Dehydration -Yes its that time of year again........

[rik_uk3]

Look up myths and water on Google for the scare stories about dehydration. If the body tells you you are thirsty then it is obviously not too late, the body is truly wonderful at looking after itself and if it needs water it will tell you so. Check your pee if you want a gauge of your water needs. It is not unreasonable to be thirsty on a long walk and in a way can add to the experience. Sucking at a water bottle all the time is not necessary.

Your pee is not a reliable way of checking yourself out, you could have a UTI, may not have drunk enought the day before, you may not realise how much you have been sweating etc. You'll get a dry mouth from heavy breathing, thats a different thing from being actually thirsty. Nobody said if you feel thirsty its too late, but its a good way of spotting the start.

Monitor your input is a very safe way of keeping juicy.

[Scots_Charles_River]

I have just got home form a two day canoe camp trip with a school group, we drank enough. Eating food helps too.

They listened about long sleeve shorts and swam/paddled a lot so no probs.

It was 25degs at 10pm ! on Loch Ard.

[Graham_S]

I'm very careful about hydration, it's not unknown for me to drink 5-6l of water in a 9hr shift during the summer.
of course the temperature can top 120f (in the shade) with 100% humidity.
If you are sweating heavily, and drinking a lot though you need to be mindful of electrolyte levels.

[Flaxton]

Try Nuun tablets.

a) they taste good
b) specially desined for electrolites etc
c) come in a great tube that I use for tinder when emptied!

[BoonDoc]

I find that sipping water through the day is the best way to rehydrate. The body cannot handle drinking a lot of water all at once. Hyponatremia is a risk if you drink a lot of water all at once.

[Graveworm]

Your pee is not a reliable way of checking yourself out, you could have a UTI, may not have drunk enought the day before, you may not realise how much you have been sweating etc.

I am not sure what you mean, do you mean the volume or whats actually in the pee? If you meant the former then you could have a point but as for the latter it's a very reliable measurement of hydration. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bz_...nJtR2c3akVpUzA

[santaman2000]

I am not sure what you mean, do you mean the volume or whats actually in the pee? If you meant the former then you could have a point but as for the latter it's a very reliable measurement of hydration. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bz_...nJtR2c3akVpUzA

Urine color or specific gravity is affected by MANY factors. Neither is of any use to a diabetic when trying to determen hydration levels; nor is thirst as we are ALWAYS thirsty.

[mark oriel]

A good easy to reproduce isotonic is 50% orange juice and 50% water with a pinch of salt. The idea is that this mix of 50-50 is reasonably close to the consistancy of blood and with the salt mix is apparently far more easily absorbed by the interstitial tissue. It gets into the blood quicker than going through the digestive system and then the bladder and out. Salt is really sodium, whereas most of the substance we lose in sweat is potasium. so plenty of bannanas and potato skins. A cracker I was taught about general health and wellbeing regarding water is, The solution to polution is dilution.

[ged]

... Salt is really sodium, whereas most of the substance we lose in sweat is potasium. ...

No, there is five to ten times as much sodium in sweat than there is potassium.

http://www.saltstick.com/products/sscaps/cpotassium.htm
http://www.runtheplanet.com/training...ition/salt.asp
http://www.hillrunner.com/jim2/id55.html
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09355.html
http://netwellness.org/question.cfm/1143.htm

[Laurentius]

Personally I think there are no absolutes to this, and that it depends upon the individual and physique.

Following the current scare mongering advice, I would end up carrying far more weight in water than I need to somewhat decreasing the object

Yes my urine does sometimes get somewhat dark, yes I do sweat like the proverbial pig, but I have survived these fifty odd years without dehydration nonetheless.

[santaman2000]

You can be fooled by thirst response. I once drank 9 litres of pure water because I was thirsty. that was dangerous as I really needed electrolytes. I Cld have washed out.
I have naturally low blood.pressure. I've blacked out before now after a long hot walk. It might have been down to low pressure and it being made worse due to low blood volume. A potential result of dehydration. It's kind of the reason the nat blood service make you drink water before giving blood.
Try half flat, full sugar coke with water or the same mix of fresh orange juice and water but with a pinch of salt. I've heard those two mics are just abt isotonic to get into system quicker. Think it's abt 5% solution.

Sounds more like low blood sugar than anything. Adding sugar to your drink will get that into your system faster by far and raise your blood sugar levels. BUT!!! it's actually NOT good for rehydration. Sugar would do the opposite for dehydration; the liquid will raise your hydration levels temporarily, but the sugar would then act as a diuretic.