Our body is made up of water and need water. The body can continuously supply water by drinking water, and it consumes water constantly through sweating, breathing, etc.
When the consumption is greater than supplement, the body will be dehydrated. Dehydration will not only cause mouth parched and tongue scorched, but also bring life threatening when serious.
There are different degrees of dehydration. Mild dehydration will make you exhausted, severe dehydration will make you face danger.
Mild dehydration: It may be already mild dehydration if the pace of action become heavier and heavier, and the athlete feel weak and dry.
“Thirst” is the signal of the mild dehydration, If you don’t replenish water at this time, the climber’s skin will be dry, the eye socket will sink, and if you continue walking, you will be exhausted.
Severe dehydration: When the percent of dehydration is as high as 10% of body weight, people will lose consciousness, it will not only affect exercise, but also even endanger life.
Enough water is the engine that drives the human body to run normally. Once the engine occurs major failure, the human body will “be paralyzed” and cannot work.
It is hard for you to feel the process of dehydration. It loses water when you breathe and sweat, the outdoor mountain activity will aggravate the lose of water, and also aggravate the danger of dehydration.
Exercise causes dehydration: Sweat is one of the main ways of body water lose. The body’s metabolism rate increases and body water will escape through sweat and water vapor breathed out when exercising. You will sweat profusely and aggravate water loss if you exercise outdoor in hot weather.
In average, the rate of sweat is about one liter per hour during exercising. It can be up to more than three liters per hour when the intensity of exercise is high.
High cold causes dehydration: Much water is released by breathing, every breath involves water. In high altitude or low temperature environment, it is hard for you to feel thirsty, but for the rate of breath is fast, water consumption is higher than usual.
In high altitude area, your daily urine output will be 0.5-1 liter more than usual because tissue is lack of oxygen, the loss of water through breathing can reach 2-4 times of sea level.
Once dehydration occurs, it is a stumbling block to obstruct the pace of travel no matter how serious it is. To avoid the danger of dehydration, not only do you need to drink water, but also drink it correctly.
Drink water when you do not feel thirsty: 10% success
To prevent dehydration, first of all, don’t wait to drink until you are thirsty. Because it needs time to absorb water. It is late to drink when you feel thirsty.
Water is really absorbed by the body when it is into the blood circulation. When water is drunk, it is only a prelude to being absorbed by the human body。Water also needs to go through the stomach to the intestine, and finally into the blood circulation。Only complete this process, water can be absorbed by the human body.
Drink enough water before setting out: 25% success
If you replenish enough water, you are 25% successful on the way to fight dehydration before you set out from the camp or ready to climb. If you can drink enough water before setting out, the stomach can retain more liquid components during exercising, which is conducive to absorb water continuously.
24 hours before exercising, you can replenish water according to the amount of 35 ml per kilogram of body weight.
Drink less and drink often: 50% success
During outdoor, if you drink water with the method of “drinking less and drink often”, you are 50% successful to win over the dehydration. Drink less often can absorb water more effectively, and can make sure that water is absorbed by the body, not wasted.
The speed rate of absorbing water is limited when exercising. The rate of gastric emptying in the human body is 750-1000 ml per hour, so it cannot be absorbed if over this. Therefore, it can’t absorb water if you drink plenty of water once, instead it will lead to abdominal distension
You can put the kettle where you can reach it if you do “drink less often”, and the better method is using water bags to replenish water while walking. You should replenish water every 20 minutes, and should replenish 450 to 700 ml water every hour if your exercise intensity is high.
Electrolyte supplement: 70% success
When you exercise, you should not only drink pure water, but also water rich in electrolytes such as sodium and potassium. If you drink water lacking electrolytes, the water can’t be absorbed effectively by the body and dehydration will occur.
In the process of sweating a lot, not only water but also sodium, potassium and other electrolyte components that body needs are lost. After a large amount of electrolyte being lost, people will appear weak , nausea and vomiting, headache, spasm and other discomfort.
Although the electrolyte is small, it is essential to human body. Electrolyte supplement mainly depends on food, but digestion of food requires a process, and it is difficult to eat quickly during exercise. Therefore, in the process of exercise, the rapid supplement of electrolyte can be realized by adding effervescent tablets and salt pills into drinking water.
Avoiding drinks: 100% success
If what you drink is not water, or drink a drink with higher sugar content to quench your thirst, you will be closer to dehydration. The drinks involve many chemical additives such as sugar, vitamin, pigment and thickener. Because of the existence of these materials, the concentration of drinks is higher than that of cell liquid. After the liquid with high osmotic pressure enters the human body, the water in the cellular fluid in the digestive tract will seep through the cell membrane, so drinking drinks will not alleviate dehydration, but will aggravate dehydration symptoms.
Outdoor mountain sports is a process of constantly overcoming difficulties and challenging ourselves. Dehydration is a formidable enemy in the process. It takes away not only the water, but also the energy and interest of outdoor enthusiasts. Correct water supplement can just avoid dehydration, and enjoy more charm of the nature.
Simple Flask boosts your every adventure and accompanies you on every trip. If you have any questions about water bottles, hydration, exercise, or health, please feel free to contact us.
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