VOLUME VS. TEMPERATURE FOR HYDRATION

 

As discussed in yesterday’s post, hydration is important to performance. This is especially true when you’re working for an extended period in a hot environment like firefighters trying to extinguish a wilderness blaze or soldiers on missions. New research from the University of Montana suggests the temperature of the fluids you drink might be as important as the volume. Findings were published in the journal Wilderness & Environmental Medicine.

Researchers had volunteers exercise for 3 hours in 88° temperature with 50% relative humidity. They received either 2 grams of water per kg of body mass, the same volume of an ice slurry mixture of 2/3 shaved ice and 1/3 water or half the amount of ice slurry (1 gram per kg of body weight) every 10 minutes. Results suggest that half the amount of ice slurry might work as well as the full amount of water for hydration.