Sports and proper hydration. The importance of skin hydration

Hydration is a term used to describe your body's ability to manage its water resources at all levels, down to individual cells. Proper hydration depends on the cellular uptake of water, not just the body's water intake. The amount of water we drink alone is not enough to ensure optimal hydration of the body.

If you hydrate your body well, then it takes the water you drink (and get with food) and carries it to all the cells in your body that need it, carrying with the water everything necessary for these cells nutrients. A well-hydrated body is able to use this cellular water to flush waste products and toxins out of the cells and deliver them to the excretory organs. In a poorly hydrated body, these processes occur sluggishly or are absent altogether. Without water, nutrients are unavailable to cells and go to waste. The products of cell activity reach high level and become toxic.

Despite the fact that hydration is one of the most fundamental processes in healthy body, she does not receive due attention among medical workers and the population as a whole.

This article is the beginning of the publication of a series of articles devoted to body hydration, which will tell you, the readers of my blog “Beautiful and Successful,” about the dynamics of the hydration process, show you its effect on health and illness, and advise how to improve the hydration state of your body.

How important is water?

Water plays several roles in human body. It provides conditions for the movement of heat from the center of the body to the surface. She provides biochemical reactions, which together make up cellular metabolism. Water - transport mechanism for all internal movements of all nutrients and molecules, exchange of nutrients between environment and cells, and the removal of unnecessary products.

Water is the most important nutrient the body uses. It is rightly considered a nutrient because it is necessary element in many, if not all, biochemical processes. Proper metabolism of all other nutrients depends on the availability of sufficient water for biochemical processes.

Macronutrients (nutrients required in relatively large quantities daily)—protein, carbohydrates, and fat—require water to be properly assimilated and used. All micronutrients (nutrients required in smaller quantities or less frequently) including vitamins and minerals, also require water for proper functioning and distribution.

There is such a remarkable fact: after active training of high-level swimmers or water polo players, it becomes noticeable in the pool more water than it was before the training. But there is no need to rush to blame athletes for poor upbringing; the matter is completely different. When exercising in water, a person also sweats and loses as much fluid as on land, or even more. In terms of fluid loss, training in water is equivalent to exercising in a hot environment where a person loses great amount water. It is very important to compensate for fluid loss during swimming training, and pool water, unfortunately, is a bad helper in this matter.

What does fluid loss mean for you?

According to European scientists dealing with the problem of dehydration during active training, even the loss of 1% of fluid from body weight significantly reduces the body's performance, reduces endurance and strength. That is, training becomes less effective. Loss of more than 3% fluid from total mass body has harmful consequences for health. This is especially harmful for the heart. In addition, loss of moisture in the body's cells negatively affects protein synthesis, which, in turn, leads to a decrease in muscle mass, strength, endurance and increases the body's recovery time after exercise.

It is not difficult to avoid all these unpleasant consequences, especially if you adhere to certain rules.

An hour and a half before training, you need to consume about 500 ml. water or a sports drink to saturate the body with fluid and prepare it for serious exercise. Don't go for sports drinks; in many cases, water is great option for high-quality hydration of the body during sports. In what situations you should switch from water to sports drinks, we will look at a little later, and now the next simple but necessary point.

During training, you should take every opportunity to drink some water or a sports drink (1-2 small sips). It is desirable if these convenient cases arise regularly with a certain frequency. Convenience and quick access to water are important here. Naturally, bottles with caps are not suitable, since a lot of time is spent on opening and closing. You can’t leave the bottle open either, as splashes from the pool can spoil the water, and besides, it can always be dropped. An excellent choice would be special Proswim.ru invites you to pay attention to bottles from Arena, Speedo and Nike. This perfect option for the pool. They open in a second and close as well. You don't have to worry about something getting in there or the drink spilling from the bottle.

Last but not least milestone hydration of the body occurs after training. It should start as soon as possible after completion physical exercise. The amount of fluid you need to drink after a workout depends on the intensity of the workout, as well as how often you drank during the workout. The more intense and longer the workout, the more fluid you need. On average you need to consume about 500 ml. liquids.

Now let's consider the question of what to choose, plain water, or an isotonic drink? Again, depends on the intensity and length of your training sessions. If the workout lasts more than an hour and a half, it is advisable to use a sports drink. What criteria should you use to choose an isotonic drink? Firstly, it must contain necessary for the body calcium, magnesium and potassium salts, since during training they are washed out with sweat. Secondly, the drink should have enough simple carbohydrates(fructose, glucose) so that it helps the body recover faster. Here are two main requirements. Many drinks also contain vitamins and other various substances. For example, there are isotonic drinks with L-carnitine. During physical activity, this substance significantly accelerates the breakdown of fat cells to obtain additional energy. You gain more strength and also burn efficiently. excess fat. It should be noted that usually high-quality isotonic drinks are harmless to health, but there are contraindications for intolerance to some components, so always carefully read the composition of the drink.

Follow the above tips for hydrating your body, and from the first workout you will feel that fatigue comes later, feel much better after training, and recovery takes much less time!

Considering that our bodies are made up of more than 50% water, it is not surprising that H20 is one of the the most important sources energy for the body.

We lose large amounts of water every day, and these fluids need to be replenished regularly. But the usual ways of drinking water only deliver it to other parts of the body before it reaches our skin.

Of course, additional hydration of the body is just as important as moisturizing the skin, but applying moisturizer directly to your skin has crucial not only for general health, but also for appearance.

Let's first look at how proper hydration can affect the body.

The Importance of Body Hydration

Staying well hydrated provides a number of benefits to the body, both internally and externally. These include:

Weight maintenance. Did you know that the feeling of hunger you get may simply be a result of thirst? Your cells tend to send "fat signals" to your brain when your body is not properly hydrated. Therefore, drinking another glass of water regularly will help you feel full. At the same time, drinking fluid can help your body flush out by-products fats and other toxins. To reap new healthy benefits, try starting each morning with a glass of lemon water.
Mental benefits. Not only does staying hydrated help balance your mood, regulate body condition and brain function, staying hydrated has a significant impact on your memory. Yes it's true! Proper hydration can help improve the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain, and ultimately helps strengthen cognitive function and memory.
Fighting fatigue. It's simple here: a well-hydrated body is a well-activated body. Combine this with the fact that hydration can help improve sleep. However, don't forget that excessive consumption water in evening time days can lead to frequent visits to the toilet.
Demotion blood pressure and high cholesterol. You already know the importance of maintaining blood pressure and keep cholesterol levels low to improve overall health and heart function. Staying adequately hydrated helps keep both of these things under control. How? Hydration not only helps maintain good blood flow through your veins and arteries. Sufficient hydration prevents production large quantity cholesterol, which often happens when your body is not enriched enough water.
Restoration of cartilage and damage. Since most of the padding in our cartilage is water, not drinking enough can cause the bones to wear out quickly. Hydrating the body helps keep our muscles lubricated, strong and tight, so it is important to replenish fluids lost during exercise.
Slow aging process. Our organs require water to maintain their peak levels of function. When our bodies become dehydrated, our organs remain more active - a result that can lead to rapid aging.

And now about maintaining sufficient skin moisture...

The importance of skin hydration

Of course, the skin needs hydration just as much as the body. For what? The answer is simple - like any other part of the body, the skin is an organ (and the largest one at that) that requires sufficient hydration to achieve the best results.

The effect of sufficient skin care and maintaining sufficient hydration:

Slow aging process. Of course, not all aspects of the aging process, but at least visible signs its premature manifestation. Keeping your skin well hydrated can help maintain its elasticity and fight the appearance of those dreaded wrinkles.
Xgood appearance skin. This point goes hand in hand with the benefit mentioned above. It probably won't surprise you, but a lack of hydration can leave your skin feeling dry, flaky, and tight. Keeping your skin hydrated not only helps it appear firmer and more elastic, but also eliminates superficial roughness by combating the buildup of dead cells.
Getting rid of toxins. With proper hydration, your skin becomes more radiant and healthy looking. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for skin that lacks hydration. This is because the skin cannot rid itself of toxins without adequate moisture, leading to irritation and inflammation.
Fighting oiliness and acne. Although it may seem counterintuitive at first, dehydrated skin sends signals to the glands to produce more oil as defense mechanism. By keeping your skin well hydrated, it becomes less oily and generally less prone to breakouts.

Do you know the difference between hydration products and moisturizing products?

Hydration Products formulated in such a way as to help increase the water content of the skin.

Humidifiers help prevent water evaporation from the skin.

Simple, isn't it?

The facts are obvious - even a little hydration of the body and moisturizing of the skin gives them health and a beautiful appearance.

Changes in the degree of hydration depending on the factors causing post-mortem rigor were studied by Gamm. They found that immediately after slaughter the muscle is in a state of very high hydration. During subsequent storage for 1-2 days, a strong drop in the ability of meat to bind moisture is observed. Post-mortem changes in hydration have great importance for meat processing and influence the increase in its rigidity during the onset of post-mortem rigor. As the author has shown, this phenomenon is caused by the fact that the minimum hydration and maximum rigidity after the slaughter of an animal coincide in time. By 24 hours of storage, the content of bound water in meat decreases from 90 to 72-75% of the total moisture of the meat.
The decrease in muscle protein hydration is partly explained by a drop in muscle pH from 7.0 to a value close to the isoelectric point of muscle proteins (pH 5.0-5.5). But the loss of meat’s ability to bind moisture cannot be explained only by a drop in pH, since the separation of muscle juice occurs even when the pH decreases slightly. For example, this occurs in the meat of tired animals whose glycogen content was very low before slaughter. The decisive factor in reducing the ability to bind water is the breakdown of ATP. The author showed that a strong drop in the ability to bind water by the muscles of cattle within the first two days after slaughter should be attributed to approximately 2/3 due to the breakdown of ATP and only 1/3 due to a drop in pH due to the accumulation of lactic acid.
When studying the effect of ATP supplementation on muscle hydration cattle Gamm discovered the dependence of the effect on ATP concentration and duration of meat storage. In hot-steamed meat, the ATP content even at a concentration of 0.0015 mol causes softening of tissues and an increase in their hydration. This is approximately the amount that, according to Marsh, corresponds to the concentration required to increase the volume of crushed muscle tissue under the influence of the Marsh-Bendall factor (0.0016 M).
IN beef meat ATP in concentrations below 0.0005 M always has a contracting and dehydrating effect. This ability to contract with the addition of ATP also remains after long-term storage.
If the ATP concentration exceeds 0.0012-0.0015 M, ATP has a hydrating and softening effect on the stored muscle. Therefore, with these comparatively high concentrations ATP breakdown is not fast enough to cause immediate contraction. This softening effect does not appear for long, since after just a few minutes, contraction occurs and the ability to bind water greatly decreases with the progressive breakdown of ATP.
The hydration increased as a result of increasing the ATP concentration to 0.015 M during subsequent storage of meat only slightly decreases and the decrease is not observed at all at an ATP concentration of 0.03 M.

It has long been noticed that after active training of high-level swimmers or water polo players, there is noticeably more water in the pool than before the start of training. However, this is not due to the poor education of athletes, but to completely different factors. During training, a person in the water also sweats, losing a lot of water, as on land, and sometimes more. In terms of fluid loss, training in water can be compared to training in a hot environment, where a huge amount of water comes out of a person. It is very important to compensate for fluid loss during swimming training, and in this matter, water from the pool is not a suitable assistant.

Why is fluid loss dangerous? European scientists, who were concerned with the problem of dehydration during active training, came to the conclusion that even with the loss of 1% of fluid from the mass, the body suffers greatly. Due to dehydration, performance decreases, strength and endurance decrease. That is, the effectiveness of training decreases noticeably. When you lose more than 3% of body weight fluid, the health consequences become very harmful. The heart suffers in particular. Loss of moisture in the body's cells changes the processes of protein synthesis, and this reduces muscle mass, strength indicators, endurance. After such stress, the body takes a very long time to recover.

All these unpleasant consequences may not affect you if you adhere to a list of important rules.

1-1.5 hours before training, you need to drink about half a liter of water or a special sports drink so that the body is saturated with fluid and prepared for serious stress. You should not chase sports drinks, the most effective means Water is essential for good hydration during sports. A little later we will describe in what cases it is appropriate to switch from water to sports drinks, but now the next point, which is no less important.

During training, you need to take 1-2 sips of water or a sports drink at every opportunity. It is best to do this regularly with a certain frequency. It would be good if quick access to water and maximum convenience were provided. Of course, a bottle with a cap is not an appropriate option, since it takes a lot of time to open and close. You should not leave the bottle open, as splashes from the pool can spoil the water, or someone may drop it. Special sports water bottles are the most best option. You can pay attention to products from companies such as Arena, Speedo and Nike. This is the most the best option for the pool. They can be opened or closed instantly. The drink won't spill and nothing will get inside.

The last, but also very significant stage of dehydration occurs after training. It should begin as soon as possible after completion of training. The amount of fluid you need to drink in this case depends on the intensity of the workout and how often you drank during the process. The longer and more intense the classes, the large quantity liquid required. The average value is 0.5 liters.

Now we can move on to the question of choosing, regular water or an isotonic drink? It all depends on the duration and intensity of the training. If the session lasts more than 1.5 hours, then it would be better to choose a sports drink. By what criteria to choose it? First of all, it should contain calcium, potassium and magnesium salts that are important for the body, since during training they are released along with sweat. In addition, the drink must contain required amount simple carbohydrates in the form of fructose and glucose, which allows the body to recover much faster. These two requirements are basic. Many drinks contain vitamins and other substances. For example, there are isotonic drinks that contain L-carotene. This substance allows you to significantly accelerate the breakdown of fat cells during physical activity to get an extra dose of energy. This gives more strength, while allowing you to burn fat cells more effective. Usually, high-quality isotonic drinks are not harmful to health, but there are contraindications that relate to intolerance to certain components. You should always read the ingredients of a drink before drinking it.