Drinking water while exercising - now it's bad for you - another study mucks things up.
Go_Mizzou99
Posts: 2,628 Member
Here's the link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/07/01/this-is-what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-drink-too-much-water-during-exercise/
I cut and pasted the text here:
The idea that you should always stay hydrated has been ingrained in many of us since childhood by everyone from Little League coaches to parents. For many athletes that advice has been translated into drinking a lot and drinking often while exercising.
Now a panel of experts says that practice is not only outdated but dangerous. On Tuesday, a group representing sports medicine doctors, physiologists and trainers issued new guidelines telling people to stop drinking in excess during physical activity. Practically speaking, that means you should only drink when you're thirsty.
Writing in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, the specialists said that "aggressive drinking to prevent dehydration is unnecessary and carries with it greater risk."
[Citrus consumption and skin cancer: How real is the link?]
"Fluid intake recommendations suggesting that athletes begin to drink fluids before the onset of the sensation of thirst were targeting those exercising in situations where high sweat rates were present and dehydration could evolve rapidly with known medical and performance outcomes," they said. "Unfortunately, this advice fostered the misconception that thirst is a poor guide to fluid replacement in lower sweat rate situations. We believe that this has facilitated individuals choosing to inadvertently adopt overdrinking."
The dangers of overdrinking can be serious and range from lightheadedness, confusion or nausea to cerebral edema in which the brain swells due to excess water. At least 14 athletes — including a woman who died two days after completing the Marine Corps Marathon in 2002 — are believed to have died from drinking too much during exercise in a condition known as exercise-associated hyponatremia or EAH.
When excess fluids build up up in the body the concentration of sodium can drop precipitously and the kidney become overloaded and are unable to excrete the water load. Cells begin to absorb the water. This can lead to swelling all over the body — most seriously in the brain — which can lead to seizures, coma or even death.
The effects are described in a 2013 article in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise by Oakland University researcher Tamara Hew-Butler, who is a member of the panel who made the new recommendations on Tuesday. Of the 669 finishers, 18.5 percent were dehydrated and 34.9 percent were overhydrated.
Another study, published in the British Journal of Medicine in 2010 by James Winger, a physician in the Loyola University Health System, found that more than 40 percent of 197 runners surveyed in the Chicago area drank in preset amounts or even drinking all they could hold. Winger has described fatalities due to overdrinking of water during exercise as "essentially 100 percent preventable."
The expert panel recommended treating EAH with a saline solution that is three times more concentrated than the normal saline solution given to patients for rehydration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/07/01/this-is-what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-drink-too-much-water-during-exercise/
I cut and pasted the text here:
The idea that you should always stay hydrated has been ingrained in many of us since childhood by everyone from Little League coaches to parents. For many athletes that advice has been translated into drinking a lot and drinking often while exercising.
Now a panel of experts says that practice is not only outdated but dangerous. On Tuesday, a group representing sports medicine doctors, physiologists and trainers issued new guidelines telling people to stop drinking in excess during physical activity. Practically speaking, that means you should only drink when you're thirsty.
Writing in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, the specialists said that "aggressive drinking to prevent dehydration is unnecessary and carries with it greater risk."
[Citrus consumption and skin cancer: How real is the link?]
"Fluid intake recommendations suggesting that athletes begin to drink fluids before the onset of the sensation of thirst were targeting those exercising in situations where high sweat rates were present and dehydration could evolve rapidly with known medical and performance outcomes," they said. "Unfortunately, this advice fostered the misconception that thirst is a poor guide to fluid replacement in lower sweat rate situations. We believe that this has facilitated individuals choosing to inadvertently adopt overdrinking."
The dangers of overdrinking can be serious and range from lightheadedness, confusion or nausea to cerebral edema in which the brain swells due to excess water. At least 14 athletes — including a woman who died two days after completing the Marine Corps Marathon in 2002 — are believed to have died from drinking too much during exercise in a condition known as exercise-associated hyponatremia or EAH.
When excess fluids build up up in the body the concentration of sodium can drop precipitously and the kidney become overloaded and are unable to excrete the water load. Cells begin to absorb the water. This can lead to swelling all over the body — most seriously in the brain — which can lead to seizures, coma or even death.
The effects are described in a 2013 article in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise by Oakland University researcher Tamara Hew-Butler, who is a member of the panel who made the new recommendations on Tuesday. Of the 669 finishers, 18.5 percent were dehydrated and 34.9 percent were overhydrated.
Another study, published in the British Journal of Medicine in 2010 by James Winger, a physician in the Loyola University Health System, found that more than 40 percent of 197 runners surveyed in the Chicago area drank in preset amounts or even drinking all they could hold. Winger has described fatalities due to overdrinking of water during exercise as "essentially 100 percent preventable."
The expert panel recommended treating EAH with a saline solution that is three times more concentrated than the normal saline solution given to patients for rehydration.
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Replies
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That's not a study... it's all biased opinions.
Absolutely no proof what so ever. All I see is "believed to have died from drinking too much during exercise".
Don't go drinking gallons on gallons of water while you workout, but, if you're thirsty drink until content. I've done it for years now. I'm not dead.0 -
All the more reason to drink vodka then?0
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wordIsaackGMOON wrote: »All the more reason to drink vodka then?0 -
The words "in excess" jumped out at me.0
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It's just drinking to excess that's the problem. A better article would have quantified that.0
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Alluminati wrote: »
wordIsaackGMOON wrote: »All the more reason to drink vodka then?
Room for one more? ;-)
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I have no knowledge of the study and am not interested in researching it but many studies are done by people with an agenda to prove before they start. Oftentimes funded by the marketing department of a manufacturer.
People need to be discerning and learn when to ignore "experts" and use common sense.0 -
dying of water over consumption is a very real danger... however I'd have to say that this article didn't really give you any information at all other than reiterating that drinking water to an excess is dangerous.... no duh. It doesn't even give any information on how much is too much.... what sort of activity they were doing etc. Very poorly written article. The only thing that was slightly indicative that it could have some merit was the verbage of water in excess, and even that didn't give much information0
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IsaackGMOON wrote: »All the more reason to drink vodka then?
Where's the "like" button when I need it?
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It seems like what happens in these situations is that a few scientists come out and say, "This may not be optimal..." and a bunch of people put on their tinfoil hats and start running around in circle.
Just use common sense. If you're thirsty and/or sweating more than usual, drink water.0 -
Agreed!Alluminati wrote: »
wordIsaackGMOON wrote: »All the more reason to drink vodka then?
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Proper hydration is key. I don't like to drink a lot of water DURING exercise, because then I feel sloshy and full and gross (just like eating too much junk food before or after a good workout, yeah?). Just make sure you're sipping throughout the day and you'll be fine.0
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They're talking about water intoxication, where you drink so much water that your electrolytes get out of balance. You really have to drink a lot of water to cause this to happen -- we're talking multiple gallons in the span of an hour.0
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your article is about aggressively drinking too much water, not drinking water.0
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I chatted with my neighbour just back from a half-marathon. Her run was gruelling, through heat and humidity she was NOT used to. Her original goal was to get a personal best time, but she changed the goal mid-race to just finish it without ending up in the hospital. She hydrated for two days before the race in anticipation (including needed electrolytes), and near the end of the race she was pouring water over her head to stave off heat stroke. She witnessed racers collapsing and/or going in to seizures along the race way. Her friend, who was shooting for a personal best, had to be carried across the finish line and ended up in the hospital for ten hours.
The lesson? Hydration and self-care is nothing to sneeze at. My guess is that there are a lot more racers running dry than running waterlogged.
It is silly to think that marketers could somehow be interfering with expert opinions about water. Who would benefit? Gatorade?
I am going with a poorly titled and poorly written article.0 -
I read a study once that said 100% of the people who drink water die.0
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jennifer_417 wrote: »It seems like what happens in these situations is that a few scientists come out and say, "This may not be optimal..." and a bunch of people put on their tinfoil hats and start running around in circle.
Just use common sense. If you're thirsty and/or sweating more than usual, drink water.
Plus, you have to make a concerted effort to "over-hydrate". It doesn't happen accidentally.
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VioletRojo wrote: »jennifer_417 wrote: »It seems like what happens in these situations is that a few scientists come out and say, "This may not be optimal..." and a bunch of people put on their tinfoil hats and start running around in circle.
Just use common sense. If you're thirsty and/or sweating more than usual, drink water.
Plus, you have to make a concerted effort to "over-hydrate". It doesn't happen accidentally.
it's exceedingly difficult to do so- you get pretty nauseous from all the water. When I went "out" with my bestie last time- I laughably was handed a pitched with a straw in it to keep me in a drinkable state (I'm light weight and in order to keep up I have to do like 2 glasses of water to 1 glass of beer- otherwise I'll be on the floor in an hour or two).
Anyway- I drank 3 pitchers of water. It was absurd- it kind of sucked. LOL0 -
VioletRojo wrote: »jennifer_417 wrote: »It seems like what happens in these situations is that a few scientists come out and say, "This may not be optimal..." and a bunch of people put on their tinfoil hats and start running around in circle.
Just use common sense. If you're thirsty and/or sweating more than usual, drink water.
Plus, you have to make a concerted effort to "over-hydrate". It doesn't happen accidentally.
it's exceedingly difficult to do so- you get pretty nauseous from all the water. When I went "out" with my bestie last time- I laughably was handed a pitched with a straw in it to keep me in a drinkable state (I'm light weight and in order to keep up I have to do like 2 glasses of water to 1 glass of beer- otherwise I'll be on the floor in an hour or two).
Anyway- I drank 3 pitchers of water. It was absurd- it kind of sucked. LOL
I drink crazy amounts of water when I am out with friends and trying to keep the alcohol consumption down. It is crazy
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beemerphile1 wrote: »I have no knowledge of the study and am not interested in researching it but many studies are done by people with an agenda to prove before they start. Oftentimes funded by the marketing department of a manufacturer.
People need to be discerning and learn when to ignore "experts" and use common sense.
You are absolutely right. I can see the hands of evil Mother Nature all over this one. Her tentacles are... everywhere.
More seriously, over-hydrating is a known risk particularly in distance running and triathlon circles. "Excess" is the key word here. And the article and associated statement are not plugs for the sports drink industry at all. Quite the contrary.
The statement of the Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia conference cited isn't friendly to sports drink manufacturers with terms like "paucity of evidence" being used against their case and traditional arguments more than once. Also:However, it is critical to emphasize that sodium containing sports drinks, which are hypotonic, will not prevent EAH in athletes who overdrink during exercise
And...2. Under-replaced sodium losses contribute to serum [Na+] independent of distance (Grade 1A). However, there is paucity of data supporting sodium loss as the primary mechanism of symptomatic EAH even in those who exercise for prolonged periods of time and in warm weather (Grade 2C). In these cases, relative over-drinking of hypotonic fluids with sustained non-osmotic AVP secretion is likely involved in the development of symptomatic EAH.
Meaning over hydrating with plain water or sports drinks can lead someone to develop EAH.
Feeling thirsty, bottoms up!
PS: I don't consume sports drinks, they simply aren't necessary for the vast majority of people and endeavours, and I don't even carry water on runs shorter than 90 minutes unless I need to carry water for my dog.0 -
In the movie Jarhead, I remember a scene where he had to drink massive amounts of water and it made him spew-guts. So the article must be true.0
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Deaths from hyponatremia (2002 - present) = 14Go_Mizzou99 wrote: »At least 14 athletes including a woman who died two days after completing the Marine Corps Marathon in 2002 are believed to have died from drinking too much during exercise in a condition known as exercise-associated hyponatremia...
MFP Threads regarding "death by water" (2012 - present) = 1,4000 -
Go_Mizzou99 wrote: »"Fluid intake recommendations suggesting that athletes begin to drink fluids before the onset of the sensation of thirst were targeting those exercising in situations where high sweat rates were present and dehydration could evolve rapidly with known medical and performance outcomes," they said. "Unfortunately, this advice fostered the misconception that thirst is a poor guide to fluid replacement in lower sweat rate situations. We believe that this has facilitated individuals choosing to inadvertently adopt overdrinking."
Yes, and heat exhaustion and even STROKE is a real and serious concern. I grew up in the South. The coaches made anyone practicing outside near summertime take extra drink breaks because heat suppresses normal thirst signals. No one was/is telling non-sweaty, non-hot athletes to guzzle water. And they didn't do it when it wasn't hot because when it's not hot, you feel thirsty soon enough.
I also worked a day camp where we made the girls take a drink of water every time they changed activities for the same reason. There were always a couple of girls in the first aid tent with ice water in front of the fans, even with those precautions, because they started to get heat exhaustion. (We were all trained to recognize the signs.)
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Aggressive and to excess. The chances of water intoxication are small as you have to drink a lot in a very short space of time.0
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I'm starting to agree with the article. My.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564296/0 -
I think they are referring more to athletes or more specifically endurance athletes. I am a runner. In the world of ultra marathoning there is a fine line between hydrating and over hydrating. I have known people who have over hydrated and wound up with hyponatremia which is very scary. If you are just an average exerciser then drinking when you're thirsty is fine.0
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beemerphile1 wrote: »I have no knowledge of the study and am not interested in researching it but many studies are done by people with an agenda to prove before they start. Oftentimes funded by the marketing department of a manufacturer.
People need to be discerning and learn when to ignore "experts" and use common sense.
This "common sense" you speak of, where does one find it? May it be purchased? If not, then how does someone go about obtaining it?
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Deaths from hyponatremia (2002 - present) = 14Go_Mizzou99 wrote: »At least 14 athletes including a woman who died two days after completing the Marine Corps Marathon in 2002 are believed to have died from drinking too much during exercise in a condition known as exercise-associated hyponatremia...
MFP Threads regarding "death by water" (2012 - present) = 1,400
Sounds about right...0 -
I spent a summer on the Sinai peninsula ( 110+ degrees ) when I was in the US Army. I was an Infantryman, and we trained every day. We did forced hydration 12 hrs a day, 7 days a week. The hottest parts of the day, it was a quart or more of water an hour.
Drinking that amount of water makes you physically ill ( sick to your stomach ), to the point you have to force yourself to choke it down. And that's not even half of what you would have to consume in order to achieve water intoxication.
Its just not gonna happen in the gym or on a jog.
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If you are sweating tons for long stretches... hours upon hours... then you need replace some fluids with an electrolyte replacer for sodium loss.0
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