This month's topic is staying hydrated. Dehydration is probably one of the most common, and least appreciated, health problems if you're active in the outdoors. Why? Because every time you're active, your body releases excess heat through sweating. Sweating is useful; in a dry climate, the sweat evaporates and helps cool you down even more. In a humid climate, of course, you just "glow". Staying hydrated will help your endurance, help prevent heat problems, assist your body in working efficiently, and help prevent injuries (you're more prone to injury and heat stress when you're dehydrated).

The earliest sign of dehydration is thirst. Yup, if you're thirsty, it means you're body is already in fluid deficit and therefore is less efficient. So you want to prehydrate, or drink even before you're thirsty. Other early signs - headache, lethargy, and irritability. Have you ever found yourself feeling really irritable for no good reason? Before you blame it on PMS or snap at your best friend, maybe you just need a good long drink of water. (I've sometimes wondered if world peace would be easier to achieve if our leaders just drank more water). Another sign is infrequent urination (I don't care how much you drink, if you haven't peed in 12 hours it isn't enough) and dark concentrated urine. One thing to know though - if you take vitamins, your urine may be darker anyway so try to notice the color of your urine before setting out. We're not even going to talk about late symptoms but if you've never seen the silent movie "Greed", rent it- its a great movie.

Prevention of course is the key and that means drinking lots. But beyond the obvious, here are some additional tips:

1. Drink early and often. When I'm in the desert or on any trip where I know I'll be active for a prolonged period of time, I try to drink a quart before starting off in the morning.
   
   
2. Caffeine and alcohol don't count. In fact they both act as diuretics, meaning you urinate more.
   
   
3. One of the problems only recently identified is that if you drink continually without eating, especially something with salt in it, your electrolytes can get out of whack(its called hyponatremia, which means low salt) - and to make it more confusing,the symptoms are exactly the same as dehydration. So along with drinking, make sure you're snacking too.
   
   
4. Drink something at night. Sure you may have to get up and go in the middle of the night, but its always worth looking at the stars if you're camping out and you'll feel better the next morning.
   
   
5. Strongly consider a hydration system. I am not into gadgets or the "latest thing" but I have been very impressed with how much easier it is to stay hydrated with one of these things, If you're not sure what one is, look at the picture below. The blue bag with the yellow circle around it is one. There are several types of systems but basically they all have a bag for the water and a tube that goes from the bag to your mouth or to wherever you choose to attach it in between sips. If you do more biking and/or hiking than backpacking, you can buy one that comes with shoulder straps so you can wear it. There are several models and the only caution I have is not to buy one that fits into the inside of your backpack (Gregory packs often have this). The idea makes sense because it keeps your pack balanced - but its hard to see when its getting low and you have to unpack the top of your pack to take it out and refill it.

The reason hydration systems are so great is that you can sip continually, as you're hiking, without stopping. There's just no doubt that having it be so easy means you'll drink more. And as we said before, you'll be happier - and so will the people you're traveling with!

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