The Importance of Proper Hydration
Guest post by Paul Atkins
http://www.fitnessbodyonline.com/
No matter how intense your workout may be, more than likely before, during, and especially after that workout you are going to drink something to rehydrate and replenish that worn out exhausted body. The question then is what are you going to drink?? For the past decade the rise of energy drinks could be described as nothing short of miraculous meteoric rise. Since the days of the mighty Gatorade there has come to the marketplace almost every conceivable color, flavor, and ingredient driven high energy after workout drink.
However, after intense blitzkrieg style advertisements from the television to radio to almost every magazine on earth that has anything to do with fitness many people have started to back away from these so called after workout drinks. If you ask yourself why, the answer is simple and the nutrition label on those energy drinks is the answer. To rattle off just a few of those ingredients words like "horny goat weed", "high fructose corn syrup", and the ever infamous "yellow number 5" are more often than not present in many so called energy drinks.
After analysis and research it seems to be a fitness renaissance going on out there of like minded healthy people that are putting the watermelon berry flavored drinks down and in turn picking up nature's oldest and most trusted hydration drink — Water. Yes water good old fashioned H2O is making a mighty come back on the world scene of fitness and weight loss. Granted there are varying degrees of water from mineral water to sparkling, but the principle idea of H2O is always the same, no added ridiculous named flavors, colors or roots to trick me into thinking I will turn into superman overnight.
As this renaissance of returning to origin continues though many have begun to do extensive studies and research into what types of water should be ingested and have come to the conclusion that not all two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen is the same. No, much of the water that is consumed from bottles distributed to most super markets and grocery store chains has gone through much and lost many of the natural properties it once had. One of the major properties that water needs to keep is the PH balance of the water. For those that are not aware, the PH scale runs from 0 to 14 with a PH of 7 being neutral, neither acidic nor alkaline. You could say that perfect water should be a ph of 7 because this is where it is on the PH scale if you were to go to a melting glacier in Alaska and test that water.
Through the process of reverse osmosis, bottling in plastics, shipping, temperature shifts and sitting on a shelf for weeks most bottled water loses its original neutral ph balance and becomes acidic, therefore becoming almost as useless as all of those energy drinks. This may sound like a conundrum but it is not. With a little research you will find that PH balanced alkaline water is actually easier to come by than you think and is exactly what your body needs for real, proper hydration after a long intense workout.
About the writer: Paul Atkins is a guest writer for several Health and Weight Loss related blogs including Fitness Body Online. Paul enjoys participating in and writing about the newest exercise programs and diet plans and is currently using the P90X Workout program as his program of choice.
