Personalized Hydration with Sports Dietitian Colette Vartanian
Apr 4, 2024
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Sports dietitian Colette Vartanian talks about personalized hydration strategies for athletes, including identifying fluid and sodium needs during exercise, adjusting hydration plans for different weather conditions, and utilizing advanced testing methods like sweat rate testing. They discuss the importance of intuitive hydration practices, preloading with electrolytes for optimal performance, and the significance of finding the right nutrition professional for personalized guidance.
Personalized hydration is essential for optimal health and performance, tailoring plans to individual needs and conditions.
As an athlete care manager at Skratch Labs, providing holistic support, nutrition counseling, and tailored hydration plans is crucial for athlete performance.
Preloading with electrolytes before events, testing hydration strategies, and adjusting based on individual responses and conditions are key for successful implementation.
Deep dives
Personalized Hydration Strategies for Performance
Tailoring hydration plans to individual needs and conditions is crucial for optimal health and performance. Understanding fluid and sodium requirements during exercise is essential. Methods like sweat rate and composition testing help in determining personalized hydration strategies. Adjusting hydration plans based on weather conditions and individual needs is key.
Role of a Sports Dietitian at Scratch Labs
As an athlete care manager at Scratch Labs, the role encompasses providing holistic support to athletes. Offering nutrition counseling, product testing, and guidance on hydration plans are vital aspects of the position. Collaborating with athletes to enhance their performance and overall well-being by understanding their individual needs and providing tailored care.
Implementing Preloading and Hyperhydration Strategies
Preloading with electrolyte-loaded beverages or salty meals the night before an event and morning of helps in increasing hydration status. Hyperhydration involves a high-sodium intake close to the start to increase plasma volume, aiding in performance. Testing these strategies before race day and adjusting based on individual responses and conditions are crucial for successful implementation.
Factors to Consider for Effective Hydration Practices
Factors influencing effective hydration practices include the individual's sweat rate, sweat sodium concentration, and environmental conditions. Paying attention to hydration cues, conducting regular testing to refine hydration strategies, and understanding the impact of temperature, humidity, and hydration on overall performance are important considerations.
Overview of Sodium Testing Devices
Various methods of testing sodium levels were discussed in the podcast, ranging from precision technology to wearable devices like Nix and H-Drop. The gold standard for laboratory-style testing was highlighted, with the Precision Hydration device being considered reliable for measuring sodium concentration in athletic settings. Different approaches like sweat patches and exercise-reliant methods were also mentioned, emphasizing the importance of finding devices that specifically measure sodium concentration for accurate results.
Strategies for Hydration and Fueling in Extreme Conditions
In the context of extreme temperature events like triathlons or trail running, non-nutrition-related cooling methods were recommended, such as cooling the body in water sources or using ice socks. The importance of adjusting fueling strategies based on temperature conditions was underscored, suggesting that liquid or semi-solid nutrition tends to be more easily digestible in hot environments. The use of extremely salty hydration products for rescue hydration in cases of extreme dehydration was also advised, along with incorporating electrolytes while adjusting nutrition methods to suit changing demands in varying temperatures.
Welcome to Episode87 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring Colette Vartanian (MS RD), a sports dietitian and the Athlete Care Manager over at Skratch Labs.
Today, Colette and I are chatting about personalized hydration. It’s been awhile since I did a dedicated hydration episode, so I figured it was time to revisit this important topic, especially as the weather warms up. We discuss key hydration concepts and strategies, including how to identify fluid and sodium needs during exercise, the role of thirst, prehydration vs hyperhydration/preloading, various methods of sweat rate and sweat composition testing, how to adjust your hydration plan for different weather conditions, and SO much more.
If you’re fairly new to my podcast or you just happened to miss it, Episode 52 with Andy Blow, the co-founder of Precision Hydration, is another great episode that deep dives into hydration. There's some overlap with today's show, but we also cover many other aspects of hydration, including a more in depth discussion of hydration basics, so it's a great starting point if you're looking to gain a better understanding of this topic.
FYI, this episode is NOT sponsored by Skratch, but I really like their products and always enjoy connecting with my dietitian colleagues. If you’re interested in trying Skratch products, you can use the 20% discount link that I provide to my nutrition clients - EATFORENDURANCE20 (this is an affiliate link, so you can shop while helping to support the pod).
Thanks for listening and I hope you find this episode helpful!
Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations
