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Hydration and sports: 5 tips against dehydration

Good hydration is essential, especially during exercise. Everyone knows that drinking is an important element. However, it is often unclear how much and what you should drink. It is difficult to give a general drinking guideline that suits every athlete. After all, fluid loss depends on the athlete. Some athletes sweat more than others, and they have to compensate for a greater fluid loss during exercise. With an insufficient fluid intake, you will suffer from dehydration with annoying complaints, such as headaches, muscle cramps, and reduced sports performance. To get the best out of yourself, it is crucial to prevent dehydration. Below you can read five tips against dehydration. Let's go!

 

1. Drink sufficient before exercising

Do not wait to drink until you are thirsty. By then, it is often too late. Thirst is the very first sign of dehydration. Drinking enough can sometimes be challenging. We forget it quite easily. If you're experiencing having troubles drinking enough, it can help to choose regular times to drink. What is a sufficient amount of drinking? In general, we say about 1.5 – 2 liters of water for an adult per day, excluding physical activity. You can check whether your fluid balance is okay by the color of your urine. If your urine is clear, you have drunk enough. If you have dark-colored urine, this may indicate dehydration, and you have to drink a bit more to compensate. Are you a salt sweater, or do you exercise intensively? Then it might be wise to drink 500ml of electrolytes before your physical effort, e.g., 3Action Hydration tabs. These tabs contain no calories or carbohydrates and are suitable for any athlete who wants to exercise well hydrated.

 

2. Drink sufficient during exercise

During intense physical activity, you need about 150-200ml extra fluid per 15 minutes. If an effort lasts less than an hour, drinking water should be sufficient to refill your fluid balance, whether or not supplemented with electrolytes such as 3Action Hydration tabs. However, if an effort lasts longer or with excessive sweat loss, using an isotonic sports drink may be wise, e.g., 3 Action Sports Drink. In addition to necessary carbohydrates, electrolytes such as salts and minerals have been added to this product to compensate for the possible losses. That's very important. During exercise, our body sweats to regulate our body temperature. The fluid we lose must be compensated to bring our fluid balance back into balance. If we would not replenish these stores, it would negatively affect our efforts.

 

3. Salt and Electrolytes

When you sweat a lot or during warm weather, you can experience excessive sweat loss. It can add up quickly in extreme weather. During such moments it is essential to replenish and supplement this on time. This can be done through food or sports supplements such as, e.g., 3Action Sports Drink or 3Action Hydration tabs. When athletes only drink water during exercise when sweating, their electrolyte stores will not be sufficiently replenished, resulting in negative effects on their sports performance.

 

4. Magnesium and Potassium

Magnesium and potassium are both minerals that are important in our fluid balance. A deficiency in these nutrients can make dehydration worse. With a healthy, varied diet, you will get enough minerals. In addition, sports nutrition such as 3Action Sports Drink and 3Action hydration tabs are enriched with these minerals. Would you like to supplement this? That's also possible with the 3Action Multivitamins.

 

5. Avoid the sun and alcohol

Warm weather and direct sunlight during exercise can promote dehydration. Try to find shade where possible and drink plenty of water. Also, apply good sun cream. Are you dehydrated? Drink water, whether or not supplemented with electrolytes, is the message. Also, avoid alcohol. This disrupts your fluid balance. Alcohol acts as a diuretic and increases urine production, worsening dehydration.

 

Michaline Lon, Sports Nutritionist