Water is a basic necessity for all life. Without it, life can't exist. Even when water is limited, living organisms suffer. You are no exception. For young athletes like yourself, not enough water means you can't do your best. It can even cause serious health problems.
Our blood circulates like an ocean within us. The water in blood helps carry nutrients and energy to our body cells. It also carries waste products away from our cells for excretion from our body. Water helps regulate our body temperature, too--an important factor for all of us.
As a young athlete, you have a special need for water. When you participate in a sport like football or track, you burn a lot of food energy (called calories). Some of that unleashed energy powers muscles. But some of that energy is released as heat. Water keeps you from overheating. Sweating and evaporation from the skin cools you down. However, water is lost in the cooling process. That can be dangerous if the water is not replenished. If you run low on water, your body can overheat, like a car that is low on cooling fluid. Losing just two percent of the body's water can hurt performance. A five percent loss can cause heat exhaustion. A seven percent to ten percent loss can result in heat stroke and death. Dehydration can kill.
Thirst is your body's signal that you need to drink water. By the time you feel thirsty, you may have already lost one percent to two percent of your water--and that's enough to hurt performance. But just drinking enough to satisfy your thirst may not supply your body's needs. If you drink only enough to satisfy your thirst, your body may take up to 24 hours to fully re-hydrate its cells and regain maximum performance.
When you participate in a sporting event or practice session, follow these guidelines:
Avoid Drinks with Caffeine
Some drinks that have caffeine, such as colas and iced tea, are advertised as thirst quenchers. Do not use caffeine-containing beverages as fluid rehydration drinks shortly before, during, and after a practice or competition. Caffeine acts as a diuretic. It increases urine output and can promote dehydration.
Are Sports Drinks Necessary?
Your biggest concern is getting enough water--pure, cool water. Even the salt you lose while sweating can be easily replaced by adding salt to foods.
Plain, cool water is the fluid of choice when the actual exercise does not last longer than 60 to 90 minutes. And that includes most situations, even a tough practice session, a hard-fought football game, or a track meet. You don't need an energy source in the fluid you drink to rehydrate. During these normal situations, if you have been eating and training properly, you should have enough energy stored as liver and muscle glycogen to power you through.
However, in some situations where the exercise is unusually long or several games occur in a short period of time, sport drinks containing carbohydrates and electrolytes may offer you an advantage. During these situations, you may run low on energy and electrolytes. For example, if you are a long-distance cyclist, you should consider using a sport drink. If you must compete in a tournament that has more than one game a day or several games in just a few days, you could benefit from a sport drink that supplements your energy and electrolyte supply.
If you use a sport drink, pick one that has less than eight percent total solids (carbohydrates, electrolytes). More concentrated solutions can delay fluid absorption. They must be diluted with plain water before you use them as a fluid replacement drink. Also, avoid sport drinks that contain fructose as the only source of carbohydrate. Fructose may delay gastric emptying of fluid and cause upset stomach. And fructose must first be converted to glucose before it can be used for energy. This conversion means you can't use fructose as an energy source as quickly as other carbohydrates.
