While on the one hand the intake of aqueous sodium has little or nothing to do with body aesthetics - even in women, who seem to have more concerns about it - on the other hand it could have a greater importance in the health of the athlete.
normally distributed by the public network. C "enters little with the object of the article, but it is still a good idea to reiterate it;After the premise, let's go into detail.
it is sufficient to maintain the state of hydration. However, we must remember to "listen to it" - an apparently obvious but, in practice, very useful consideration. This is why many have a good habit of carrying a bottle of water with them to sip from time to time, regardless of feeling thirsty.
However, it has been shown that this "alarm" signal tends to decrease with age, which is why after the age of 64 it is advisable to pay more attention to the amount of fluids ingested - in order to prevent dehydration.
From this point of view, physical activity itself has a positive influence. At first glance, this statement would seem to "clash" totally with the principle of sweating from exertion, ventilatory humidification and renal excretion of catabolites (especially groups nitrogen and ketone bodies); all ways of elimination of body water.
In reality, the practice of motor exercise seems to improve the sensitivity / effectiveness to physiological stimuli, as well as that of appetite, bowel evacuation, the sleep-wake cycle, etc. Overall, however, it requires higher amounts of liquids.
There are also numerous uncomfortable conditions, individual predispositions and diseases that greatly affect the need for water and minerals. These range from the less serious, such as the aptitude to lithiasis (both renal and biliary) and constipation, to renal insufficiency and edema (also from drug therapies). These cases are totally excluded from what we will discuss later.
Note: there are also conditions in which it is recommended to increase the water intake beyond the requirement, such as the attempt to speed up the excretion of pharmacological or toxic substances.
But how much should the average person drink? Let's say that a sedentary adult, man or woman, can be satisfied with about 1 ml of water for every 1 kcal taken with the normocaloric diet.
But be careful, it is not that the requirement increases or decreases according to the quantity of nutritional calories introduced - even if water is actually essential to general homeostasis, therefore also to energy cellular processes. The 1/1 ratio is a simple method of estimation, convenient and practical if aimed at the general population.
Furthermore, the water supply is not satisfied only by drinks, but also by food. A balanced diet of roughly 2000 kcal, for example, with adequate portions of all foods - including fruit and vegetables, milk and yogurt - provides about 1.2-1.3 liters (L) of water.
According to the 1/1 ratio, the water requirement would be 200 ml, or 2 L. By difference, there would be only 700-800 ml to completely satisfy the requirement.
Since a glass of water provides more or less 200 ml, drinking 1 per meal (including snacks) would easily achieve the goal.
The case of sportsmen
Having said that, for sportspeople the question changes a lot. Being a very heterogeneous variable, not only for the training load, but also for individuality, it is not possible to standardize the estimate of the need in an applicable way. There are empirical formulas that, however, in the field leave the time they find.
The most practical method remains that of the "water balance", ie weighing yourself before training and after training, making the subtraction and obtaining by difference the volume of liquids and minerals lost in the session. This test should be repeated at every climatic and training variation; even the change in body composition, especially from severe overweight to normal weight, changes this reaction.
(43%) - which acts as a reserve -, in the connective tissue and in the cartilage.The functions of sodium are varied and very important:
- It regulates the osmolarity of plasma and extracellular fluid: if present in excessive concentrations, it recalls, for reasons of osmosis, considerable quantities of water, causing edema and hypertension (due to the increase in blood volume); on the contrary, in the presence of sodium deficit, there is a decrease in the volume of blood and interstitial fluid;
- It forms electrochemical gradients at the level of the cell membrane, which are very important for the transmission of the nerve impulse, for muscle contraction and for cellular exchanges (nutrients, ions, water, etc.);
- It regulates the acid / base balance.
Assuming that we consume highly sodium water, to provide the total daily intake of an average sedentary adult person (roughly 2.05 grams per day [g / day]), we should drink about 20.5 liters.
Already from this consideration it is deductible that a large part of dietary sodium comes from food.
How is the trade in so-called soft water justified?
It is simply in no way justifiable. This is pure marketing, based on the exploitation of the concept of osmotic potential.
On the basis of this "distortion", reducing dietary sodium thanks to the choice of a "low sodium water, it would be possible to increase diuresis, eliminate toxins (who knows what kind) and ultimately counteract water retention (sometimes implicit concept).
This is obviously a potentially misleading message.
To give an "idea of the quantities of sodium" saved by drinking low-sodium water, it would be sufficient to consume a single portion of bresaola or canned tuna to nullify the whole strategy.
Furthermore, in healthy people, the sodium concentrations in the various body fluids, as well as the total quantity of the organism, are finely regulated by homeostatic mechanisms that can ignore hypothetical excessive levels of the ion in the diet.
Moreover, assuming that a state of water retention really insists, this would be the result of primary imbalances such as hormonal alterations, blood and / or lymphatic circulation, drug therapies, etc.
In the end:
are we really sure that reducing the sodium concentration in the diet is a beneficial behavior for the organism?
For healthy athletes, and in general for those who sweat a lot, absolutely not!
(sodium chloride), with sometimes negative consequences for health such as worsening of hypertension (if sodium-sensitive) and some gastric symptoms - mainly linked to foods rich in sodium, rather than sodium itself.We specify, for the avoidance of doubt, that table salt is not to be counted as "pure sodium"; in fact, sodium chloride (NaCl) is composed of 60% chlorine (Cl).
In any case, according to the European and Italian indications, the daily sodium intake should settle in the interval between 0.6 and 3.5 grams (g), while the American RDAs indicate slightly lower levels (0.5- 2.3 g / day). This quota, sufficient in "normal" conditions, is easily ensured by a varied and balanced diet, without the need to add salt to dishes.
The total amount of sodium is however the result of: natural content of food, discretionary, processing.
By discretionary salt we mean the one added by the diner (in the water of the pasta, in the salad, on the main courses, etc.).
For processing rooms, on the other hand, we mean the one added during the preparation phase (also for preservative purposes). We are talking above all about: preserves in brine (such as legumes in jars) and in oil (such as tuna and mackerel in oil), especially aged cheeses, salami and dry-salted peach products (ham, salami, cod, bottarga, etc.), snacks (potato chips, salted peanuts, etc.), etc.
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