Health Essentials: Water, Fluids, and Hydration 101

In our bodies, 75% of muscle weight and 50% of fat weight is water. Water can either be intracellular (found inside the cell and is 2/3 of our water breakdown) or extracellular (found outside the cell and is 1/3 of our water breakdown). This includes saliva, plasma, and organ/gland secretion. Water and minerals have an important relationship as water dissolves the minerals into electrolytes. Intaking fluids can be done by metabolic processes or liquid/food consumption. Water produced from food breakdown is the following: Per every 100 grams of carbs, proteins, and fats, there is 55, 100, and 107 grams of water, respectively. However, we lose fluid through urine, skin, and vapor from respiration, and feces.

Extreme fluid loss can be hazardous because reductions in extracellular fluids will lead the body to draw fluids from intracellular cells, and when this occurs, the homeostasis and the regulatory mechanisms of our bodies is compromised. Dehydration is excessive loss of water and occurs when greater than 1% of body weight is lost due to loss of fluids. Symptoms of dehydration include fatigue, headache, dry mouth, flushed skin, loss of appetite, and light headedness. The easy to tell test is your urine. If your urine is not a clear color, but dark with a strong odor, you may then be dehydrated. If dehydration is prolonged, the risk of heat, stroke, hypovolemia (decrease in the volume of plasma), and/or irreversible brain damage can occur. And when exercising it is important to take the right amount fluids, because if people do not, they exasperate the problem; it is even more important because people have the misconception that thirst is the first signal of dehydration, however, if you are thirsty, your body has already loss fluids and is already dehydrated.

Therefore, maintaining hydration reduces the risk of the side effect of dehydration. Pre-exercise hydration helps protect against the stress of the increase in heat from activity (consumption can start as early as 24 hours before a rigorous workout). And the more routinely we work out and the more we get acclaimed, individuals have more efficient sweat distribution and conserves more electrolytes by increasing the release of antidiuretic hormones and aldosterone (natural steroid hormone that regulates water and salt balances). After a workout, it is important to note that water itself is absorb quickly and dilutes, which increases urine and initiates our brain to send out more thirsty signals. To properly hydrate, you need the right amount of electrolytes and water balance to optimally recover.