Hydration and Health – Why Care?

Have you ever wondered why your trainer, exercise instructor, or physician reminds you incessantly to “drink more water!” after a workout or physical activity?  It’s not just to replace the fluids that are used during the activity.  It’s also to prevent loss of endurance, combat increased fatigue, prevent disruptions in cognition, and minimize other physiological effects of dehydration. 

If left to hydrate according to thirst, many individuals may not adequately intake enough fluids to offset the deficit of a workout.  Mild to moderate dehydration may persist for hours after the activity or workout is finished.  It’s recommended that athletic activity begins from a well hydrated state, and that the individual continues to drink fluids above and beyond thirst recognition.

Water2Drink.com recommends you read a National Institutes of Health article titled “Water, Hydration and Health,” which gives specifics on this topic, in addition to many others regarding proper hydration.  The whole article is interesting, but specifically see Section II, Physiological Effects of Dehydration. 

You can find the NIH article at  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954/ .