Drinking water is uttermost important for your body specifically for those who are physically active since it keeps you hydrated. If you are dehydrated, you quickly become exhausted while your overall performance decreases.
What are the benefits of consuming water?
- Controls body temperature
- Maintains blood volume
- Helps in digestion & clears waste
- Helps with neuron function
With loss of water mass the body temperature goes down, heart rate goes up & strength & muscle performance decreases. Even if you are not exercising hard, your body lose fluids due to lot of activities performed during the day. Hence higher the intensity of workout will lead to more fluid loss.
So how much water you need?
Ideally you need a minimum of 8 cups of water. However depending upon gender & activity level, the daily water consumption may vary from 2.2 litres (9 cups of water) for female to 3 litres (12 cups of water) that will help you to stay hydrated.
You may consume more than minimum daily water requirement however you should be careful hydrating with other liquids since it may contain salt or sugar.
Fruit/Vegetable juice can be a great way to stay hydrated only if it’s purely made of real fruits or vegetables. Avoid consuming packaged juices since they are nothing but blend of added sugars. Prefer consuming more of vegetable juices since they are rich in fiber. Consume low fat or skimmed milk having fat less than 2%. You can also have tea of coffee, but it should not exceed more than 3 cups a day. Limit the consumption of Soda since they are high in sugar & calories.
Whether sports drinks keep you hydrated
Over a period of time sports drinks have been preferred by a lot of fitness aspirants since they contain electrolytes & have ability to supercharge your body during workout by preventing exhaustion & other dehydration symptoms. But the question arises do you really need them or they are just way of adding sugar to your diet?
There has been huge speculation about whether carbohydrate & electrolyte filled sport drinks help people become hydrated after high intensity exercise. Such drinks do help in replenishing carbohydrates & hydrating those who are physically active.
If you doing moderate or high intense workout for more than an hour or indulging in workout in a hot environment, then sports drinks are perfect for you. However, if you are not indulging in regular workout sessions as mentioned above, water is the best option to stay hydrated. In such situation any loss of nutrients can be recovered through normal diet & their urgent recovery is not required.
Having 2 to 3 cups of water/sports drink one hour before the workout & within half an hour post workout is an effective way of quick recovery through replenishment of macronutrients.
