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Lead Stories: Friday, November 21, 2008

Study finds that mild dehydration does not impair exercise performance

Posted February 12th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Jamal Walker

Section: Nutrition, Hydration

The Gatorade Sports Science Institute in Barrington, Illinois published a study showing that 46 percent of recreational exercisers are mildly dehydrated (Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, June 2006).

However with good reason, the study does not say that they are harmed. There is no data anywhere to show that this mild dehydration affects health or athletic performance. Another study from the University of Connecticut shows that a person must lose a tremendous amount of fluid before it affects his performance (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, October 2006).

When you exercise for more than an hour, you [need to] take in fluid … but not too much. Excessive fluid can cause a potentially fatal condition called hyponatremia. Normally, the amount of salt and other minerals in your bloodstream should equal the same total mineral content in every tissue in your body. If the mineral concentrations are not equal, they try to become equal. Fluid moves from the area of lower mineral content to that of the higher concentration.
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