We’ve talked about our body’s need for water before, during and after exercise. But during the hot months of summer, regular outdoor exercise can cause fatigue related to a lack of sugar, calories and salt. The loss of salt is not one many of us pay attention to, however. Sports drinks have sodium in them (did you know that?) and studies have found that athletes who drink salty drinks before they compete did better.
Salt Does a Body Good
Salty drinks help athletes have larger blood volumes. Salty drinks also make you thirstier and you will drink more water and you will retain more water in your system. This is good for athletes and others who exercise or work outdoors because retaining water means you have more hydration available to meet your body’s needs.
Harvard Medical School’s James Gamble was hired in 1942 to help create guidelines for soldiers serving in the hot climates of the South Pacific. According to his studies, the main mineral that the soldiers were going to need was sodium. Salt tablets were recommended for those who exercised or worked in really hot climes. However, if you’ve never had a salt tablet, then you might not know how hard they were on the stomach.
Drinks that are really salty taste pretty bad (although Gatorade isn’t terrible when you’re hot and sweaty and it has a lot of sodium). Too much salt in the stomach can help elevate your blood pressure, while this is good for you if you are heavy in the workout or working outside in the hot climates (or serving your country in hot climates like the South Pacific and Iraq). Many people prefer salty food (McDonald’s French Fries, anyone?) to salty drinks.
So as you are heading outside this summer and plan to be outside for more than 2 hours whether it’s to work in the garden, exercise or taking the kids out to play, be sure to drink one or two cups of water and eat some salty food like salted nuts, saltine crackers or other salted product. Don’t forget your kids in this equation either, they dehydrate and overheat faster than we do because many young children don’t sweat correctly and have a more difficult time with thermoregulation.
What kind of salty food do you prefer?