Lecture 3

Sports Nutrition
Lecture 3rd
Water Balance for Athletes
1
Introduction:
• Water is fundamental for all metabolic
processes in the human body.
• Body Water balance is regulated by hormones
, depending on electrolytes, especially
sodium.
• Under normal conditions, body water content
is kept constant.
• It is not possible to store water in the body,
as the kidneys will excrete any excess
water. 2
• Water is the largest component of the
human body, representing 45 – 70 % of
total body weight.
• Average males are about 60 % water
weight, whereas females are about 50 %
water weight.
• A person weighed 70 kg, his body contains
about 60 % water or 42 liters.
3
• Muscle comprises approximately 70 -75 %
water, fat tissue contains only about 10 –
15 %, bones are about 32 % water whereas
blood is about 93 % water.
• it can be deduced that trained athletes
who have a high lean body mass and low
fat mass have a relatively high water
content. So, athletes have about 70 %
water of their weight, while obese
individuals are about 40 % water weight.
Fluid Compartments in the Body
The body's water is compartmentalized into
several major divisions:
Intracellular Fluid (ICF) :
• It represents 2/3 of the body's water, if your
body has 60 % water, ICF is about 40 % of your
weight (28 liters for 70 kg boy weight).
• The ICF is primarily a solution of potassium and
organic anions, proteins etc.
• The cell membranes and cellular metabolism
control the constituents of this ICF.
5
Extracellular Fluid (ECF):
• ECF is the remaining 1/3 of your body's water. ECF is about 20 % of
your weight (14 liters for 70 kg boy weight).
• The ECF is primarily solution of NaCl and NaHCO3.
• The ECF volume is proportional to the total Na content.
The ECF is further subdivided into three

subcompartments:
o Interstitial Fluid (ISF): surrounds the cells, but does not
circulate. It comprises about 3/4 of the ECF.
o Plasma circulates in the blood: It makes up about 1/4 of
the ECF.
o Transcellular fluid: is a set of fluids that are outside of the
normal compartments. These 1-2 liters of fluid make up the CSF
6(Cerebro-spinal fluid ), Digestive Juices, Mucus, etc.
• In conclusion The 60-40-20 Rule: means
60 % of body weight is water.
40 % of body weight is intracellular fluids.
20 % of body weight is extracellular fluid.
Water Compartments for 70 kg. individuals
Total body fluid 60 % = 42 liters

Extracellular Fluid 20 % = 14 Liters
Intracellular Fluid
Blood plasma 5 % Interstitial Fluid 15 % 40 % = 28 liters
4 Liters 10 liters
7
Excretion of fluids : is a main function
of the kidneys, which are controlled by
hormones and enzymes to adjust water
volume.
If the blood has a relatively high
concentration of sodium, protein, or glucose
per unit volume of fluid (hypertonic), water
is drawn from cells to normalize the
concentration of electrolytes.
 If the blood is hypertonic it stimulates osmoreceptors in
hypothalamus, which leads to the release of Antidiuretic
hormone (ADH) from the pituitary gland. ADH forces the kidneys
to reabsorb more water to produce a more concentrated urine.
 The osmoreceptors can also induce the sensation of thirst, to
drink more water.
8
 In a state of hypotonic or hyper hydration, the
concentrations of electrolytes, protein, and
glucose are lower than normal in the blood.
This condition shuts down the production of
ADH. Fluid tends to migrate from blood to cells
to adjust for this hypotonic state.
 The concentration of sodium is a primary

influence on the osmolality of extracellular
fluid.
9
 A high sodium concentration is associated with
increase blood volume, to normalize the
concentration of sodium per unit of fluid volume.
In contrast, a low sodium concentration, is
associated with a reduction in blood volume.
 Blood sodium concentration is controlled by
aldosterone hormone, that affects kidney to
retain more sodium in a low-blood sodium level,
while, aldosterone production ceases or
decreases in high sodium concentrations to
increase more sodium excretion with more water
loss to reduce blood volume.
10
Normal fluid balance
• Intake (2550 ml)
– drink 1200 ml
– food 1000 ml
– metabolically produced 350 ml
• Output (2550 ml)
– insensible 900 ml
– sweat 50 ml
– feces 100 ml
11 – urine 1500 ml
Hydration and Physical Performance
 Physical activity creates heat, which must be
disposed for the athlete to continue activity.
 Failure to dissipate heat will eventually lead to
heatstroke and potentially death.
The two primary systems for losing heat involve:
(1) moving more blood to the skin to allow heat
loss through radiation.
(2) increasing the rate of sweat production.
 Both of these systems depend on adequate
blood volume.
12
 A lower blood volume results in a reduced
movement of blood to the skin, with
decreasing sweat production.
 Working muscles demand more blood flow

to deliver nutrients and

to remove the by-products of burned fuel,
however, at the same time there is a need

to pouch blood toward the skin to increase
the sweat rate and reduce temperature.
13
 With low blood volume, one or both of these
systems fail, resulted in decrease athletic
performance.
 Since athletes have a low storage capacity for

water, with a tremendous ability to produce
sweat, so fluids must be supplied during
physical activity to maintain blood volume,
sweat rate and to avoid dehydration.
14
SWEAT AND SODIUM LOSS DURING
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Sweating Rate
The sweating rates vary greatly among
individuals, due to :
Exercise intensity.
Fitness level.
Heat acclimation.
Environmental conditions.
Type of clothing worn.
Water Loss during Physical Activity
 During light exercise in cool or moderate
environments, sweating rates might be as little
as 100 ml/h.
 During vigorous exercise in a hot environment,
sweating rates may be over 3,000 ml/h.
 High sweating rates (e.g., > 1.5 L/h) makes
significant dehydration and impaired
performance.
16
 Because of the athletes can not drink large
amount of water during exercise due to
maximal gastric emptying rate has an upper
limit.
 This limit is not defined, and vary widely among
individuals, but could be in excess of 1.3 L/h
 Therefore, there is no definite recommendation
for fluid intake during physical activity.
 Athletes, must adjust their fluid intake with
sweat loss during exercise and thereby minimize
dehydration.
17
Salt Loss during Physical Activity
During prolonged physical activity, large
amounts of salt (sodium chloride) can be lost in
sweat.
 human sweat contains 40 – 50 mmol of sodium
per liter (920 to 1,150 mg/L.).
 Large sweat losses promote large salt losses; for
example, an athlete who loses 5 L of sweat in a
day, will lose between 4,600 and 5,750 mg of
sodium.
18
 Sodium is reabsorbed again in the sweat-gland
tubule, as an adaptive response to protect
plasma volume by lowering sodium loss , so
some athletes can produce sweat with less
than 20 m mol of sodium per liter .
 Salt loss have indirect impact on physical
performance, because of adequate
replacement of sodium chloride during
physical activity can encourage voluntary fluid
intake ,protect plasma volume ,and reduce
urine production, that promote hydration.
19
Body Fluid Imbalances
• Over-hydration : is rare, water and salt will be
excreted with too much intake.
• Under-hydration : is very common and can be

classified into:
– dehydration with exercise.
– dehydration in the elderly (lack of thirst).
– dehydration with fever and diarrhea (children
most susceptible).
20
Impact of Dehydration
Dehydration: loss of 2 % or more of body weight
due to water loss.
o Dehydration can be induced due to fluid
restriction or heat exposure before or during
exercise.
o Sweating during physical activity can quickly
result in dehydration, particularly in warm
environments.
o Dehydration may range between 1 to 8 % of
body mass loss during physical activity.
21
o Dehydration is usually associated by reduced
plasma volume and increased plasma osmolality
( increased the number of dissolved particles).
o Dehydration induces premature fatigue during
sustained exercise.
o Dehydration has a negative changes in muscle
metabolism due to accelerate rate of glycogen
depletion).
o Dehydration's impact is greater in warm
environments than in cold.
22
Effect of dehydration on exercise performance
Decrease in body weight.
1 %, cardiovascular effects.
3 %, decrease VO2 max in cool.
 5 %, loss of strength.
 12 %, often fatal ( causes death).
23
Factors Affecting fluid Intake
The two main factors influencing fluid intake are
thirst and taste.
• Thirst is a sensation of dryness in the mouth and
throat related to the body's need for additional
fluids.
• Taste is the response of human have substances
in the mouth.
• Most athletes induce "voluntary dehydration"
because they don't drink enough probably due
to a lack of the thirst sensation.
24
• A rise in plasma osmolality of between 2 and 3
percent is needed to produce the sensation of
thirst.
• The thirst sensation, often delayed in athletes,

it doesn't appear until an athlete has already
lost 1.5 to 2.0 liters of body water.
25

Lecture 3

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 3

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 3

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sports Nutrition

Water Balance for Athletes

The ECF is further subdivided into three

Total body fluid 60 % = 42 liters

 The concentration of sodium is a primary

 Since athletes have a low storage capacity for

• Under-hydration : is very common and can be

3 %, decrease VO2 max in cool.

 12 %, often fatal ( causes death).

• The thirst sensation, often delayed in athletes,

You might also like