Have you ever watched one of those survival shows where one or two people go out into harsh environments for 2-3 weeks? Did you notice that many times these “survivalists” will go almost the entire duration in the wilderness with no food and survive? But, you will never see people go more than a few days without water. Most survival experts will even tell you that you can live three weeks without food, but only three days without water. That’s because the human body is composed of skin, blood, bone, muscle, internal organs, etc., but the most critical component of all of those things is H2O, water! Literally 60% of the human body is made up of water. And many people know the general importance of drinking water and hydration, but often times it is the one thing that is overlooked when it comes to weight loss and athletic performance. It is easy to get caught up on calorie intake, macronutrients, intermittent fasting, etc., and forget about how critical hydration is to our bodily functions. Today I want to talk about the importance of water, it’s role in hydration, and how vital hydration is to weight loss, athletic performance and life in general.
First, we must have a basic understanding of hydration. Merriam-Webster defines hydration as “the act or process of combining or treating with water: as the introduction of additional fluid into the body or a chemical reaction in which water takes part with the formation of only one product.” The words “water” and “fluid” are mentioned a total of three times in the definition alone. That should give us a hint as to how importance water is to hydration. However, the other component of hydration that is often not discussed is the need for electrolytes, the big three being sodium, potassium and magnesium. These electrolytes are critical to water being absorbed by the body. Without them, water would simply flush our bodies of essential nutrients and potentially cause hyponatremia, a condition which occurs when the sodium levels in our blood are too low. Needless to say, water is vital to hydration but so is the consumption of electrolytes.
Water is important for many bodily functions; it regulates body temperature, aids in digestion, lubricates joints, flushes bodily waste (urine), and assists with the production, growth and maintenance of cells. In short, water helps with basically every function of the human body. Consistent consumption of water is vital for a smooth-running system. Therefore, EVERYONE needs to drink a lot of water. Everyone’s opinion seems to differ on exactly how much, but in general, it is widely accepted that half an oz to one oz per pound of bodyweight is normal. Therefore, a 180 lb man should drink between 90-180 oz per day. This obviously depends on many variables such as his genetics, the environment he is in (is it hot and humid?), how much he is training and how much food he eats. But the vast majority of men his size can perform normally on 90-180 oz of water per day. One of my first recommendations to people who are trying to lose weight, is to increase their water consumption (I have found that most people generally drink less than 5-6 glasses of pure water per day). Due to low water consumption and high salt intake found in most American diets, many people store too much unnecessary water weight. That’s why many people often say they feel bloated and/or experience inflammation. They are usually shocked to find out that once they get an adequate amount of water in their diets, several pounds of water weight are shed in a short amount of time! This demonstrates the importance if balancing out water and electrolytes. Not only is hydration critical for weight loss, but it is critical for performance athletes as well!
If you are very active or are an athlete who just got done with a strenuous workout, you should not just drink water. In the event that you burned over 200 calories and had a fairly strenuous cardiovascular workout, I always recommend either a bottle of Gatorade/Powerade because it already has sodium and other electrolytes to increase hydration. Or, if you only have water available, make sure to eat a small snack or meal with your water. Assuming you have no allergies, a great go-to is a banana and a handful of salted nuts. The nuts provide sodium and magnesium and the banana provides potassium and magnesium. The main objective is to be sure to incorporate water and electrolytes into your post-workout routine because not only will you increase hydration levels and feel better, but you will cool your body temperature and inhibit cellular growth and take advantage of the hard workout you just put yourself through.
In closing, hydration is important for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are 15 years old or 50, a professional athlete or an average Joe, we all need hydration for proper bodily functions. I hope this topic has shed light for some of you on an important aspect of your diet. Whether we need to drink more water, or we need to incorporate electrolytes into our post-workout routines, we can all improve how we hydrate ourselves and improve our body’s functionality. Proper hydration is also key for weight loss and peak athletic performance. If you need assistance with managing your weight, are looking to increase your performance on the field, on the mats, or in the gym, or just need to get your nutrition back on track, please be sure to contact me. Have a great week!
Coach Rich
Richard Fitzgerald 