Posted on 04/14/2005 8:30:34 AM PDT by srm913
Runners, hikers, bikers, even soldiers on long maneuvers should think twice before reaching for that water bottle: A study confirms that drinking too much can be dangerous, even deadly, for endurance athletes.
Researchers who studied 488 runners in the 2002 Boston Marathon found that 62, or more than one in eight, had a serious fluid and salt imbalance from drinking too much water or sports drinks. Three of them had extreme imbalances.
One 28-year-old woman died after the race from the condition, called hyponatremia, in which the excess water dilutes the salt level in the body too much.
"More is definitely not better when it comes to fluids, but it's a hard message to get across," said Leslie Bonci, director of sports nutrition at Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Endurance athletes have long been warned about getting dehydrated, and many tend to drink more on race day than they do during training.
The study was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers, led by Dr. Christopher Almond, a cardiologist at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston, tested Boston Marathon runners' blood after the race and collected information on their condition, race time and liquid intake.
They found hyponatremia was most serious in runners who gained substantial weight — 4½ pounds to 11 pounds — from drinking lots of water along the route. Extremely thin runners also were at high risk. Runners who drank sports drinks, which contain very little salt, were not less likely to develop hyponatremia.
Bonci and Almond said a good way to prevent problems is for athletes to weigh themselves before and after training sessions. If they gain significant weight, they should cut back on water intake until they find the right balance — long before race day.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
SPORTS PRETZELS!!!!!
I know a few runners who drink PediaLyte to prevent against this. It's a much better "sports drink" than the sports drinks.
I for one have never understood the "don't dehydrate yourself" dogma.... watching folks pound down large amounts of water or gatoraid etc. while playing sports.
I play an hours worth of sports 4 days a week currently, Soccer and Basketball being the most demanding in terms of sweating and keeping moving the entire time... and I will drink MAYBE a mouthful or two of water during and even after exercise, and that's when I have sweat so much my clothing literally will be soaked.
Obviously going without hydration when sweating a lot isn't a good thing over a long period of time... but this I must gulp down 12 ounces of water at every water station along a running route or something seems crazy to me.
How true, water, barley and hops makes for a very nutritious and healthful drink.
Greatly increases your sociability, judgement, garrulousness, sexual desire and ability to operate automobiles and dangerous machinery in a safe and friendly manner.
What I have always heard is that if you wait to drink something until you're thirsty that you're already dehydrated. Maybe that's why so many are borderline dehydrated.
Don't know if it's true or not, but I just sip all day long. Seems to work for me, lol.
I dont know about that. But I do know after 2 beers I don't feel like running.
A friend of mine decided to run the Marine Corps Marathon in DC, before his 40th birthday. He trained for 6 months and ran the race well. He drank lots of Gatorade afterwards, they ran out of that, so as they were closing up he grabbed a gallon of water and chuged it down. Ten minutes later he collapsed and went into a coma for a week. It didn't look like he'd make it for a while, but he's alive and fairly well. Still has some effects he attributes to the incident. He's done running marathons.
And perhaps a nice "Sports Beer" to go with the "Sports Pretzels"
You can't even ask for it, much less ice tea.
And don't even TRY to ask for "sweet tea"
They just put sugar in the room temp tea. Uncivilized I tell ya.
And perhaps a nice "Sports Beer" to go with the "Sports Pretzels"?
I did run after the beer truck once.
THat was great. Thank you!!!
And why the US Army has "salt licks" (or at least, HAD...)
But, but, we are told 24/7 that salt is bad for you. Yeah, just try living without it.
Sorry, forgot the /sarc mark.
Now that's proper motivation.
It's not water that kills.
It's the PEOPLE who drink water that kill.
Or, it's the PEOPLE who force water down the throats of their victims that kill.
Water is like guns. Keep it unloaded and locked. By the time you can get to it, you will already be dehydrated and too out of it to drink.
Hee. Hee.
The server tried to beat me down and stated "Sir! We don't serve Ice Tea until Summer".
I replied: Miss, the Fourth of July hoiday is next week, just when in the Hell does Summer start around here?
Caught it too!
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