50+ Lifestyles

Hydration Drinks – What You Should Know

By Logan Anderson, BA, CPT, CIFT
Owner of All Strong Fitness LLC

Hydration is something that is incredibly important for individuals of all ages. However, for individuals that are older it’s even more important as water intake usually is lacking. The term “hydration” often gets thrown around loosely. When people think of “hydration,” usually they just think to “drink more water.” Although this is a good start, hydration has multiple aspects that are crucial for our overall performance throughout the day, and of course our health. Keeping our body properly hydrated is crucial to ensure our body maintains it’s proper temperature, allowing our digestive system to remain regular, and keep every other physiological process running smoothly. Although there are multiple ways to stay hydrated, hydration drinks are perhaps the most marketed tool, while also being the most misunderstood tool.

When it comes to hydration the first thing that people will often go to is water. Water is great because it’s incredibly cheap, is very
accessible, and is easy to intake throughout the day. The main issue with water, unfortunately, is that it doesn’t taste very good. Some
individuals enjoy the bland taste of water with a meal, but for older individuals with a decreased taste sensation, this may be less palatable compared to when they were younger. Another great source to stay hydrated is actually from food. Certain foods contain a large amount of water actually within them. All carbohydrates have water in them, but specifically fruits and vegetables have the most water in them. The last form of hydration we are going to touch on is hydration powders or drinks. Although these come come in water, they do offer extra nutrients. Typically sugar, electrolytes, and even vitamins are added to these drinks. Hydration drinks offer a tasty and simple way to not only get in lost water from sweat, but to also replenish the electrolytes as well.

Hydration drinks are a great option to keep our bodies up to par during the summer months, but unfortunately the grocery stores are
saturated with numerous different ones, making it difficult to make a decision. As we already established, the main benefits of hydration drinks is the added electrolytes, taste, and potentially sugar (energy.) These categories should of course be taken into consideration when making purchases. Of course when it comes to taste, it makes sense finding a flavor that you enjoy and would make you drink more of the liquid. When it comes to electrolytes, sodium and potassium are lost in sweat rapidly. Because of this, these electrolytes are often added to hydration drinks. Unfortunately the ratio is usually wrong due to there being more sodium than potassium. If you can find a drink that has a 1:3 ratio of sodium to potassium, this is the most optimal. When it comes to hydration drinks, you will have a tough time finding this ratio, so shooting for a 1:1 ratio is probably your best bet. Remember that even if you have high blood pressure, you still need to intake sodium, especially if you are sweating extra out. Lastly, you will have to wager if you need extra sugar in your diet. If you have a hard time maintaining your weight, drinks with calories or extra sugar may be beneficial for you. On the other side, if you are overweight or have diabetes,
sticking to sugar free options would be better.

In the end, it is easy to get caught up in the marketing at the grocery stores. Taking a little extra time to look at the nutrition labels, and make sure you are getting what you paid for can go a long way in improving your health, (and maybe even saving some money.)

For more information please contact Logan Anderson, owner of All Strong Fitness LLC. He can be reached at (563) 210-3701 or by email: allstrongfitnessllc@gmail.com