Liquid For Your Active Body

It has always been recommended to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day under normal conditions. This helps your body maintain hydrated and keep your body fit and functioning properly. The more activities you are engaged in the more water and fluids your body will need and it would be prudent to drink water even before you get thirsty. Keeping yourself properly hydrated should not be taken lightly since oftentimes, people tend to underestimate the liquids lost in their bodies and end up finding themselves in the hospital.
Here are some hydration tips to take note of:
1. Remember that your daily water intake does not only come from pure water, you also need to consider other liquids such as tea and fruit juices and coffee whose main ingredient is still water.
2. When doing extreme activities and exercise it is not enough to just be drinking water. Other nutrients and electrolytes are also removed from your body and would need replacement. This is why sports drinks have been developed to help replenish these vital electrolytes that are lost by the body. These are situations where you can not just rely on water alone to keep you hydrated and you would need these special drinks to help your body stay in top condition and well hydrated.
3. One good practice you can do is take water before and after sleep for even in sleep your body loses liquid.
4. And when you are subjected to high temperature take cool water since it is easier for the body to absorb cool water than warm water. This does not only keeps you hydrated during the hot season but also helps cool your body.
Myths and misconceptions about Hydration
There are certain beliefs that are now being proven to be totally wrong with regard to keeping our body properly hydrated.
1. A situation like we should only drink when thirsty is a big misconception since we should be drinking water even before we get thirsty. The feeling of thirst already signifies that we have lost vital fluids and electrolytes in out body and the body is calling out for hydration.
2. Often people would not want to drink anything before exercising since it makes them feel heavy. This notion can result in your body being dehydrated. It is recommended that one should drink one to two cups of water at least 30 minutes before engaging in exercise.
3. We should also keep drinking even after we are no longer thirsty. Quenching your thirst does not automatically mean that you have hydrated your body well enough.
Dehydration and Over hydration
Preventing yourself from becoming dehydrated is as important as preventing yourself from over hydration. Most often is the case of dehydration than over hydration and normal people would often suffer more on dehydration. However certain individuals like athletes can suffer from excessive water where the sodium levels in their blood would drop to critical levels causing body harm. This can lead to brain, hearing and muscle damage, with the victims often exhibiting symptoms such as dizziness, nausea and confusion. These symptoms are also similar one who is suffering from dehydration.