From Surgeon BEGÜM ÖZÜEKREN KASAPOĞLU
The Way of a Healthy Sports Life Passes Through Nature!
DO NOT DEHYDRATE YOUR BODY WHILE EXERCISING!
One of the most important tricks of getting efficiency from exercise, which is at the center of our lives, is to drink enough fluid during exercise.
Until the middle of the last century, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommended consuming fluids that would not disturb the stomach and intestines to prevent heat damage to the body caused by exercise and to maintain performance. However, there was no clear information about the fluid content or type to be taken. In the guidelines created in 1996 regarding hydration and performance, it was stated that the liquid that should be consumed should not only be water but also liquids that support the body to replace the minerals lost during exercise.
Excessive or less liquid consumption during sports may adversely affect your athletic performance
Consuming more or less fluid can negatively affect athletic performance and cause health problems. During physical activity, athletes should consume fluids to avoid dehydration, which is known as excessive water loss among the public; however, they should also not consume excess fluids and go into hyponatremia with low sodium. Hyponatremia can be seen in 10-20% of long-distance athletes. It can cause serious damage to the brain, pulmonary edema and consequent respiratory distress.
Symptoms of excessive fluid loss (Dehydration)
- Dehydration
- Abnormal indifference to the environment, indifference (Apathy)
- Dizziness
- Diarrhea, vomiting
- Feeling of heat
- Headache
- Stomach and intestinal cramps
- General feeling of discomfort
- Rapid body weight loss
Symptoms of low sodium (Hyponatremia)
- Slowed mind activities
- Muscle weakness
- Abnormal indifference to the environment, indifference (Apathy)
- Dizziness
- Vomiting
- Strange behavior
- Headache
- Shortness of breath
- Hand, standing sweating
- Rapid body weight loss
- Changes in mood
- Disturbance of time and place awareness (Disorientation)
- Coma or seizure
- Rapid weight gain
Fluids with high mineral level accelerate the recovery process after exercise
In a recent study, it has been shown that ocean water taken from Hualien, Taiwan, at a depth of 662 m accelerates the recovery after an exercise that causes excessive fluid loss. A rapid recovery in aerobic capacity, an increase in lower body muscle strength performance, and a significant decrease in exercise-induced muscle damage markers were observed between normal water-drinking athletes and athletes who drank ocean water with higher mineral levels.
Did you know what happens in our bodies when we exercise?
As a result of ion changes in the muscles contracted during exercise, metabolic acidosis, which is the accumulation of acid ions that need to be removed through the kidneys or the loss of excessive bicarbonate ion, may occur. This does not allow high intensity exercise by affecting muscle contraction. Fluid balance in the body, buffering systems in blood and tissues, excretion of carbon dioxide from the lungs are provided by the excretion of hydrogen in the urine of harmful fluids in the body. Mineral water or sodium bicarbonate can be used to prevent exercise-induced metabolic acidosis.
Do not ignore the benefits of mineral water consumption to exercise
- It allows the body to take enough of the fluid it needs.
- The viscosity of the blood decreases, and metabolic end products that disrupt the cell's balance and muscle contraction can be transported more easily.
- It improves the acid - base balance.
- Increases anaerobic exercise performance, which requires energy continuity.
- It is used as an acid reducer, antioxidant and anti aging.
- Drinking hydrogen-rich water is recommended both medically and during exercise.
The effect of sodium bicarbonate use on speed, durability and strength has been proven, but its use is limited due to gastrointestinal disturbances, metabolic alkalosis and edema due to sodium load. Since mineral water has no known side effects, it can be used every day.
In our book called ‘Miracle Drink Mineral Water’, it was compiled from the study titled 'The Importance of Mineral Water in Athletic Nutrition‘ prepared by Surgeon Begüm Özüekren Kasapoğlu, Specialist of Cardiovascular Surgery.
