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Fit Tip: Prevent Dehydration

FitSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:00:00 -0700

Heat exhaustion and its more serious counterpart heat stroke are not to be trifled with. One way to prevent both is to avoid becoming dehydrated. Athletes and avid exercisers are at risk of dehydration if they sweat profusely and don't replenish themselves while working out.

Symptoms of dehydration include feeling dizzy, lightheaded, dry mouth or throat, stomach cramps, and not urinating or producing dark-colored urine. If you notice these symptoms, hydrate yourself immediately with water. To prevent dehydration in the first place, be sure to drink water throughout your day. If you're not sure how much water you should consume daily, then check out Fit's calculator to find out. If you plan on exercising, drink eight ounces of water 20-30 minutes beforehand. Continue to drink four to eight ounces every 10 to 15 minutes of exercise, and drink at least eight ounces after your workout is complete.

Do know that you can overhydrate and experience symptoms of hypnotremia, a condition where the sodium in your blood is diluted by excess water. In really hot, sweaty conditions it is beneficial to drink a sports drink fortified with sodium and electrolytes.

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Spring Fit Tip: Keep Hydrated, Especially Asthma Sufferers

FitSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:00:00 -0700

As the weather slowly turns and you start exercising in warm weather it's important to remember to keep hydrated. This is especially important for asthma sufferers as dehydration has been known to make it worse.

Dehydration can cause bronchospasm, a constriction of the lung airways, which can make exercise induced asthma worse. So no matter who you are, try to keep water or sports drinks off hand during all your spring exercise endeavors. Also, if you have asthma, then be sure to have a rescue inhaler with you whenever you're exercising.

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Great Workout, Now How About a Beer?

FitSugar — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:00:00 -0800

After exercising (and during) I always crave some gulps of cool, crisp H2O, but a new study shows that having a beer after a workout could do more good than regular water. Hmmm. I'm listening...

In my opinion, the study doesn't hold too much weight since it involved only 25 participants, and they were all college students. Over several months, they were asked to do strenuous exercise in 104° temperatures. Then they were split into two groups, one was given beer and the other was given water.

The study's leader, professor Manuel Garzon of Granada University, said that the hydrating effects of those who guzzled beer were "slightly better" than those who drank water. The only problem is that previous studies show that drinking alcoholic beverages increases the amount of liquid lost through urination, so that won't really help if you're dehydrated. A nutrition expert from Bath University in Britain, said that a moderate amount of beer might be just as quenching as water, but it's unlikely that it's any better.

Want to hear the rest? Then

Back to Basics: Muscle Cramps

FitSugar — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:00:00 -0700

So last night I was sitting on the couch and suddenly my foot cramped, leaving my toes spread wide apart for a good couple of minutes -- Of course I was running around the house screaming like a banshee. About 30 minutes later, the same thing happened, just on the other foot. What gives?

Well I did the research to see what the deal was and I found a wealth of information in this article on MedicalNewsToday.com -- So here goes:

What they are: Exercise-associated muscular cramps or (EAMC) are sudden, involuntary, spasmodic and often very painful contractions of the muscles.
Who gets them: Athletes and exercisers (hard-core and weekend warriors).
When they happen: Muscles are already often contracted and in a shortened position during sports activities. While muscle cramps occur more during competition rather than in training, delayed or nighttime cramps in fatigued athletes can also be attributed to exercise.
Symptoms of EAMCs: Explosive onset, acute pain, visible, palpable contractions presenting in one or more muscle, swelling and potentially persistent soreness lasting two to three days.

Want to know how to prevent them from happening? Then just

Signs of Dehydration

FitSugar — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:45:00 -0700

It's summer and it's hot out. Your body produces sweat to cool you off, so in order to make up for that lost fluid, you should be drinking more water. If you don't, you could be at risk for dehydration.

Our bodies are 2/3 water, so if a person gets dehydrated, it means the amount of water in her body has dropped below the level needed for normal body functioning. You can get dehydrated from a bad stomach bug (you lose a lot of fluid when you're constantly visiting the bathroom). Athletes and people who do a ton of physical exercise can risk dehydration if they sweat a lot and don't drink enough water as they workout. Being out in hot summer heat can also put you at risk.

Here are the signs of dehydration:

feeling dizzy or lightheaded
having a dry or sticky mouth and throat
producing less urine, or dark-colored urine

If you are suffering from these symptoms, drink water! When I say water, I don't mean sport drinks, Vitamin Water, soda, or juice. Your body is screaming for some good old H20. Dehydration can usually be treated by giving your body the water it needs. How much water do you need? Check out Fit's calculator to find out.

To prevent dehydration in the first place, drink water throughout your day. If you are planning on exercising, drink 8 oz 20-30 minutes beforehand.

Fit's Tips: Be weary of diets that encourage you to limit your fluid intake - if you don't drink anything, you'll be losing water weight, not body weight. That means when you go to drink a glass of water that your body needs, you'll "gain" that weight right back.

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Heat Stroke: The Opposite of Cool

FitSugar — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:30:00 -0700

Now that most of us are spending a lot of time outside in the gorgeous warm and sunny weather, it's a good idea to know the warning signs of heat stroke. You can be at risk if you are exposed to high temperatures, not drinking enough fluids, or if you are exercising in a hot and humid room with little ventilation.

Heat stroke is actually a form of hyperthermia (abnormally elevated body temperature), and it's similar to heat exhaustion, but much more severe. A person suffering from heat stroke could suffer permanent organ damage or death if they are not properly treated. Here are the symptoms of heat stroke:

high body temperature
red or flushed dry skin, no sweating
rapid pulse
hard time breathing or irregular breath
confusion, acting strange, hallucinations
seizure
fainting, unconsciousness
coma

Want to know what to do in case someone is suffering from heat stroke? Then

True or False: Drinking Water Before Working Out Causes Cramps

FitSugar — Thu, 24 May 2007 11:00:00 -0700

True or False: Drinking water before (and during) exercise will lead to cramps.

To find out the answer,

Are You Drinking Enough Water?

FitSugar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:05:00 -0800

How much water am I supposed to drink in a day? I've heard 8 glasses, 6 glasses, 10 glasses - but how do I know what's right for my own body?

Take the pee test. Sounds classy, I know. But it can be quite informative.

After you pee in the toilet, take a look. Really. I'm serious. What color do you see? Is it dark yellow, light yellow, or does it look clear?

The color of pee is caused by bile, the chemical your liver produces to break up fat. When our bodies break down bile, the pigment urochrome turns pee yellow. The lighter the color, the more it's watered down.

Here's the deal. If you are drinking enough water for your body, your urine will be as clear as water. If your pee is - then you passed the test.

Also, your water needs can change from day to day, so monitor it by checking your pee. If it's clear, you're all good. You can also check out Fit's Calculator to see how much water you should be drinking daily.

You With a Hangover

FitSugar — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 04:22:43 -0800

It happens to us all at some time or another, but with an expected frequency on New Year's Eve. We drink too much and then we pay for it the next day. Are you hung up by your hangover?

Well let me explain what is going on with your body.

Your throat and mouth are dry due to dehydration, which is caused by the diuretic properties of alcohol. The dehydration also affects your muscles making them feel weak.

The excessive alcohol irritates the lining of the stomach causing nausea and sour stomach. The inflammation delays digestion, which in turn, contributes to the feelings of nausea.

Your liver gets backed up trying to metabolize all the alcohol so you might be experiencing symptoms of hypoglycemia, meaning you are highly irritable and moody.

Your central nervous system becomes chemically over excited causing sensitivity to light, sound and touch.

Blood vessels in the brain dilate and that is what is causing that throbbing headache, which is only exacerbated by your dehydration mentioned above.

Your pituitary gland becomes confused and releases the wrong amounts of the hormones that regulate sleep. So while you may want to sleep it off, your sleep pattern is severely disrupted.

The kind of good news is that it is not clear whether hangovers affect cognitive abilities. But fear not, the after effects of your partying should only linger about for about 24 hours. Tomorrow is another day.

My friend YumSugar wants to know what you eat when you're hungover. So go vote on her poll.

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Fit Calculator: Water Works

FitSugar — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 04:00:00 -0800

Do you sit and wonder to yourself, in your quiet moments alone "Am I drinking enough water?" If not, I'm here to tell you that it is a good question to ask and finding the answer couldn’t be easier. Check out FitSugar’s new water calculator Water Works. It’ll tell you how much water you should be drinking daily.

Hydration is important to good health and the majority of Americans are chronically under hydrated, meaning most of us are mildly dehydrated all of the time. That might not seem so bad but being mildly dehydrated can impair brain function – like making it hard to do basic math. Also, we are so under hydrated as a population, we experience dehydration as hunger pains – how confused have our bodies become?

Fit’s Tip: If your mouth feels dry and you're thirsty, you are already mildly dehydrated. I take my cues on hydration from competitive cyclists – Drink before you’re thirsty and avoid the catch up game with hydration.