Fluid Facts > Cliff Sheats
On the Parrillo Nutrition program you are advised to drink plenty of water — between 8 to 10 (or more) large glasses a day. Water is not only the most abundant nutrient in your body (roughly twothirds of your weight), it is also
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the most critical. Why? Because it is involved in nearly every process that goes on in your body, from digestion to circulation to excretion. Water, along with other internal fluids, supplies nutrients to nourish body cells and tissues and remove waste products from the body. Water also helps maintain normal body temperature.
The many functions of water in the body are summarized in the following list: Functions of Water in the Body • Provides the fluid in which lifesustaining chemical reactions can take place. • Involved in energy-producing processes. • Carries nutrients to cells and transports waste products away. • Serves as a solvent for vitamins, minerals, amino acids, glucose, and other nutrients. • Regulates body temperature by collecting heat generated by metabolism. • Facilitates muscular movement through chemical reactions involving nerve transmission. • Prevents heat cramps and heat exhaustion, two problems caused by water deficiency in the body. Water is important from a fat-burning perspective as well. The kidneys need ample water to do their job of filtering waste products from the body. If water is in short supply, the kidneys can’t filter properly, so they turn to the liver for help. One of the liver’s many responsibilities is mobilizing stored fat for energy. But when it takes over for the kidneys, it can’t do its fatburning job as well. This can hinder fat loss. There is an easy way to tell whether or not you’ve had enough water: Check the color of your urine. Clear-colored urine indicates that you are well-hydrated; dark-colored urine means you are dehydrated. The reason for the dark color is an accumulation of metabolic waste not adequately filtered. On average an adult man contains about 45 quarts of water; a woman, 36 quarts. As much as 3 quarts daily are lost through perspiration and excretion.
Even more is lost if you are active. Try to drink water throughout the day, preferably a glass or two before you exercise. Sip water during exercise too; then have another glass or two after exercise. If you perspire heavily during exercise, pinpoint your hydration status by weighing yourself before and after your workout. A pound of sweat equals two cups of water — the amount of fluid you should replace. Suppose you drop a pound following a class of intense aerobics. Accordingly, you should retank yourself with two cups of water. (1) There are many types of water you can drink, some more beneficial than others. Most ordinary tap water comes from rivers, streams, and lakes. Unfortunately, it may be contaminated with pollutants, chemicals, and agricultural or industrial wastes. Many of these substances may be carcinogenic, or cancer-inducing, when consumed in large amounts. To be on the safe side, drink bottled spring water or water from that tap that has been purified by a special filtering system.
There are other fluids you can drink too, but some you should avoid. Please read the following important instructions about fluids while you are following the Parrillo Nutrition program. Coffee and Tea Coffee and other caffeinated beverages are a mixed bag when it comes to health and nutrition. On one hand, caffeine, the drug in coffee and tea, may cause vitamins and minerals to be flushed out of the body before they can be used, create certain vitamin B deficiencies, and prevent iron from being properly absorbed. Too much caffeine causes the jitters, irritates the stomach lining, and contributes to heart beat irregularities. Caffeine is also a diuretic, meaning that it promotes water loss from the body. On the positive side, some research shows that caffeine may extend performance during exercise — in other words, allow you to work out longer and harder. One reason may be that caffeine increases the level of fatty acids in the blood. When this happens, more fuel (in the form of fatty acids) is available for use by the working muscles.
The amount of caffeine required for this effect is about 350 milligrams (the amount in two to three cups of coffee). (2) Depending on strength, tea contains much less caffeine than coffee. In the spotlight now is Japanese green tea, being widely touted for its many health properties. Green tea is loaded with natural chemicals called flavonoids that may help prevent cancer, reduce cholesterol, and lower blood pressure, among other benefits. Each cup of green tea has about 12 milligrams of caffeine, whereas the more common black tea has between 20 and 110, depending on the brand. If coffee and tea don’t bother you, then you shouldn’t have to worry about potential ill effects. Just be careful not to drink too much. Coffee and other caffeinated drinks can give you a false sense of energy.
As an alternative to coffee, you may want to make the switch to green tea for its possible nutritive value, or try herbal tea or decaffeinated beverages. Drinking a few cups of coffee or tea does not replace the water you need for the day, however. You still must drink 8 to 10 glasses daily of pure spring or purified water. Diet Soft Drinks Drink calorie-free carbonated soft drinks, but in moderation. These beverages contain artificial sweeteners and other chemicals. How they are used in the body is unclear. What’s more, soft drinks may decrease calcium levels in the blood, and this action could deplete mineral stores in the bones. Another point: Because they are sweetened (albeit artificially), diet drinks can perpetuate your desire for sweets if you have a sweet tooth. In other words, they can touch off a craving for real sugar So be careful with your use of diet drinks, especially if you are susceptible to sugar cravings. Fruit Juices If you are trying to get lean, avoid fruit juices - as the Parrillo Nutrition program recommends.
This may sound unusual to you. The reason is that fruit juices can be culprits in promoting body fat — even though they are very nutritious, full of vitamins and minerals. Fruit juices are high in a simple sugar called fructose. Because of its chemical make-up, fructose is absorbed, and used by the body, much differently than any other sugar. In the body, fructose bypasses a chemical step that decides whether it will be turned into glycogen. Instead, it heads directly to the liver where it is converted into fat, which is returned to the bloodstream and carried to fat cells to be stored. You do yourself no favor by drinking fruit juices on your way to getting lean! Sports Drinks and Electrolytes Sports drinks, also known as fluidelectrolyte beverages, are fine for hard-training athletes (especially in hot weather) or for active people who have managed to control their weight and maintain a low body fat percentage. But you have to be careful which ones you choose. Most are loaded with simple sugars. Stick to Parrillo Pro-Carb Formula ™, along with regular intake of the Parrillo Mineral-Electrolyte Formula™ for best results. The latter contains certain nutrients that assist the body in regulating water and are referred to as “electrolytes.” Sodium, calcium, and chloride are the main electrolytes in the fluid outside cells; potassium, magnesium, and phosphorous are found inside cellular fluid.
Electrolytes provide a life-sustaining environment for cells and must be kept in constant balance for good health. These nutrients are lost through perspiration, so active people often have higher requirements. A mineral supplement should always be taken with meals. A Note about Fluid Retention Period bouts of fluid retention, medically known as edema, can certainly keep you from looking lean even after you’ve shed significant amounts of body fat. On average, for every 10 pounds of body weight, six of those pounds are body water, stored as various types of fluid in the tissues. Even fat cells are about a third water. The body normally rids itself of water through elimination processes, sweat, and respiration. Certain situations, however, can interfere with the body’s waterrelating system.
These include excess sodium in the diet, food allergies, hormone imbalances, a hot climate, and diseases such as kidney or heart trouble. Water begins to “dam” up in certain places such as the legs, around the eyelids, even the abdominal area. You look “fat” even though it’s just water weight. In cases where medical problems for fluid retention have been ruled out, there are some
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natural, safe precautions you can take to make sure excess water weight doesn’t blur the lines of your lean physique. Here are several recommendations: •Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Paradoxically, water is the best preventive against fluid retention. Your kidneys need a constant supply of water to properly eliminate fluids and waste products from your body. If water is in short supply, the kidneys tend to hoard water, and edema can result. Try to drink between 8 and 10 glasses of pure water daily. • Moderate your sodium intake. Excessive salt also makes your body retain too much water. Don’t add salt to your food, and try to use less than a half a teaspoon when fixing your food. If you miss the taste of salt on your foods, try a salt substitute or experiment with various herbs and spices in your cooking. • Stick to your aerobic exercise program. Aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging, and bicycling improves the resiliency and tone of blood vessels. If blood vessels are slack, extra water flows out of them and collects in the tissues. For more information about water retention, particularly in regard to contest preparation, consult the Parrillo Nutrition Manual.
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References
1. Nancy Clark, “Fluid Facts: What, When, and How Much to Drink,” The Physician and Sportsmedicine , November 1992.
2. T. E. Graham and L.L Spriet, “Impact of Various Doses of Caffeine on Catecholamines and Metabolism during Exercise,” Journal of Applied Physiology, February 1995.
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