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Franknozly
36
Mar 15, 2018
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PSA: Drink When Thirsty
I recently read an article about over-hydration and how people have been systematically programmed into doing something harmful. The article talks about "Drinking When Thirsty" is a mechanism your brain and body has finely tuned since the beginning of time and that the propaganda of recommend x-cups-of-water-per-day or forcing yourself to drink water before exercise is actually something that sports drink companies have been shovelling down everyone's throats without any medical evidence.
Take a look at these articles and Google all the multitude medical journals that talk about this issue: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/296081.php https://wolterskluwer.com/company/newsroom/news/2015/06/drink-when-thirsty-to-avoid-fatal-drops-in-blood-sodium-levels-during-exercise.html
Basically your brain has several mechanisms that activate during exercise that divert water to where it is needed. Organs such as stomach and kidneys shut down, blood is diverted to muscles/limbs that need it, and urine production is reduced. Naturally when exercising your urine will be darker and yellow. In this state, if you force yourself to drink more water than necessary, it will put unnecessary strain on your body to get rid of the water, potentially causing life-threatening issues.
Furthermore, for millions of years, animals and humans have been relying on their thirst to tell them when to drink and if the species hasn't died off then we must be doing something right. Also apparently dehydration doesn't occur for hours after the thirst signal begins, you would have to ignore the thirst for hours and continue doing exercise before dehydration sets in (assuming you're not losing a lot more water due to heat/sun-stroke/humidity). Dehydration also has not been shown to have any statistical correlation with muscle cramps so that myth is blown out of the water.
So, please, do yourself and favor and only drink when thirsty. Don't over-carry water, figure out how much water you actually consume doing regular exercise, extrapolate for future hikes/excursions, and consider just carrying a water filter and drinking directly from the source.
Mar 15, 2018
Vizdrum
40
Mar 16, 2018
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FranknozlyThe same happened with milk. As far as I am concerned I noticed that hiking became easier when drinking small sips during strenuous effort. For example I now drink a small sip or two when going uphill and if it requires effort. I started doing so after something that happened during a hike: I don't drink much in general and in pseudo survival situations even less, so I was walking for about 30km without drinking (temperature was about 30'C the whole day), when my stay for the night was in sight I decided to drink some water (that I had been saving preciously) , then I noticed that the colors slowly came back in my vision, without me noticing I had been seeing in black and white for a while. So now I drink when I sort of climb, it serves as a reminder because I am don't really pay attention either to my hunger or my thirst.
To each his own. It is true however that I have seen people carrying so much water that they hardly could walk and ended up more thirsty much faster ...
Mar 16, 2018
mentalfuzz
2
Mar 16, 2018
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FranknozlyI wonder how the “drink before you’re thirsty” mantra began. I’m guessing that it was a response to several reports of hikers ending up at the Emergency Room because of dehydration (which can be a serious issue). In an attempt to prevent additional cases, someone proposed the “drink before you’re thirsty” concept - which worked at preventing dehydration, but did not address the root cause.
Hikers need to be aware of their surroundings and their bodies. Stay aware of your surroundings and learn to listen to the messages your body is sending.
Mar 16, 2018
jweaks
52
Mar 19, 2018
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Franknozly" So, please, do yourself and favor and only drink when thirsty. Don't over-carry water, figure out how much water you actually consume doing regular exercise, extrapolate for future hikes/excursions, and consider just carrying a water filter and drinking directly from the source. "
^Best comment. K.I.S.S. I only haul what I must. Plan water stops. I use Aquatabs + a small filter.
Mar 19, 2018
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