dehydrationcan hurt you
Performance
Dehydration can negatively impact performance by increasing heart rate and perceived exertion, while reducing running speed and distance covered.¹ It can impair endurance performance by affecting the body’s ability to regulate heat, and reducing blood flow in the muscles and brain.²
Muscle Recovery
Dehydration can lead to muscle soreness, fatigue and reduced muscle strength and power, which can slow down recovery after exercise.³ It can increase the risk of muscle strain, cramps, and heat-related illness during prolonged exercise.⁴
THE PROBLEM WITH MOST HYDRATION DRINKS IN SINGAPORE
Many hydration drinks are loaded with sodium. Such drinks can contain between 160 to 240 mg of sodium.
Hydration drinks, which includes sports drinks, typically contain sodium to boost post-exercise recovery and replenish what is lost through sweat. Sodium also makes you thirsty, so it increases the urge to drink more.
Many hydration drinks also contain plenty of sugar (9 to 21g). Sugar is used to help water absorption and transport sodium and other electrolytes to the cells.
Sodium and sugar are added because they help to maintain the osmolality of the drink. Osmolality affects how effectively water and electrolytes are absorbed in the body. Proper hydration happens when water can enter the cells of the body. While the body needs water in the extracellular spaces like body fluids, it is the intracellular water (inside the cells) that helps to transport other electrolytes (e.g., potassium, magnesium, chloride, and calcium) into the cells, where they are needed to help the body function well. Though sodium and sugar can help this process, too much can have the opposite effect. High levels of sodium and sugar increases the osmolality of water so it can’t easily enter the cells. Also, too much sugar can pull water into the gut instead of the cells where it is really needed. Instead of hydrating, it can worsen dehydration.
What is osmolality?
The scientific definition of osmolality is the concentration of dissolved particles (solutes) in a fluid. Osmolality matters in a sports drink because the concentration of solutes in the drink, such as electrolytes and carbohydrates, determines how fast the fluid is absorbed in the body.
Osmolality is a useful marker for determining whether given beverages are suited for maintaining an adequate hydration of the body.
The ideal osmolality for hydration beverages is between 200 and 260 mOsm/kg or mmol/kg.⁵ This is the optimal formulation that allows the body to absorb water most effectively.
In comparison, the osmolality of many sports drinks is typically between 280 and 300 mmol/kg. Incidentally, juices and soft drinks have osmolalities ranging between 492 – 784 mmol/kg⁶ — they may quench your thirst but are not your best choice for hydration in the cells where it matters.
What are
electrolytesElectrolytes are electrically charged minerals. They are found in blood, tissues, organs and other bodily fluids.
What they do is maintain the balance of water in your body. At the cellular level, they help move water and nutrients in and out of cells. Sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, calcium and phosphate are some of the electrolytes that we need for our muscles, nerves and organs to function properly.
We lose electrolytes when we sweat during strenuous workouts, are exposed to extreme heat or drink too much alcohol. Cellular Hydration™ can help to replenish the electrolytes that have been flushed out of our system.
Why not just drink plain water?
Drinking plain water can replenish the water lost through sweating. But it’s not the most efficient way to hydrate the body.⁷ It just means more trips to the toilet.
The body takes up and retains more water when there are other nutrients or elements in the hydration beverage⁸, like electrolytes.
Plain water contains virtually no electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and few other components.
It also has an extremely low osmolality of almost zero because it lacks these electrolytes. In comparison, the fluid in the body contains sodium and other electrolytes and has a normal osmolality of about 275 to 295 mOsm/kg⁹
(or mmol/kg). So instead of giving you a hydration boost, the lower osmolality of water can cause electrolytes and fluid in the cells to be drawn out, causing you to become more dehydrated.
TL;DR Your hydration drink makes a difference
Guzzling bottles of water offers relatively ineffective hydration, and can dilute the electrolytes in the cells⁷, which are needed for proper functioning and optimal sports performance. Most hydration beverages contain high levels of sodium and sugar, and primarily hydrate the extracellular spaces, not within the cells where it’s needed.
For a true hydration supplement drink, there’s a better choice: Cellular Hydration™.
Innovation.
Proprietary HANS™ Premium Water technology produces water of exceptional purity and remarkable absorption capabilities, used in Cellular Hydration™.
References:
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2. James LJ, Funnell MP, James RM, Mears SA. Does Hypohydration Really Impair Endurance Performance? Methodological Considerations for Interpreting Hydration Research. Sports Med. 2019 Dec;49(Suppl 2):103-114. doi: 10.1007/s40279-019-01188-5. PMID: 31696453; PMCID: PMC6901416.
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6. Sadowska A, Świderski F, Rakowska R, Waszkiewicz-Robak B, Żebrowska-Krasuska M, Dybkowska E. Beverage osmolality as a marker for maintaining appropriate body hydration. Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig. 2017;68(2):167-173. PMID: 28646834.
7. Millard-Stafford M, Snow TK, Jones ML, Suh H. The Beverage Hydration Index: Influence of Electrolytes, Carbohydrate and Protein. Nutrients. 2021 Aug 25;13(9):2933. doi: 10.3390/nu13092933. PMID: 34578811; PMCID: PMC8465972.
8. Ronald J Maughan, Phillip Watson, Philip AA Cordery, Neil P Walsh, Samuel J Oliver, Alberto Dolci, Nidia Rodriguez-Sanchez, Stuart DR Galloway. A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 103, Issue 3,
2016, Pages 717-723, ISSN 0002-9165, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.114769.
9. Najem O, Shah MM, De Jesus O. Serum Osmolality. [Updated 16 Dec 2022]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK567764/