Staying Hydrated

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 4:24 pm

I just read a real good article on how to calculate how much water you need daily, and some rules of thumb on how to train yourself to get enough water into you. It's written with cancer patients in mind, but there's some good info for everyone.

Recipes for Healthy Hydration
amgen.com
Hydration and Vitality for Cancer Patients
By Daniella Chace, MS, CN, Nutritionist

The amount and quality of water we take in on a daily basis can dramatically affect our health. The human body is comprised of approximately three-quarters water. Not only is it part of our composition, but water is required for nearly all important processes that take place in our body, including metabolism, nerve conduction, vision, brain, and immune function. The amount of water we have stored in our blood and tissues varies depending on the time of day, our level of activity, and many other factors.

How Much Water Is Enough?

Here is an easy formula to help you calculate how much water to drink each day: Divide your body weight in half; that number represents the minimum amount of water (in ounces) you should drink each day. For example, if you weigh 130 pounds, your daily water consumption should be a minimum of 65 ounces. If you exercise or live in a dry climate, you’ll need to drink even more.

How Do You Know if You Need More Water?

You can train yourself to be aware of the signs of dehydration such as

* Dry mouth
* Low or no urine output; urine that appears dark yellow
* Dry eyes
* Chapped lips
* Fatigue
* Constipation
* Lightheadedness

Will Any Water Do?

City water supplies are typically treated with chlorine to kill infectious organisms. Chlorinated drinking water appears to be associated with an increased risk of cancer. Studies show that chlorinated disinfection by-products (CDBPs) are created when chlorine breaks down organic matter such as bacteria. These CDBPs have been associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer and pancreatic cancer. 4 One study found this to account for 5000 cases of bladder cancer and 8000 cases of rectal cancer per year in the United States.1,2

In addition, city water supplies may also pick up contaminants from the pipes that carry the water to and throughout your house.

Home water filtration systems give you the most control over the quality of your water. An activated, solid carbon, charcoal filter is a good choice for a home filtration system. Activated carbon filters remove chlorine by binding with chlorine molecules and holding them in the matrix of the filter. A solid carbon filter will remove all organic matter and most heavy metals—the pore spaces are so small that these relatively large particles are removed as they pass through the filter. The water is forced through the cone shaped pores, thus catching the organisms and contaminants in the filter.

When at a restaurant or traveling, bottled water is a good choice. Look for water in glass bottles. The benefit of drinking water from glass, rather than plastics, is in avoiding the harmful substances called phthalates that are released from plastics. These chemicals are known to interfere with hormones, causing health problems such as ovarian cysts and fibroid tumors.

Water In, Water Out

If you are already feeling like you drink plenty of water but you still experience signs of dehydration, you may need more electrolytes. Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and chromium help your body to absorb the water that you drink.

Adding electrolytes to your water is easy! Try adding ¼ cup of fruit juice to each cup of water, drink fresh fruit smoothies or add electrolyte powder to your water. Just getting the recommended 5 to12 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet daily will provide you with the electrolytes you need.

It’s best to avoid sports drinks, which contain potentially harmful ingredients like food colorings (many of which are carcinogenic), corn syrup (a low quality sugar), and preservatives.

Staying Hydrated

Once you have mastered water absorption with high quality water intake and electrolytes, the next goal is to encourage your cells to hold onto that water. This is not to be mistaken for water retention or edema, which is an undesirable situation that occurs when the amount of water stored betweens the cells is increased.

Your cells retain hydration when they maintain a healthy lipid layer.3 This lipid layer is made from EFAs. EFAs are essential fatty acids and come from food. The word essential means that your body cannot produce them itself, and they must be taken in through your diet. For example, Docosahexaenoic (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) come from fish such as sardines, wild salmon, and trout; Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) comes from plant sources such as nuts, nut butters, seeds, and avocados.

If you are not eating these foods on a regular basis, try adding flax oil or ground flaxseed to smoothies or salad dressings to supply your diet with GLA. Or, you can assure you are getting sufficient EFAs by adding one of the following supplements to your diet:

* Evening Primrose Oil (a rich source of GLA)
* Coromega orange flavored fish oil (contains DHA and EPA)
* Thorne Research Omega Plus (contains GLA, DHA, and EPA)

Tips for Learning to Drink More Water

If you are not accustomed to drinking a lot of water, you may not be getting accurate thirst signals. You may need to find some new patterns for getting water in until you adjust. When you learn to recognize these signals, you’ll be amazed at how your body complains when you don’t give it enough water.

Here are a few tricks to help get your body kick started:

* Drink 16 ounces of water first thing when you wake up to jump start your metabolism and wake you up.
* Sip water while you’re at the movies or watching TV.
* Keep water at your desk and with you in the car.
* Add vitamin C, electrolytes, lemon, lime, or other fruit juice to your water to keep it interesting.
* If you drink coffee, tea, or other diuretics be sure to drink at least one additional glass of water for every diuretic drink you take in.
* Drink herbal teas, which are generally not diuretic.

One basic formula that fits most of our water needs is to try to drink at least eight ounces (one cup) every hour from the time you wake up until you fall asleep. Try this for at least three days. Most people report clearer thinking, less back and joint pain, less constipation, better vision and increased energy. The result: lifelong dedication to maintaining healthy hydration.

Links: http://www.pure-drinking-water-filters.com/index.html

1 Do MT, Birkett NJ, Johnson KC, Krewski D, Villeneuve P; Canadian Cancer Registries Epidemiology Research Group. Chlorination disinfection by-products and pancreatic cancer risk. Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Apr;113(4):418-24.

2Morris RD, Drinking water and cancer, Environ Health Perspective. 1995 Nov;103 Suppl 8:225-31

3Zamaria N. Alteration of polyunsaturated fatty acid status and metabolism in health and disease. Reprod Nutr Dev. 2004 May-Jun;44(3):273-82.

Copyright ©2006 CancerConsultants.com. All Rights Reserved.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 5:08 pm

Here's a couple recipes for smoothies, from the same newsletter:

Recipes

Banana Soother
Bananas are a natural source of potassium, an electrolyte that most of us don’t get enough of. This simple smoothie recipe can serve as a light morning breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.

1 cup rice milk
1 frozen banana, cut into pieces
4 to 5 mint leaves
Blend all ingredients in blender and serve cold.

This recipe is from Smoothies for Life By Daniella Chace and Maureen Keane.

Spa Water
This is the refreshing cooler served at the famous Indian Springs Spa in Calistoga, California. If you have trouble drinking enough water, this may be just what you need. This water is rich in electrolytes from the cucumber and lemon, which helps your cells absorb the water.

Purified water
1 organic cucumber, peeled and seeded
1/4 organic lemon, washed a sliced

Slice cucumber lengthwise into quarters. Fill a glass pitcher with water, add lemon and cucumber slices and serve immediately or store in refrigerator for up to two days. As you drink this electrolyte water, add more purified water, which will continue to pull the electrolytes from the lemon and cucumber.

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:25 pm

Watch out for hyponatremia which can cause comas and death:

http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/salt.html

For some reason, women are more prone to hyponatremia than men:
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art ... =3859&rd=1

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:41 pm

"Smoothies"...

Here's the Captain Goddammit Fruit Boozie recipe;
In the blender, add ice (therefore water, for hydration)
one banana
one can of sliced peaches
some strawberry daiquiri mix
lots of rum and tequila

This is REALLY good stuff.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:43 pm

I'm sure it is but alcohol is DEhydrating. It takes water OUT of your system. Maybe the Bar folks would have a better use for it?

Atar · Post by **Atar** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:44 am

Alcohol takes water out of your system because it inhibits a hormone called ADH. This hormone normally controls your water out-take by reducing the amount of water that is thrown out by the kidneys. If ADH is not working correctly, because of those 6 shots of tequila you had, the kidneys will see this as a sign to dump the water and you will dehydrate. There is no cure for this situation! This is just the way the human body works, though you can try to fight it by drinking more water.
The spliting headache has to do with alcohol passing the blood/brain barrier and lounging around in the brain when you sober up.

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:53 pm

The sure-fire help for hangover is... yep... oxygen and hydration. Works every time.

If you're in more of a hurry, tho, the hair works. But hydration is STILL important, as is the air.

A lot of the time hangover is caused by mixing incompatable alcohol byproducts together - ergo the old saying "Mixing the grape with the grain will put you in pain" and "mixing amber and clear gives you something to fear"... Also drinking booze with a high "sweet" sugar content can do it to you. (Remember your last jaegarmeister, goldschlager, or peppermint schnapps hangover?) ...

Good ways to lessen hangover? Keep hydrated while you drink. Switch to compatable beverages if you must (brandy (including cognac), or grappa to wine, grain alcohols to beer, or anything to soda), keep away from drinks that mix boozes (like Long Island Ice Tea) or over-imbibing on sweet booze, and limiting your alcohol intake. Of course, the 2 biggest things you can do?

Stay hydrated, and stay breathing!

See ya at the kantina...
bb

Rockdad · Post by **Rockdad** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 10:58 pm

Funny thing my 18 year old son just laughs when I try to get him to go to Burning Man with me, My 20 year old daughter is a burner at heart already with just SFDecomp under her belt and will probably be on the Playa with me this year but they both just love to remind everyone to Piss Clear!

R1Z · Post by **R1Z** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:23 pm

Check out

http://www.hammernutrition.com.au/fueling-guides.htm

It's geared toward athletes, but the science is there.

Staying Hydrated

Have you hydrated recently?

Staying Hydrated