View Full Version : Hydration Issues
I find one of my biggest problems with hiking in pretty much any warm-ish weather is staying hydrated. In warm weather I tend to sweat a lot and there seems to be more water coming out of me then I can actually put into me during the same time frame. I will drink 1-1.5 liters of water per hour, i have my watch on a constant 15 minute countdown to keep my self drinking at least a 1/4 liter every 15minutes. I also eat about every 2 hours made up for 2/3 salty snacks like pretzels, sesame sticks, peanut butter crackers, etc... and sometime on the sweet side like a protein bar. One day last summer I hiked 12 hours, drank 12 liters of water during the hike and only had to urinate once. And on the car ride home drank almost a gallon of gatorade and didn't have to for 5 hours after that.
I am about 50 pounds overweight at the moment so I'm guess some of it has to do with that. Has anyone who's lost a good amount of weight seen their water needs change?
Ideas? Drink mixes that get things in you faster and stay there longer?
Thanks,
ZC
Last year I noticed my water consumption go down as I lost weight and got in better shape. I lost 35 pounds. I also reduced my pack weight significantly. Losing body weight should also reduce my calorie consumption, which should allow me to carry less food to retain the same caloric balance, which should reduce my water consumption, which means less water weight to carry and repeating the cycle.
Yeah, it's one of those vicious cycles. Gotta loose weight but can't exercise much cause knee is messed up, knee won't get better until weight's gone. Yay, to live in a time where food is readily available.
I know exactly how you feel.
pdcollins6092
05-29-2011, 17:26
I noticed that you said you eat something about every 2 hours made up of 2/3 salty foods. Try and not eat that often and when you do eat stay away from the salt. When you eat digestion uses up fluids, increasing dehydration.
Blissful
05-29-2011, 17:54
Need to eat a good balanced diet when hiking, which is not that difficult if you prepare a little
earlyriser26
05-29-2011, 18:11
Went on a serious diet this year and cut 75 lbs so far. Huge difference. Two years ago I hiked in VA when it 100. I could not drink enough water and was in a very bad way. Less weight means you need less of everything - energy, food, water, etc. If you are hiking in hot weather and are not going to the bathroom, you are not getting enough water even if it seems you are drinking plenty. When you hit a water source don't just fill your water bottles, fill yourself. Carry the water on the inside where it does the most good.
also try some powdered electrolyte drinks while hiking in the summer, the make a big difference over just drinking plain water. My favorite are Propel, Gatorade and the lemon-lime Nuun hydration drinks. You can mix them in an empty 1L gatorade bottle and sip on them as needed.
losing weight will help, and I would not eat too many salty snacks, the electrolyte drinks will help you more than just salty foods.
it is tough in the mountains in this east coast summer heat and humidity, no matter what you do. I fear we are screwed cuz of global warming, the east coast is seeing record heat again this year. good luck
stars in her eyes
05-29-2011, 20:33
as far as the weight loss is concerned - try swimming. easier on the joints.
in regards to water consumption/dehydration, the above posters did a good job of covering it, so I have nothing to add.
Doc Mike
05-29-2011, 20:35
Someone had to make the leap from sweating to global warming. What a bunch of BS.
earlyriser26
05-29-2011, 21:32
Someone had to make the leap from sweating to global warming. What a bunch of BS.
Weight loss also cures global warming:banana
Patrickjd9
05-29-2011, 21:52
also try some powdered electrolyte drinks while hiking in the summer, the make a big difference over just drinking plain water. My favorite are Propel, Gatorade and the lemon-lime Nuun hydration drinks. You can mix them in an empty 1L gatorade bottle and sip on them as needed.
I use them in summer, but prefer a less sugary mix with only 1/2 to 2/3 as much powder as the label says.
Couldn't find the envelopes of Gatorade before my last section hike, and was feeling a bit lazy to repackage. Wished I had it with me on the first couple of hot days.
mweinstone
05-29-2011, 23:09
you may have exssesive thirst fom a sugar imbalance from being fat. i do. as a child, fat and hypo, i foundered all night in the bathroom several times drinking, gulping gallons to no avail from my cupped hands like some kind of resqued lost at sea guy.water never quenches me, ever. even now. cause my body makes too much insulin and my sugar is way off and it all effects your water. when i tell folks i need 6 litres at a dry camp just to drink in the night, it sounds silly. but i need 6 litres every 8 or 12 hours because im a mess. had i not lived on a hummingbirds diet of nectar of nectar as a youth, id be fine. try eliminateing every drop of sugar from your diet. and try to drink non clorinated water only.
Johnny Thunder
05-29-2011, 23:16
listen to matty. i also suffer from this. plus thick blood. makes me drink lots.
Confirming whether or not global warming exists doesn't do a damn thing to help ZeroC.
mweinstone
05-30-2011, 00:02
polar ice caps wax and wane. humans dont. were rigid little bastards. we could learn from our caps. being out of tune with everything as we are, we choose to argue the unknowable. in the unknown, exists both hot and cold. unlike the game , not one of us has our eyes open to direct another.
Jonnycat
05-30-2011, 09:18
It can take upwards of a week for the human body to acclimate to high tempertures. During that time, the body will lose a lot of electrolytes (salt) through perspiration.
Once the body becomes acclimated to the high temperatures, you will sweat less, and lose a LOT less salt.
In the week or two before you go backpacking (an activity which raises body temperature higher than it would be normally), do not use air conditioning in your house or your car. Get your body used to the high temperatures.
It also helps to be used to physical exertion in the heat; I ride my bike on those hot days in the middle of the afternoon once I start to get used to it.
Until you are fully used to physical exertion, add a little salt (maybe 1/16t to 1/8t per liter) to your water (NOT sugar - NOT gatorade) to help aid in electrolyte balance.
This is not meant to construe medical advice, but it has worked for me.
Guess i should re-phrase my "salty foods" phrase, non-sweets would be more accurate, not like candy bars and the like loaded with just simple carbs, i find ~600 cals every 2 hours works best for me so I don't hit the wall energy-wise since I could be burning upwards of 1200-1500 in those same two hours. I haven't been able to get out this year since we've been so busy so I've been experimenting on the treadmill with different drinks but without the time (or drive) to stay on the treadmill for 12 hours I can't gauge too much on what will happen at the 4+ hour mark. Accelerade seems good pre-workout and post but not during, just seems a little too heavy, even at half strength. I have been doing sugar-free mixes like crystal light at about half strength as well (which is how i drink it anyways) with added salt and it seems to be doing a better job. I'll see how it goes if I get out on the trail sometime.
As someone mentioned to drink non-chlorinated water, which as much as I don't like it might have to be another change since I just use Aqua Mira now since I don't like the weight, i COULD add the Frontier filter so I can treat my water and then filter it through the carbon to remove the chlorine, I'll post this in the water filter section see if anyone does this or uses a light weight carbon filter on top of AM.
Fog Horn
05-31-2011, 09:46
Sorry if someone said this already and I missed it, but:
Hydration doesn't happen instantaneously. If you are trying to match your water intake with sweat output you are too late. Next time you are planning on a trip out hiking start hydrating seriously 2 days in advance. When your body isn't getting enough water, the first water it will take in will be to feed the body itself, and fill in where you are lacking. Only after that will the water be put towards cooling you down and setting your body up to properly take on exercise and heat.
Think of your body like the bottom of a dried up lake. It can rain for a few days and you might not see any water on the surface because that cracked and dried dirt at the bottom of the lake steals the water so it can turn back into mud. Only after that dirt is saturated will you see the lake fill up.
Fog Horn
05-31-2011, 09:51
Also, Crystal Light is pretty much the only thing that kept me from vommitting every time I thought about water after a long hot 15 months in Iraq. It comes in many different flavors, and some have electrolytes. No sugar (unlike gatoraide), convenient packets, and tastes okay warm too. The only thing I would say is that the flavor is too strong when used as directed, and I find that adding two packets per liter of water is perfect for me, but everyone is different.
Just remember that as soon as you start flavoring your drinks in your bottle/ canteen, that vessel will only be good for flavored drinks after that. I can never seem to get the smell and taste out of the bottle.
Sorry if someone said this already and I missed it, but:
Hydration doesn't happen instantaneously. If you are trying to match your water intake with sweat output you are too late. Next time you are planning on a trip out hiking start hydrating seriously 2 days in advance. When your body isn't getting enough water, the first water it will take in will be to feed the body itself, and fill in where you are lacking. Only after that will the water be put towards cooling you down and setting your body up to properly take on exercise and heat.
Think of your body like the bottom of a dried up lake. It can rain for a few days and you might not see any water on the surface because that cracked and dried dirt at the bottom of the lake steals the water so it can turn back into mud. Only after that dirt is saturated will you see the lake fill up.
Instead of saying to hydrate seriously, I would say to hydrate appropriately. Ironically, overhydrating is a technique used to dehydrate.
Fog Horn
05-31-2011, 10:45
LOL I can go with that. My sister hates water for some reason, so every time we go out with her I tell her to hydrate before she goes, and she says she does but doesn't take things seriously. Her idea of hydrating beforehand is to drink one 16 ounce bottle of water a day, and continue with her soda fixation. Invariably, as soon as we go out she melts. And gets moody. And annoying.
That's all I meant by seriously.
I know you totally meant well, and intended to come across that way. I think you did, but since it's possible that someone out there could take it the wrong way, I wanted to provide a little clarification. That's all. You gave great advice.
Fog Horn
05-31-2011, 11:00
I appreciate it. Last thing I want is someone to get hurt on my words. There was a lady who died a few years back because she participated in a radio show challenge to win an Xbox. She drank like, a gallon of water (or maybe a gallon and a half) all at once and it killed her.
Jim Adams
05-31-2011, 13:11
ZeroC,
I see that you are from Colombus, Ohio....with your hydration problem, don't hike in Pennsylvania...the maintainers don't believe in people needing water on the trail.
geek
Haha, I saw that thread. I'm only stuck in Ohio for the next year then I should be back in NH.