[pct-l] Thirst is the Best Water Gauge

[William Skaggs]

Mark Jernigan wrote:

> Bottom line was that I was actually drinking too much water, which is a bit of a 
> paradox to a distance hiker who is sweating like a race horse.  I resorted to taking 
> Potassium tablets, which did help somewhat and got me through the thru, so to speak.
>  
>  Three plus years (and 2 kidney stone operations) later I now routinely use the 
> following suppliment when I hike: 
>
> [ . . . ]

Drink Gatorade instead!

There are two main ions that affect the electrolyte balance in the body,
sodium and potassium.  Potassium exists almost entirely inside of your
cells, so you lose hardly any when you sweat, and therefore need to replace
hardly any.  Sodium, on the other hand, exists almost entirely *outside*
of cells, and is lost in large quantities when you sweat.  So, what you
need to supplement with is sodium, not potassium.  Supplementing with
potassium is actually worse than drinking plain water, because
it very quickly gets pulled inside cells and then pulls water in with it,
thereby reducing the amount available for sweating.

Gatorade was designed to have just the right mix to replace what you lose
when sweating, and is very hard to beat.  And the basic rule is that your
body knows what you need:  if drinking something feels unpleasant, then it 
is probably the wrong thing to be drinking.

(I'm a neuroscientist, by the way:  it's my job to know about this stuff.
Which doesn't mean that I can't be wrong, of course.)

Best wishes,

  -- Bill
 

 
______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
Sent via the CNPRC Email system at primate.ucdavis.edu