Hydration — electrolytes, supplements, sports drinks, & performance effects [AMA 33 Sneak Peek]

In this “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) episode, Peter discusses all things related to hydration, starting with how water is distributed in the body and the important concept of tonicity. He explains the difference between dehydration and volume depletion and their respective health consequences and implications. He describes the different conditions which affect our daily water needs, as well as the signs of dehydration and how it can affect performance. Next, he discusses all the ways in which we can rehydrate and when it makes sense to add electrolytes, glucose—or a combination of both—to rehydration fluids. Additionally, Peter gives his take on the plethora of sports drinks on the market and which ones stand out from the rest. Finally, he concludes with some key takeaways related to hydration.

In this sneak peek, we discuss:
00:00 - Intro
00:10 - Peter’s incident leading to a renewed interest in hydration
03:26 - Water in the human body: percentage, location, and implications
09:34 - Defining tonicity—isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic

In the full episode, we also discuss:
-Defining dehydration and volume depletion;
-The health consequences of dehydration and volume depletion;
-How do we actually lose water?;
-How much water do we need every day?;
-Signs of dehydration during exercise and how it can affect performance;
-Is it possible to be overhydrated?;
-Electrolytes: benefits and when to include them in rehydration fluids;
-Glucose: benefits and when to include it in rehydration fluids;
-The ability of glucose to improve absorption of sodium;
-The type of carbohydrates in drinks than actually impact performance;
-Sodium during workouts: is there an optimal ratio of carbohydrate to sodium?;
-Pros and cons of sports drinks and which ones stand out;
-How much hydration comes from the food we eat?;
-Is there a downside to drinking electrolytes throughout the day even without exercise?;
-Key takeaways related to hydration; and
-More.

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About:

The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 40 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more.

Peter is a physician focusing on the applied science of longevity. His practice deals extensively with nutritional interventions, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology to increase lifespan (delay the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life).

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[dino_not_dyno]

Being unaware of this stuff is unhealthy but so is overthinking it. Looking for a life hack constantly and measuring our every move is a dead end street. Find joy inside, share it with others and trust your body will be there for you if you nurture it. Aka, quit overthinking shit.

[reflectionsdetail]

Somthing that helps people understand Hypo, hypertonic is; A solution is made up of a solute ("dissovled" bits in a solvent) and a solvent. So when you have a Hypertonic solution you have a solution that has a higher % of solute to solvent (water), and vice versa for Hypotinic. So a Hypertonic solution has less water %, and thus RBC that have a higher % of water in them, the RBC will loose water to the concentration gradient of the solution and shrink.

[fndne]

Bruce Lee didn't come up with the idea of being like water. It dates back to Lao Tzu or even further. Lee, like many leaders of his time, was prone to presenting very old ideas as his own. One of the best things about people like Peter Attia and Andrew Huberman is that they're rigorously committed to giving credit where it's due.

[perrysebastian]

Great analysis of the role of water. A piece is missing here - because the supporting research has been focused on high performing athletes. I understand that they (for vendors of sports drinks) are the target audience. But for the 97-98% of the rest - the weekend warriors - the behavior of glucose intake is not static. As the athlete's body becomes loaded from exercise, their ability to process glucose changes, and they become intolerant of sugary sports drinks. Looking at only athletes conditioned to tolerate a stead stream of glucose is not helpful to the large majority of these weekend warriors.

[cararobertson]

I always drink a lot of water (keto prob makes me feel extra thirsty) and thus have to pee quite often. I’ve had a cold lately and noticed I haven’t been peeing nearly as much as usual. Now I know why! I was thinking I wasn’t drinking enough

[ClymKix]

Wish I watched this while I was taking Biology last quarter.. explained tonicity way better than the video lectures.

[abcarpenter]

How does the hemoglobin dissociation curve change depending on hydration?

[halfabee]

Prof Tim Noakes is the expert on this topic.

[madison]

Why did Peter donate 3 units of blood at one time, before the flight?

[mickmcmenemy]

Giving 3 units of blood and subsequently feeling shit Sherlock.

[heypauly]

I can go into a sauna and sweat 4 l of water in 1 hour. I almost never replace any potassium at all. The only potassium I get maybe from the meat I eat. How come I'm not dead?

[rjzlwop]

I’m very enjoyable, thank you for sharing, my question I’m an athlete who’s training for a half iron man, and I keep seeing all these things about taking in electrolytes because of sweating and things like that but my cardiologist says not to take in sodium because of my blood pressure I am super confused on what to do. Any insight to this thank you very much.

[TheShumoby]

I've been hearing more and more people passing out lately. Could it be covid related?

[Nando_lifts]

Dr. ATTIA, how does one give 3 pints of blood. They will only take 1 from me at the donation centers.

[dominator]

Our bodies are living waters, so what makes sense the most is to eat living waters, AKA fruits. Watermelon is probably my favorite thing on this planet and I feel hydrates me the most.

I don't know why this took me till after school to realize that water does not hydrate, it carries, like a river. Which can carry those electrolytes that do hydrate you obviously.

[sivonparansun]

I didn't know why iv fluids had a certain percentage of salt until now

[willbrink]

You'd have to be extremely dehydrated to face plant and black out. Never been even close to that dehydrated myself.

[LoganRobinson-wi]

Bruce Lee didn't come up with the idea of being like water. It dates back to Lao Tzu or even further. Lee, like many leaders of his time, was prone to presenting very old ideas as his own. One of the best things about people like Peter Attia and Andrew Huberman is that they're rigorously committed to giving credit where it's due.