Dehydration: Myths and Money

Dehydration is a very real concern for burn patients, infants or elderly with severe diarrhea or if you find yourself stranded in the desert. Hence, there are hydration guidelines for each situation. Yet in normal circumstances the “healthy ones,” the “gym goers” flock to their activities toting gallon jugs and fancy steel water bottles as symbols of their commitment to health. Similarly, every weekend devoted parents sends their kids off to soccer and lacrosse games armed with something even better: Gatorade. This is Texas after all and you need the sodium! So we bring bottles of the tasty juice for the whole team! Gatorade did not work it’s way into American sports culture for free or on accident. Gatorade established their own sports science institute. The GSSI teamed up with the American College of Sports Medicine and gave them a big fat donation to present a conference on exercise and fluid replacement. By 1996 the ACSM published their hydration protocol as “drink as much as is tolerable.” A picture of Gatorade could even be found in the ACSM’s 2012 guidelines for personal trainers. Knowing Gatorade’s profit has had a hand in what my beloved coaches told me for years infuriates me but doesn’t shock me. 

Regardless where they come from, there seem to be many misconceptions about dehydration that permeate our culture. Some are more offensive than others. Ph.D. and hydration expert Sandra Godek, has devoted her life’s work to dispelling these mythsand she not alone. Both Godek, along with fellow hydration specialists Tim Noakes, agree that “We have a 300 million year developed system that tell you with exquisite accuracy how much you need to drink and when you need to drink. It’s called thirst” (Noakes). So what does this mean for weekend warriors and concerned parents? As Godek advises, “Drink when you’re thirsty. Don’t when you are not” (Godek).

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Source: https://journal.crossfit.com/article/a-sticky-story-2

Source: https://journal.crossfit.com/article/top-five-hydration-myths-busted-2

Source: http://www.pepsicobeveragefacts.com/Home/Product?formula=33877&form=RTD&size=20