Hydration, mineral salts, sodium and hyponatraemia
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DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HYPONATRAEMIA?
Staying well hydrated is not just something for the hot months of the year, far from it. Whatever the season, we should ask ourselves how much fluid we lose during activity and therefore, in turn, what impact this may have on the specific activities we do.
Each of us loses an entirely individual amount of fluid, which certainly depends on the outside temperature but also on the humidity of the air, the type and duration of the physical activity, and the type of equipment and clothing worn.
Losing fluid through sweat does not mean losing only water, even though water is in itself necessary for maintaining homeostasis, body temperature and normal cellular metabolic processes.
You will surely have tasted a drop of sweat running down your forehead onto your lips and clearly noticed a salty taste. Sweat, like urine or even tears, is a bodily fluid in which many molecules are dissolved, along with a good amount of mineral salts that pass from the bloodstream into the tissues, moving from cell to cell according to the needs of the moment.
The presence of mineral salts in the bloodstream, as well as in intracellular and extracellular fluids, is essential for sustaining life. All the mechanisms of muscle contraction and relaxation depend on the presence of inorganic ions, in both voluntary muscles such as those of the limbs and involuntary muscles such as the heart, as do the conduction of neural impulses of every kind and the activation and continuation of intracellular metabolic processes.
While it is true that all inorganic ions are important, sodium is one the body absolutely cannot do without. Its concentration in the blood remains stable within a range of 135-145 mmol/L, kept stable by a fine control mechanism that works precisely through the expulsion or retention of fluids: the higher the sodium concentration rises, the greater the fluid retention to allow it to be widely diluted. Conversely, if the sodium concentration falls, the body will set in motion every process available to expel fluids so that the remaining amount is diluted in a smaller quantity of liquid.
But why is it so important for our body to keep a concentration parameter like this so precise? Precisely because of the large number of physiological processes that depend on its presence. Low sodium concentrations can show up with increasingly serious symptoms, ranging from simple dizziness and loss of balance to more serious effects. A low sodium concentration is behind the whole range of cases associated with muscle cramps, tachycardia and hypotension, drowsiness and hallucinations, right up to epileptic states and convulsions.
A low concentration of sodium in the blood is called HYPONATRAEMIA and can be classified into several different types according to the causes that trigger the drop.
For athletes, all this becomes even more important, precisely because they lose more body fluid than under normal activity conditions. Without going into biochemical technicalities, it is important to focus on a concept already mentioned, namely the strong link between the loss and intake of fluids and the amount of sodium that remains in the body. On the one hand, it seems obvious that this electrolyte is lost mainly through heavy sweating, so the risk of a drop in sodium concentration is clear, above all during intense efforts of medium to long duration; on the other hand, a drop in concentration caused by excessive dilution could go unnoticed. It is not unusual, in fact, to see episodes of dizziness, fainting and tachycardia in athletes who, despite having used every available water station, are in fact clearly hyponatraemic. The most dangerous misconception lies precisely in trying to remedy the damage caused by dehydration by drinking large quantities of water with no dissolved mineral salts: the effect will be to greatly increase the dilution of the few mineral salts left in the body, already put to the test by heavy sweat losses.
Precisely because of this, athletes, especially endurance athletes, should give great consideration to replenishing with salt solutions at regular intervals, such as Volchem's ISODRINK, to be taken during and/or after physical activity, especially if it continues for more than an hour to an hour and a half. An isotonic salt solution suitable for making up for such deficits while at the same time reducing the potential unwanted gastrointestinal effects of an excess of mineral salts.
Staying well hydrated is not just something for the hot months of the year, far from it. Whatever the season, we should ask ourselves how much fluid we lose during activity and therefore, in turn, what impact this may have on the specific activities we do.
Each of us loses an entirely individual amount of fluid, which certainly depends on the outside temperature but also on the humidity of the air, the type and duration of the physical activity, and the type of equipment and clothing worn.
Losing fluid through sweat does not mean losing only water, even though water is in itself necessary for maintaining homeostasis, body temperature and normal cellular metabolic processes.
You will surely have tasted a drop of sweat running down your forehead onto your lips and clearly noticed a salty taste. Sweat, like urine or even tears, is a bodily fluid in which many molecules are dissolved, along with a good amount of mineral salts that pass from the bloodstream into the tissues, moving from cell to cell according to the needs of the moment.
The presence of mineral salts in the bloodstream, as well as in intracellular and extracellular fluids, is essential for sustaining life. All the mechanisms of muscle contraction and relaxation depend on the presence of inorganic ions, in both voluntary muscles such as those of the limbs and involuntary muscles such as the heart, as do the conduction of neural impulses of every kind and the activation and continuation of intracellular metabolic processes.
While it is true that all inorganic ions are important, sodium is one the body absolutely cannot do without. Its concentration in the blood remains stable within a range of 135-145 mmol/L, kept stable by a fine control mechanism that works precisely through the expulsion or retention of fluids: the higher the sodium concentration rises, the greater the fluid retention to allow it to be widely diluted. Conversely, if the sodium concentration falls, the body will set in motion every process available to expel fluids so that the remaining amount is diluted in a smaller quantity of liquid.
But why is it so important for our body to keep a concentration parameter like this so precise? Precisely because of the large number of physiological processes that depend on its presence. Low sodium concentrations can show up with increasingly serious symptoms, ranging from simple dizziness and loss of balance to more serious effects. A low sodium concentration is behind the whole range of cases associated with muscle cramps, tachycardia and hypotension, drowsiness and hallucinations, right up to epileptic states and convulsions.
A low concentration of sodium in the blood is called HYPONATRAEMIA and can be classified into several different types according to the causes that trigger the drop.
For athletes, all this becomes even more important, precisely because they lose more body fluid than under normal activity conditions. Without going into biochemical technicalities, it is important to focus on a concept already mentioned, namely the strong link between the loss and intake of fluids and the amount of sodium that remains in the body. On the one hand, it seems obvious that this electrolyte is lost mainly through heavy sweating, so the risk of a drop in sodium concentration is clear, above all during intense efforts of medium to long duration; on the other hand, a drop in concentration caused by excessive dilution could go unnoticed. It is not unusual, in fact, to see episodes of dizziness, fainting and tachycardia in athletes who, despite having used every available water station, are in fact clearly hyponatraemic. The most dangerous misconception lies precisely in trying to remedy the damage caused by dehydration by drinking large quantities of water with no dissolved mineral salts: the effect will be to greatly increase the dilution of the few mineral salts left in the body, already put to the test by heavy sweat losses.
Precisely because of this, athletes, especially endurance athletes, should give great consideration to replenishing with salt solutions at regular intervals, such as Volchem's ISODRINK, to be taken during and/or after physical activity, especially if it continues for more than an hour to an hour and a half. An isotonic salt solution suitable for making up for such deficits while at the same time reducing the potential unwanted gastrointestinal effects of an excess of mineral salts.
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