Yes, it’s important for athletes to stay hydrated, but as Gretchen Reynolds warns in the New York Times
, hydration can easily go too far, and over hydration is often much more dangerous than dehydration. That’s because drinking too much water can lead to potentially fatal condition called hyponatremia, or water intoxication, in which the body is unable to rid itself of so much fluid and cells literally swell. Reynolds quotes Kevin Miller, an associate professor of athletic training at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., and co-author of a new report on the dangers of overhydration, advising us that athletes should drink when they feel thirsty — not before and not after they feel sated. Miller warns that “You do not need to ‘stay ahead of your thirst.” Reynolds points out that “other studies have found that being dehydrated does not increase athletes’ susceptibility to heat problems, and that athletes who collapse from heat illness often are quite well-hydrated. Instead, both cramping and heat problems seem to result from athletes pushing themselves too hard.” The bottom line: drink when you’re thirsty.
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