Sports
Important Information an Athlete Should know about Sweat
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Sodium is an important part of our body. Sodium is excreted from the body in form of sweat. It is an unpleasant process that every person has especially when we are doing exercise or any type of exertion. Normally, athletes do not pay attention to their sweat in the way how much nutrients are excreted from the body and how it affects their ability to perform. It is a natural process and every person has a different composition of sweat. It is highly important for an athlete to know about his body and sweat because it has a high effect on body functioning and ability.
Sweat is Composed of Water and Sodium
Our body contains many electrolytes like potassium, calcium, and magnesium but sodium is one of the most important electrolytes. It has a major role in the performance of athletes and its high component of sweat. It is estimated that 150 mg potassium present in average human body sweat and about 2000 mg of sodium is present in one liter. All the other electrolytes are equally important for the body and the body health is maintained through these. But the excess loss of sodium will have a huge impact on the capacity of training of athletes.
Sodium Affects Athletic Performance
As the body sweats, the volume of the blood is reduced because sweat comes from the blood plasma. The heart is under stress because the cardiovascular system has to work hard for pumping blood into the body. If the blood is not properly supplied to the body the muscles will not work properly. Sodium is necessary to maintain the volume of blood plasma. The human body is not able to prepare sodium and keep it for long. So intake of sodium is highly important in the diet. In summers, during high exercise and exertion, the sodium is released from the body, therefore it is necessary for athletes to have supplements.
Human Body have Different Nature
Nature has made every human body different. The amount of sweat is different from the body to the body. The amount of sodium does not depend on sweat but its excretion per drop. A different test is conducted on the sweat of people and the results found that few athletes lose 200 mg/liter while many athletes lose almost 1500 mg/liter. The excretion of sodium also depends on the diet, exertion rate, and dehydration. You can do a sodium test and then you can decide your diet and routine accordingly. Having knowledge of your body decides the change in the hydration strategy.
Balance the Water Intake
Having the loss of sodium from the body creates a severe condition and in such a situation, drinking water cannot even help. Hyponatremia is a condition that is caused due to low sodium amount in the body. In this situation, the symptoms include fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, and its severe condition have symptoms of seizures, coma and it even leads to death. It is necessary to take supplements in hyponatremia to maintain the balance of electrolytes in the body. You can also take the online sweat test to gain knowledge of your body. Maintaining your body is important.