Hydration: Are you drinking enough?

This blog looks at the issue of hydration.

The current recommendations for drinking fluid are that you should aim to drink 2 litres of water per day. However this is an arbitrary figure that might not be appropriate for everyone. 

Your hydration levels are dependent upon a number of factors including how active you are, food you eat, temperature and humidity. 

People who are more active will tend to sweat more and therefore loose fluids which will need replacing. 

Green vegetables and fruits usually have a high water content and therefore if you eat a lot of these you might not need to drink as much.

Obviously the hotter the temperature the more you will sweat, however if there is high humidity, sweat is not evaporated efficiently and therefore you will sweat even more as your body attempts to regulate your temperature. The net result is greater fluid loss and a requirement to drink more. 

Thirst is not a good indicator of hydration levels and you should not wait until you feel thirsty before drinking. 

The best indicator of your hydration levels are to examine the colour of your urine. Ideally it should be straw coloured and you should urinate about 8 times a day. 

The chart below shows different urine colours and how they relate to hydration.

 

A couple of final points to note:

Ideally you should drink water 

Although caffeine is a diuretic you will still get a net balance of fluid intake 

You should not overhydrate: hyponatremia is a consequence of drinking too much and can be fatal. This condition is when sodium levels in the are diluted and causes swelling of your cells which can be fatal. This usually occurs when people are exercising in mild or cold conditions but drinking excessively.

Tips to stay active

Many of us live sedentary lifestyles with jobs that involve sitting in front of a computer. Driving to many locations we visit, and sitting during our leisure time eg watching television, reading, playing cards etc. This lack of activity might be detrimental to our health. Inactivity has now been related to several conditions including coronary heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers (Lee et al 2012). 

The question is how to increase your activity levels. Below I have listed some tips for you to become more active. 

1) Exercise: probably the most obvious but remember you don’t have to join  a gym to exercise there are many alternatives. Many parks now have outdoor activity machines that are similar to those at the gym and are available free of charge. Power walking or jogging outdoors is definitely preferable to using the treadmill at the gym. You can start with a power walk, then progress to a jog for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds (10 minutes in total). Gradually increase the time you run and decrease the time you walk.

Playing sport is also great exercise and sociable, examples include 5 a side football, badminton, tennis etc. 

Fitness classes either at a local hall or using DVDs at home are another way of adding exercise to your daily routine.

One note of caution to add here, is that many people exercise but then spend the rest of their time being inactive. This does not confer the benefits associated with exercise and an active lifestyle. 

2) Purchase an activity monitor: These are relatively cheap and I would use them to monitor the number of steps you take each day. You should start with a total of 6000 steps daily but aim to increase this figure to 8000. If you find that you are short of your total when you get home instead of watching TV go for a walk to make up your steps. Other strategies include park your car further away and walk the rest of the distance. Walk for 5 minutes during your lunch break. 

3) Set an alarm on your computer for every 30 minutes and when it goes off stand up and march on the spot for one minute before sitting down again. Soon you will do this automatically and won’t need an alarm to remind you.

4) Get up 10 minutes earlier and walk for 10 minutes before leaving for work.

5) Everytime you need to go up the stairs do it twice (IE turn around at the top, walk down and then walk up again).

Taking on board the advice here will mean activities become automatic behaviours. However you need to make them a habit by performing them regularly and consistently. Initially use reminders and set your activity reminder to inform you when you have been inactive. This will help you incorporate these activities in your daily life. It will not involve excessive time commitment but the benefits you will glean by exercising AND being active throughout the day will confer many health benefits and you will find everything gets easier the more you do it.

Remember you can follow me on Twitter @adamlovegrove for more health information and read our website http://www.functionalphysio.net for further information and articles.

Reference: Dr I-Min Lee ScDEric J Shiroma MScFelipe Lobelo MDPekka Puska MDSteven N Blair PEDPeter T Katzmarzyk PhDfor the Lancet Physical Activity Series Working Group 2012. Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. The Lancet 380(9838): 219-229.

low carbohydrate diets for weight loss

Low carbohydrate diets for weight loss:

Sugar and its role in obesity has been highlighted in the press recently. Authors are now highlighting the quantity of sugar added to soft drinks and confectionary is making us overweight more so than fat.

The aim of this blog is to briefly look at the rationale behind this arguememt and whether a low cabohydrate diet can resulting successful weight loss. The second part of the blog will explore if a low carbohydrate diet can enhance athletic performance.

The resources for this blog are the authors Volek and Phinney, Dr John Biffa , Gary Taubes and Professor Tim Noakes all of whom are proponents of a low carbohydrate, high fat diet. However I will be critiquing these authors findings when it comes to athletic performance.

First some basics. When we eat carbohydrates insulin is released from the pancreas and transports the carbohydrate to the liver or muscles. We only have a limited storage capacity of carbohydrates and excess are converted to lipids (fat) by the liver. We have virtually unlimited storage capacity for fat. When we eat lots of sugary food two important things happen

We become resistant  to insulin which means we need more of it to perform the same function.

Researchers have also shown we stimulate the reward centres in our brain which makes us strive for more (Small 2009) (think about how easy it is to overeat on chocolate, cake, even bread compared to say a bowl of plain full fat natural yoghurt).

The fact we become insulin resistant means our blood sugar levels rise and we become prone to developing diabetes.

The fact our reward centres are stimulated means we seek more and therefore are prone to overeat and become overweight.

In contrast eating foods with high protein and even fat produce satiety and we are far less likely to overeat. This is the arguememt that it is not necessary to count calories because you will feel full and satisfied before your overeat.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence of individuals who have lost substantial weight following a low carbohydrate high fat diet. However there is also plenty of longitudinal studies showing no significant difference in following a isocaloric diet irrespective of its make up. This means in my opinion it is down to individual preference if you find it easy to avoid overeating when eating carbohydrate then why change. However if you struggle and also seem to want more when you consume carbohydrate try changing to a higher protein and fat diet and cut down carbohydrates including grains and fruit.

Now let’s look at whether low carbohydrate, high fat diets can improve athletic performance. The authors who advocate low carbohydrate diets state we become better at fat oxidation and therefore because we have unlimited stores of it athletic performance is improved. There are also studies supporting this. However all of these studies were on endurance performance at moderate intensity where fat is the predominant energy source. There is a lock of research to support this when the sport requires short bouts of very intense exercise where because of the time taken to mobilise fatty acids, carbohydrates are the main energy source. This fact is highlighted by authors  who maintain a higher level of carbohydrate intake is required intense type of sports (Jeukendrup 2008).

To summarise the above following a low carbohydrate high fat diet might be easier to follow, will reduce or reverse insulin resistance, and therefore result in successful weight loss and health benefits. However individual variations mean you should establish what suits you, if you don’t overeat carbohydrate why change.

If you compete in endurance sports then a high fat diet might improve performance but you should experiment with this, however in sports with short bouts of high intensity I would advise you consume adequate carbohydrate to optimise performance.

Thank you for reading this and don’t forget keep up to date with our latest news at Functionalphysio.net.

 

References:

Buffa J 2012 Escape the Diet Trap. Harper Collins, London.

Jeukendrup A 2008 Carbohydrate Feeding During Exercise. European Journal of Sport Science 8(2):  77-86.

Small D 2009 Individual Differences in the Neurophysiology of Reward and the Obesity Epidemic. International Journal of Obesity 33 (supp2): s44-s48.

Volek JS, Phinney SD 2011 The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living. Beyond Obesity LLC.

Preventing falls

Hello everyone and welcome to the first blog from Functional Physio. I hope to write these on a regular basis relating them to both physiotherapy and fitness. These blogs will also be published on our website http://www.functionalphysio.net and you can view the exercises on our You Tube channel Adam Lovegrove.

I thought I would begin this blog with my thoughts on preventing falls.

As we get older the risk of falling increases.

Statisitically 33% of the population aged over 65 will suffer one or more falls during a twelve month period. This figure rises to nearly 40% of adults aged over 80. There are many detrimental consequences associated with people falling, including fractures and soft tissue injuries, hospital and nursing home admission (with subsequent medical costs) muscle wasting, and reduced confidence.

The risk of falling includes both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors include lack of strength, decreased range of movement (especially ankle dorsiflexion) poor balance, vision and vestibular (inner ear) problems. Extrinsic risk factors of falling are associated predominantly with the environment eg uneven pavement, medication and clothing, especially relating to footwear.

In my opinion the main thing to focus on to reduce the risk of falling is to increase the strength of your leg muscles. Weakness of these is linked to falls. Some exercises to include are to stand up from a chair. Step up onto a step, lunges, stiff leg deadlift, leg extension, hamstring curls and heel raises. (See you tube for demonstrations). You should also ensure your trunk muscles are strong performing upper body exercises such as rows and chest press in standing will ensure these muscles are strong.

The next thing to focus on is to ensure you have adequate ankle dorsiflexion. To assess this stand with your toes 3cm from a wall. Keep your back vertical, bend your knees, you should be able to touch the wall with your knees and keep heels straight and on the floor. If you can’t do this your calf muscles might be tight and you need to stretch them. You can do this by placing you foot flat on a chair with your knee bent and lean forward so your knee moves over the toes. Hold this for 30 secs

The next thing to address is balance, I am not a great believer in static balance because we don’t tend to fall when standing still. One exercise to do is take giant steps. You do this by lifting your knee to hip level and take a big step forward. Walk like this for 20 paces. You can also stand on one leg and touch the toes of the other leg in front and across of the standing leg and then behind and across the standing leg (see you tube for a demonstration of this and other exercises).

In addition, you have to ensure you get your eyes checked regularly, your footwear is in good condition and check any medication you are taking to see if it might effect balance.

Finally, I have also posted a technique to get up from the floor if you do fall. You can do this as a stand alone exercise as well.

I hope you found this blog has some useful tips. You can give me any feedback at adandjacqui@aol.com

Thanks for reading Adam