New Hydration Study Presented At American College of Sports Medicine Conference Shows Many Athletes May Be Running On Empty. New research on athletes' perceptions of sweat loss and fluid consumption shows how critical it is for active people to drink on a schedule to prevent dehydration.
The study, conducted by scientists at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) in Barrington, Ill., looked at how accurately athletes could estimate their sweat losses and fluid consumption during a 10-mile race. The results showed that the runners drastically underestimated how much sweat they lost and consequently drank too little to stay well hydrated. The runners underestimated their sweat losses by an average of 46 percent and their fluid intake by an average of 15 percent, resulting in the runners replacing only 30 percent of their fluids lost through sweat. 'These data show that even the most experienced runners are unable to accurately estimate their sweat losses and cannot subjectively judge how much fluid to drink to prevent dehydration,' said Mary Horn, M.S., co-author of the study and exercise sensory scientist at GSSI. 'If seasoned athletes such as these do such a poor job of judging their fluid needs, the potential for dehydration may be more severe for the average exerciser, especially during the hot summer months.' Horn emphasizes the importance of drinking on a schedule every 15 minutes before, during and after activity and that the study demonstrates how relying on thirst is not enough to keep dehydration at bay. According to W. Larry Kenney, Ph.D., vice president of ACSM, the research confirms what Kenney and other scientists have observed in laboratory experiments for years. 'I've seen this 'voluntary dehydration' time and time again. From unfit periodic exercisers to elite athletes, it is difficult for people to judge the degree to which they become dehydrated. They don't replace the fluids they lose and often pay the price by compromising their athletic performance and even their health. Mary Horn's study provides nice documentation of this phenomenon during a simulated race.' 'Research has shown that people will drink more of a lightly flavoured sports beverage that contains sodium than they will water (1). Given the runner's still underestimated their fluid needs when given a lightly flavoured sports drink, it's likely they would have replaced less fluid and had become more dehydrated if they drank water,' added Horn.
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