Dehydration Facts for Las Vegas

You’ve probably already heard the warnings about drinking enough fluids when the temperature rises. But your body needs an adequate supply of water no matter what the temperature. Even in cooler temperatures, you should make sure you are getting enough water. Dry outside temperatures and heated indoor environments evaporate moisture from your skin and contribute to fluid loss.

Most medical professionals recommend drinking eight glasses of high quality drinking water during an average day. In the dry Las Vegas climate you should drink more water. And it is even more important to drink water before, during, and after exercise.

         Not sure if you are getting enough water? Take the following test.

         Do you feel tired even though you have had plenty of rest?

         Do you easily loose your concentration throughout the day?

         Are your feet, hands, ankles, swollen?

         Do you cramp up during exercise, despite having stretched beforehand?

         Do you feel thirsty?

         If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you may be suffering from dehydration. And
         dehydration can lead to such problems as fatigue, impaired physical ability, weakness, dizziness,
         headaches, as well as other health ailments. These are also signs of dehydration: dry mouth, marked thirst,
         infrequent urination, dark yellow urine, sunken eyes, skin lacking elasticity (to determine this, pinch the
         skinon the stomach using all five fingers. If the skin does not spring back, you may be dehydrated.

         Don’t wait until you feel thirsty to have a drink. Doctors recommend drinking before you
         get thirsty. In fact by the time you feel thirsty, you are probably already dehydrated. Try to avoid caffeine
         and alcohol beverages after strenuous activity. Many people choose to quench their thirst in hot weather
         with icy however, ice actually causes the blood vessels to shrink, limiting how quickly fluids can be absorbed
         into the body.

         For Rapid fluid replacement, drink beverages that are closer to room temperature.


Good Reasons for the Heat!

1.  Enhances vasodilatation* so that more blood is delivered to the muscles.
2.  Allows oxygen In the blood to detach from the hemoglobin more easily.**
3.  Speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids.
4.  Makes muscles more elastic, less susceptible to injury.
5.  Burns fat more easily.
•   The capillaries that weave around the muscles respond to the heat by dilating.   This brings more oxygen to      the muscles and helps in the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid.
•    ** When blood passes through warm muscles oxygen releases more easily from the hemoglobin. Blood      through cold muscles releases less oxygen.
•    *** Warm muscles burn fat more easily than cold ones. Fat is released during stress. The stress of intense      exercise causes a deluge of fatty acids into the blood stream.  If you exercise with cold muscles the muscles      can not use the fatty acids, ant the fatty acids end up in places where they aren’t wanted, such as the lining      of the arteries.


NOTE: Muscles aren’t the only beneficiaries of heat. Higher temperatures improve the function of the nervous system, meaning that messages are carried more rapidly to and from the brain of SPINAL CORD. Warm muscles are more elastic and less susceptible to injury. Warmer temperatures produce a fluid-like stretch that allows greater range of motion. Cold muscles don’t absorb shock or impact as well and aren’t stretched as well so they get injured more readily.


Plastic and Cancer news from Johns Hopkins

No plastics in micro

No plastics in freezer

No plastic wrap in micro

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in their newsletter. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dioxin Carcinogens causes cancer, especially breast cancer.


Don’t freeze your plastic water bottles with water as this also releases dioxin in the plastic.

Dr. Edward Fujimoto from Castle hospital, Manager of Wellness Program, explaining about dioxins during a T.V. interview.

He was talking about how bar dioxins are on us. He said we should not heat up our food in the microwave in plastic containers.

This applies to foods that contain fat. He said the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxins into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.

Dioxins are carcinogens and highly toxic to our bodies. Instead Dr Fujimoto recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers for heating food.

You get the same results, without the dioxin. So such things as T.V. dinners, instant ramen soups, etc should be removed from the original container and heated in something else.

Paper isn’t bad, but you don’t know what is in the paper.

It is just safer to use glass, Corning Ware etc.

He said that we might remember when some fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

To add to this, Saran wrap placed over foods as they are nuked, with the high heat, actually drips poisonous toxins into the food, use paper towels.


NUTRITION AND ELECTROLYTE REPLACEMENT

For years, health care and fitness professionals have stressed the importance of fluid intake and replacement in preventing dehydration. Therefore, most health conscience individuals are educated about dehydration and cases of dehydration have increased in recent years. Yet, in some cases, people make take dehydration prevention a bit too far and unintentionally drink too much water. Drinking an excessive surplus of water can lead to over-hydration or hyponatremia. Although hyponatremia is rare and seen primarily in serious endurance athletes, such as marathon runners, it can be dangerous and fitness enthusiasts ought to be aware of the condition.

The MedTerms.com medical dictionary defines hypontremia as an abnormally low concentration of sodium in the blood. Hyponatremia is also known as “water intoxication.” Salt (sodium chloride) is an electrolyte, which helps the body distribute water. This is essential for water balance and your muscles and organ to function effectively. Electrolytes are lost through sweat. When exercising, our body temp. rises and we sweat to keep cool. The more we sweat the more sodium we lose. Sweat loss varies from as little as 16 ounces to over three quarts during each hour of exercise

(Gatorade Sports and Science Institute). For this reason it is important to replace body fluids during and after exercise. To completely replace these fluids, you must not only replace water, but also sodium and chloride. Those who consume excessive amounts of water after exercise can further deplete sodium and chloride levels, leading to electrolyte depletion and possibly over-hydration.

PREVENTION

Over-hydration can easily be prevented by carefully monitoring your fluid intake
And replacing all necessary fluids after long periods of exercise. USA Track and Field
(USATF), the governing body of track and field recommends that exercisers “be sensitive to the onset of thirst as a signal to drink, rather than staying ahead of thirst.”
By being aware of when you are thirsty, you will help prevent dehydration as well as
Decreasing the risk of over-hydration (ACE Fitness Matters). In other words drink fluids only when you need to. To replace lost fluids during and/or after exercise, drink small amounts of fluid as needed throughout your workout to remain hydrated. Sports drinks,
Such as Gatorade, contain electrolytes and are therefore a good source of sodium and chloride. Also prior to a race, endurance athletes may be instructed to eat a salty snack such as pretzels or tomato juice to build sodium reserves. Furthermore, if an endurance athlete is taking any over the counter (O.T.C.) pain medications or prescription medicine
He or she may be asked to consult a doctor as some medications reduce the body’s capability to conserve salt.

PLEASE REPLACE YOUR ELECTROLYTES BY DRINKING EMERGEN-C AFTER EACH CLASS!!


SCIENCE OF BREATHING
(THE PRANAYAMA)

There are benefits of pranayam practice for psycho-physical and neuro biological
regularization. The effect of stress and depression on physical and mental health (psycho-somatic impact) is wide reaching.
Anxiety and depression have been found to be co-factors in the progression of every disease, including asthma and cardio vascular diseases.
Yogic breathing techniques activate the nerves, through pranayam we achieve respiratory efficiency, better oxygenated blood throughout the system as well as a state of mental and physical equilibrium along with Hatha Yoga practice. Biological age younger than chronological age is possible through pranayama practice.