I Believe in Hydration by Alex Thompson

When your out for that long heart pumping run on a hot summer day or just sitting around on a normal day you can get dehydrated. Hydration is key for human survival. I believe in hydration.

The human body is 70 percent water. If you loose two percent your performance won't be as good. You can get dehydrated by doing about anything from playing a competitive sport to just not drinking a lot of water. Dehydration causes a lot of bad things. Such as dry skin you will feel hungry all the time, you'll lose muscle tone, the kidneys won't be able to work right, and the brain won't work properly. Almost all bio chemicals and electrolytes depend on water those are both vital to human survival and for mental performance. Dehydration is caused when water leaving the body is greater than the amount of water coming in the body.

The body uses the thirst mechanism to signal the body to drink water. The body limits water loss in urine when it needs to conserve water. Many people don't know it but over four million kids die because of dehydration from vomiting or diarrhea. The most common signs of dehydration are dry mouth, stop sweating, cant make tears, vomiting, or having muscle cramps.

The normal person needs at least eight glasses of water a day. If you're competing in a competitive sport you need a lot more especially if its warm outside. Athletes need to drink 20 ounces before a work out then 8 ounces after the warm up. Then you need to drink ten ounces of water for every 20 minutes of working out. Then you need to drink another ten ounces after your workout. It is really important you don't drink it all at once and it isn't in large amounts. It doesn't help the body as much and can cause muscle cramps and other things. Soda is not a good choice for hydration because it has a lot if things that will hurt a persons unlike water. Sports drinks are good after a workout but not during sport drinks will help you get carbohydrates back and you will gain energy. Sports drinks and soda don t quench your thirst like water does. Water is also more healthy for your body. Hydration doesn't just help you in competing in sports it also can help your mental skill.

So next time when your out running in the summer heat make sure you drink a lot of water before during and after you run. I believe in hydration.