Water Isn’t Water Unless It’s Water

With the popularity of Crystal Light, Vitamin Water, and all of the other water "add-ins" I thought this would be a good topic to cover. First of all just a little lesson on water in general.

1) In order for a person to have a healthy dose of water they should consume at least 2 ½ quarts of water per day.

2) Water makes up almost 66% of the human body, and 70% of the brain and every major bodily function requires it.

3) Water helps maintain your core body temperature, and allows for over 50% of all chemical reactions occurring in the body.

4) Water is also responsible for the movement of nutrients throughout the body, digestion, circulation, and the excretion of wastes

5) At 2% dehydration, the body's work capacity decreases by 12% to 15%.

So obviously it's pretty important right? Now keeping 4 in mind let me tell you this. Consuming simple sugar, such as is in the oh so popular Vitamin Water slows the absorption rate of desperately needed fluids during exercise. So is it ok after exercise? Nope. Because you're still consuming simple sugar which raises your blood insulin levels quickly and stores the simple sugar you just consumed as bodyfat.

So what about the Crystal Light packets? They're sugar free right? Yes, however they are not sodium free. Sodium, along with soft drinks, is hypertonic meaning that in order for it to be digested your body actually has to pull water out of the blood stream and use it to dilute the sodium. If you drink something with sodium during exercise then essentially your body will have to pull water out of your working muscles to digest the sodium which could cause severe cramping, increased susceptibility to heat injuries such as heat stroke, and heat exhaustion. The Crystal Light however is ok to have in moderation as long as it's not within 1 hour of or during exercise.

The moral of the story here is water isn't water unless it's water. So don't sip on a bottle of Vitamin Water or throw in some Crystal Light and think it's just as good as some plain ol' H2O. Don't like the taste of water? It's ok. You'll get used to it. Just suck it up and drink it and feel better knowing that your body, and your trainer, thank you.