STAY HYDRATED!

While we are paddling on the water, there is water all around us, and sometimes we forget that we should actually be drinking water on a regular basis.

It is important to drink enough water for your body to function. Studies have shown that water loss causes performance issues. In extreme cases, as in a desert, or extreme sports, your body can lose so much water through sweat that your blood turns to sludge and your heart can not pump it through your veins anymore. That is how people die in the desert.

When you are participating in sports or moderate exercise, very often, your body blunts your thirst mechanism. So it is important NOT TO WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE THIRSTY to drink. Headaches, confusion, and cramping are signs that you are dehydrated, but by then, you are seriously dehydrated, and it may take hours to recover. This often combines with heat exhaustion and compounds the dangers from both.

While we are paddling on the water, there is water all around us, and sometimes we forget that we should actually be drinking water on a regular basis.

To remedy or prevent this, make it a habit to take enough bottles of water for the entire trip, and drink from them regularly -- maybe every 15 minutes or half hour or so, even if you are not thirsty. This is even more important for children, who have much less body mass, and losing even a slight amount of water can have adverse effects on their bodies. As a parent, we are advised not to wait until children feel they are thirsty, because their “I’m thirsty” mechanism may not be well developed yet, and make sure to have them drink on a regular schedule.

There isn’t a hard and fast rule about exactly how much you should be drinking. The rule of thumb is that you should feel like you have to pee every couple of hours, and the urine should be clear and slightly yellow. If you don’t have to pee all day, and the urine is dark yellow, you haven’t been drinking enough. Every body is different, and the amount of exercise, and salty foods, and the sun and heat are different every day. There isn’t scientific evidence for the “8 glasses of water” rule, but on a camping trip, we estimate that we need about a gallon of water for each person, each day. Much of that goes into cooking, but if you estimate that an adult should drink about two quarts of water per day, that won’t be too far off, and that translates into 8 glasses of 8 ounces. Exercise and heat will change how much you need. I went on a bike ride once where I drank 2 gallons of water over the course of 6 hours, and still lost 4 pounds of water weight by the time I got back home.

I know, having to stop and get out of your boat to go pee is a hassle, but it is important to keep your body in good shape and functioning well, especially while paddling.
STAY HYDRATED!

There is, actually, the opposite danger, of drinking TOO MUCH WATER, which is called “hyponatremia” where your body loses too much salt and electrolytes, and causes your body’s organs to shut down, but it is much rarer, and shouldn’t be used as an excuse to not drink enough water. The issue about losing salt and electrolytes while drinking appropriate amounts of water is a topic for another article, but for now, Stay Hydrated!

Reference: WebMD: www.webmd.com

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The author, Harmon Everett