels get low or depleted.
Water makes up approximately 75% of an infant’s weight — 55% of bodyweight in the elderly. The percentages seem to be quite a bit higher for some vital organs, such his brain and heart being composed of over 70% water. So for everything from hydration to the electrolytes that assist in electrical transmission throughout our body, staying hydrated, is very important!
Dehydration and how it works: when we get dehydrated, our body will kick off a process called arginine vasopressin which will cause a reaction from our kidneys to begin concentrating its elimination of urine to conserve fluid in the body. As we become further dehydrated our body will completely shut down the elimination of fluids leaving the body (by shutting down the kidneys). As these survival mechanisms kick in, we can expect other functions to slow down or quit working in favor of more important functions.
Value of occasional dehydration: we will not get into this much today since this article is on the value of hydration, but there is value in the body pulling hydration from less important parts of the body -especially drying out and killing things that are anti-body, such as cancers.
The most vital supplement to life is oxygen, and our blood needs enough volume (plasma) to carry and deliver oxygen rich blood cells throughout our body. Even though other things may start drying out and shutting down, when our oxygen delivery system starts failing due to lack of hydration, things can start deteriorating pretty rapidly.
As a general rule, we should try to drink around half our bodyweight in ounces of water, and this needs to be adjusted upward or downward, depending how much activity or heat our body and its systems are exposed to.
Example: a 150-pound person would drink 75 ounces of water.
Staying properly hydrated doesn’t mean simply drinking massive amounts of water, since this can gradually wash out our electrolytes, which in turn will cause our body to not properly retain fluids. And by the way, sodium isn’t a bad thing, it helps hold fluids in suspension evenly throughout our body and keeps it from dropping down around our ankles!
Sport drinks and homemade electrolyte drinks are designed to replenish these electrolytes.
Sweating and gas vapor: our body expels heat by sweating and emitting moisture in the form of gas vapor from the skin and both methods use water.
Diet: there can also be dietary factors that can cause us to dehydrate more rapidly such as a low glycemic/carb diet. You can help offset this by having a carb increase every 3–4 days.
Salt: salt is a combination of two key electrolytes, (sodium and chloride). Sodium is positive charge and chloride is negative. If our levels get too low, we inhibit the body’s capability to retain fluid. Adults should get at least 1500–2000 milligrams per day (increasing or decreasing) depending on our size, and according to our activity and heat exposure. Most people do not have to worry about sodium levels if they regularly eat out, since most menu items have an overload of sodium. There are other electrolytes that are important as well, such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Along with sodium and chloride, these electrolytes not only help with fluid balance, but they also help conduct electrical charges that keep our body running!
Things to watch for: sharp decrease in sweating and urination, a clammy or dry mouth, and an increase in heart rate due to less blood plasma volume.
Tips: when increasing internal heat through activity or being exposed to external heat, drink several rounds of water then switch up to an electrolyte/sports drink. All fluids should be cold, to assist the body in its job of cooling. The reverse of this during the wintertime, -is to drink, warm fluids to assist the body with keeping warm (however when the body is trying to warm itself, it uses units of heat or as we most often call them “calories”.
If you help your body along with proper hydration, it will not put such a drain on your body’s energy bill and will protect your body from excessive wear and tear!
