Tuesday Tip: Are you Dehydrated? 💧

Obviously the hot topic at the moment is the heat wave so it seemed wise to discuss hydration this week. Our body contains 5 litres of water and we can lose 2 in a single workout. Dehydration is a risk, and once you’re thirsty you’ve probably already been dehydrated for a while. So what should you watch for?

#1 Dry skin

Skin is 80% water so if you’re not drinking enough your skin will show it; dull, peeling, dry skin can mean you’re dehydrated.

#2 Fewer loo trips

Kidneys use water to remove waste from blood. When dehydrated they don’t function as well and you’ll need fewer loo trips. So if you’re pee-ing less than normal, drink more!

#3 Dark pee

Generally the darker your urine the more dehydrated you are (some foods also colour your pee). You want straw coloured pee!

#4 Cramps

Muscles are 75% water. If you’re dehydrated the body will divert water and blood from muscles to essential organs so you’ll get cramps.

#5 Blood pressure changes

As you dehydrate your blood becomes thicker as the water-containing plasma becomes more concentrated. With less blood volume to pump blood pressure can drop making you dizzy or light headed.

#6 Headache

The brain is sensitive to the chemical changes lack of water causes, resulting in a headache, often in the back of the head and may get worse when you bend over. A sports drink or rehydration sachet will help.

#7 Constipation

Dehydration causes the intestinal cells to extract more water from food waste in the intestines, causing the waste to become hard, leading to constipation.

#8 Joint pain

Dehydration causes cartilage in joints to rub; weakening and wearing over time. Lack of water delays repair to these damaged joints, causing pain.

#9 Bad breath

If you don’t have enough water then you won’t have enough saliva, so you’ll get a dry mouth and bad breath.

#10 Fatigue

The brain is 85% water. Water deficiency can result in a reduction of the brain’s energy supply, which leads to fatigue, lethargy, and even depression.

Never drink the 2-3 litre daily water quota in one sitting, instead drink regularly, and eat hydrating foods e.g. melon, cucumber, grapes, celery etc.

Get Sipping!

Happy Tuesday!🤗

xx

Tuesday Tip: Turmeric Benefits🌿

Turmeric is one of those “wonder spice” ingredients that gets talked about as if it can fix everything — inflammation, joints, brain health, heart health, fat loss… the lot. As always, the truth is a bit more complex.

The main active compound in turmeric is curcumin. Curcumin appears to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and has been studied for joint pain, arthritis, metabolic health and brain ageing. The best evidence is around reducing joint pain and inflammation, particularly for arthritis, ageing joints, or those of us who are active and put our joints through a lot.

The key is the dosage. Most studies looking at general wellbeing use around 500–1,000mg of curcumin extract per day, and for joint pain/inflammation often around 500–1,200mg per day. One teaspoon of turmeric powder contains roughly 200mg of curcumin, so you’d need quite a lot to get close to study levels.

Absorption is another issue. Curcumin isn’t absorbed well on its own, so it’s usually taken with black pepper extract — piperine — or with a meal containing fat. In studies, an effective combination is often around 500mg curcumin plus 20mg piperine daily.

So should you use it? As a food — absolutely, if you like it. Add it to curries, soups, eggs, roasted veg, rice, lentils, marinades etc. Pair it with black pepper and some fat to help absorption. It’s colourful and tasty, but it’s not a magic cure and it’s not replacing sleep, exercise, protein, fibre, fruit/veg or prescribed medication.

It can be tricky however to hit the useful dose without huge quantities of raw turmeric. So that is where supplements may come in – particularly if you suffer from joint issues. But many products don’t contain the required amount. If you choose one, check the curcumin dose and whether it contains piperine or another absorption aid.

As always do check with your GP if you have any other regular medications / conditions too before you start taking it.

So in summary, turmeric in food is a lovely spice but not a cure all. A good curcumin supplement may help joint pain/inflammation, but choose carefully.

Happy Tuesday 🤗
Xx

Tuesday Tip: Bigger weights aren’t always better 🏋🏻‍♀️

If you want to get stronger and fitter you have to lift heavy weights in the gym, right? Wrong! Several recent studies have shown this isn’t the case at all.

Recent studies in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that lifting light weights (30 -50% of 1 rep max) for more reps, was just as effective as lifting heavy weights (up to 75-90% of 1 max rep) for 8 – 10 reps both for increasing strength and muscle size. Participants took part in a 12 week program of total-body resistance training (leg press, bench press, shoulder press, leg extension, bicep curls) – half used light weights, half used heavy, all lifted until failure. After 12 weeks, both groups made equal gains in strength and size, except for the chest press, where in fact those lifting lighter weights showed greater gains! Muscle strength increased 25-30%, and both groups put an average of 2.4 pounds of lean muscle on. In addition, biopsies of the muscles showed there was no difference in the growth of muscle fibres in either group (type I and II).

If you want to get stronger then you need to increase your muscle mass (don’t confuse this with getting “bulky”) by activating as many muscle fibres as possible. Day to day activities use the type I fibres first. As demand on muscles increase (more reps, or more weight) you recruit type II fibres – which is what you want. Conventional wisdom states that you can ONLY recruit type II fibres by lifting big weights for fewer reps, but what these studies show is that you don’t need to do that. The key is lifting to fatigue – with whatever weight you choose.

Great news for anyone who wants to get fitter and leaner but doesn’t fancy lifting heavy weights in the gym. You CAN still get strong by doing things like body pump, or workouts with smaller weights IF you are reaching fatigue by the end of the set or track. Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn’t matter whether the weights are heavy or light.

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx