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 cellular water uptake, not just water intake by the body. Just the amount of water that we use to drink is not enough to ensure optimal hydration of the body.

If you moisturize your body well, then it takes the water that you drink (and get with food) and it goes to all the cells in your body that need it, carrying with water everything necessary for these cells. nutrients. A well-hydrated body is able to use this cellular water to flush waste products and toxins from 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 not available to cells and are wasted. The products of cell activity reach high level and become toxic.

Although hydration is one of the most fundamental processes in healthy body, it does not receive due attention among medical workers and the population in general.

This article is the beginning of a series of articles on body hydration that will tell you, the readers of my Beautiful and Successful blog, about the dynamics of the hydration process, show you its impact on health and disease, and advise you on how to improve your body's hydration status.

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, the exchange of nutrients between environment and cells, and the withdrawal of unnecessary products.

Water is the most important nutrient that 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 amounts daily)—protein, carbohydrates, and fat—require water for proper assimilation and utilization. All micronutrients (nutrients required in smaller amounts or less frequently) including vitamins and minerals also need water to function and distribute properly.

There is such a remarkable fact: after an active training of swimmers or high-level water polo players, it becomes noticeable in the pool more water than before training. But there is no need to rush to blame athletes for poor education, the matter is completely different. During training in water, a person also sweats and loses a lot of fluid, as well as on land, or even more. Training in water for fluid loss is equivalent to training in a hot environment where a person loses great amount water. Compensating for fluid loss during swimming training is very important, and pool water, unfortunately, is not a good helper in this matter.

What threatens you with fluid loss?

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 is harmful to health. This is especially bad for the heart. In addition, the loss of moisture in the cells of the body negatively affects the synthesis of proteins, which, in turn, entails a decrease in muscle mass, strength, endurance and increases the recovery time of the body after exercise.

Avoiding all these unpleasant consequences is not difficult, especially if you follow certain rules.

An hour and a half before training, you need to consume about 500 ml. water or a sports drink to hydrate the body and prepare for a serious workout. Do not chase sports drinks, in many cases water is great option for high-quality hydration of the body during sports. In what situations it is necessary to switch from water to sports drinks, we will consider a little later, and now the next simple but necessary point.

During training, you should use every opportunity to drink some water or a sports drink (1-2 small sips). It is desirable if these convenient cases will occur regularly with a certain frequency. Convenience and quick access to water are important here. Naturally, bottles with caps are not suitable, as a lot of time is spent opening and closing. It is also impossible to leave the bottle open, 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 seconds and close the same. You don't have to worry about something getting in there or a drink spilling out of the bottle.

Last but not least milestone Hydration of the body takes place after a workout. It should start as soon as possible after completion 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 use about 500 ml. liquids.

Now 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 are the criteria for choosing an isotonic drink? First, it must contain needed by the body salts of calcium, magnesium and potassium, as during exercise they are washed out with sweat. Secondly, the drink should contain enough simple carbohydrates(fructose, glucose) to help the body recover faster. There are two main requirements. Many drinks also contain vitamins and other various substances. For example, there are isotonic drinks with L-carnitine. This substance during physical activity significantly accelerates the breakdown of fat cells in order to obtain additional energy. You get 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 hydration tips and from the very first workout you will feel that fatigue comes to you later, after a workout you feel much better, and recovery takes much less time!

Considering our bodies are over 50% water, it's no surprise that H20 is one of the the most important sources energy for the body.

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

Of course, extra body hydration is just as important as skin hydration, but applying moisturizer directly to your skin has crucial not only for general health but also for looks.

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

The importance of body hydration

Staying in a well-hydrated state 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 the result of being thirsty? Your cells tend to send "fat signals" to the brain when the body is not properly hydrated. Therefore, regularly drinking another glass of water, you can feel full. At the same time, fluid intake can help your body flush out by-products fats and other toxins. For 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 your body and brain function, but hydration 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 help improve cognitive function and memory.
Fight 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 overuse water in evening time days can lead to frequent visits to the toilet.
downgrade blood pressure and high cholesterol. You already know the importance of maintaining blood pressure and low cholesterol levels to improve overall health and heart function. Staying well hydrated helps keep both of these under control. How? Hydration doesn't just help maintain good blood flow through your veins and arteries. Sufficient hydration prevents production a large number cholesterol, which often happens when your body is not enriched enough water.
Restoration of cartilage and damage. Since most of the stuffing in our cartilage is made up of water, not drinking enough water can lead to rapid bone wear. Hydrating the body helps keep our muscles lubricated, strong and tight, so it's important to replenish the fluids lost during exercise.
Slow aging process. Our organs need water to maintain their peak levels of functioning. When our bodies become dehydrated, the organs remain more active - the result 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 - just like any other part of the body, the skin is an organ (and the largest) that requires sufficient hydration for best results.

The effect of sufficient skin care and maintaining its sufficient moisture:

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 keep it supple and fight the appearance of those dreaded wrinkles.
Xgood appearance skin. This point goes hand in hand with the above advantage. It probably comes as no surprise to you, but a lack of hydration can leave skin feeling dry, flaky, and tight. Keeping the skin hydrated not only helps it appear firmer and more elastic, but also eliminates superficial roughness by combating the accumulation of dead cells.
Getting rid of toxins. With proper hydration, your skin becomes more radiant and healthy look. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for skin that lacks hydration. This is because the skin cannot get rid of toxins without sufficient moisture, which leads to irritation and inflammation.
Fight 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 the skin well hydrated, it becomes less oily, and tends to be less aggravated.

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

Hydrating Products formulated to help increase the water content of the skin.

Humidifiers help prevent water from evaporating from the skin.

Simple, right?

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

Changes in the degree of hydration depending on the factors that cause post-mortem rigor 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, there is a strong drop in the ability of meat to bind moisture. Post-slaughter hydration changes have great importance for processing meat and have an impact on the increase in its rigidity during the onset of post-mortem rigor mortis. As shown by the author, this phenomenon is caused by the fact that the minimum of hydration and the maximum of stiffness after the slaughter of the animal coincide in time. By 24 hours of storage, the content of bound water in the meat decreases from 90 to 72-75% of the total moisture content of the meat.
The decrease in hydration of muscle proteins is partly due to the drop in muscle pH from 7.0 to a value close to the isoelectric point of muscle proteins (pH 5.0-5.5). However, the loss of moisture-binding capacity of meat cannot be explained solely 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, in which the glycogen content before slaughter was very low. A decisive factor in reducing the ability to bind water is the breakdown of ATP. The author showed that a strong drop in the water-binding capacity of the muscles of cattle within the first two days after slaughter should be attributed to about 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 Gumm discovered the dependence of the effect on ATP concentration and duration of meat storage. In hot-steam meat, the ATP content already at a concentration of 0.0015 mol causes tissue softening 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 action of the Marsh-Bendall factor (0.0016 M).
IN beef meat ATP in concentrations below 0.0005 M always has a reducing and dehydrating effect. This ability to contract with the addition of ATP is also retained 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 an immediate contraction. Such a softening effect does not appear for long, since, after a few minutes, a contraction occurs and the ability to bind water is greatly reduced with the progressive breakdown of ATP.
The hydration increased as a result of an increase in the ATP concentration to 0.015 M during the subsequent storage of meat only slightly decreases and a drop is not observed at all at an ATP concentration of 0.03 M.

It has long been noticed that after an active training of swimmers or high-level water polo players in the pool, there is noticeably more water than before the start of the training. However, it is not the poor upbringing of athletes that is to blame for this, but 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 the loss of fluid during swimming training, and in this case, pool water is not a good helper.

Why is fluid loss dangerous? European scientists, who were concerned about the problem of dehydration during active training, came to the conclusion that even with the loss of 1% of fluid by weight, the body suffers greatly. Due to dehydration, performance decreases, strength and endurance decrease. That is, the effectiveness of training drops markedly. With a loss of more than 3% of fluid from body weight, the health consequences become very harmful. The heart is especially affected. The loss of moisture in the cells of the body changes the processes of protein synthesis, and this reduces muscle mass, strength, endurance. After such loads, the body recovers for a very long time.

All these backfire may not affect you if you adhere to the 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. Do not chase sports drinks, most effective tool for high-quality hydration during sports is water. A little later, it will be described in which cases it is appropriate to switch from water to sports drinks, and now the next point, which is no less important.

In the process of training, it is required 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 is good if quick access to water and maximum convenience are provided. Of course, a bottle with a cap is an inappropriate option, as it takes a lot of time to open and close. Do not leave the bottle open, as splashes from the pool can spoil the water, or someone can drop it. Special sports water bottles are the most best option. You can look at products from companies such as Arena, Speedo and Nike. This is the most the best option for the pool. They can be instantly opened or closed. The drink will not 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 that you need to drink in this case depends on the intensity of the workout and how often you drank in the process. The longer and more intense the lessons, the large quantity fluid is required. The average value is 0.5 liters.

Now we can move on to the question to choose, plain water or isotonic drink? It all depends on the duration and intensity of training. If the session lasts more than 1.5 hours, then it would be more correct to choose a sports drink. What are the criteria for choosing it? First of all, it should contain calcium, potassium and magnesium salts that are important for the body, since during training they come out 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 for 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, however, there are contraindications that relate to intolerance to certain components. You should always read the composition of the drink before drinking it.