A major factor in the body's need for water is overheating. To reduce your requirement keep as cool as you can; wear a towelling hat soaked in water, so the evaporation cools your head; wear one of those magic scarf/bandana thingamajiggies that keep your neck cool. The colder your drinking water is, the more effective is the cooling effect, and thus the corresponding reduction in water need (by reducing loss from sweating) Half fill your camelback and freeze it overnight before filling it (make sure you keep the ice away from the nozzle), or alternatively if your design allows it, add a tray of ice cubes Half fill a litre bottle of water, and top this up with cold water before leaving for the field. Use this as your main drinking source when you are getting your glider ready
> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:aus-soaring- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Texler, Michael > Sent: Thursday, 1 February 2007 1:55 PM > To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. > Subject: [Aus-soaring] Hydration and nutrition made simple > > Thanks Robert, > > I follow a simple plan with regards to hydration and food: > > 1. Plan from the day before, have a good night's sleep before your day's flying, no > party drugs either. > 2. Eat a hearty and nutritious breakfast early. > 3. Start drinking water to hydrate soon after you wake up. > 4. Avoid running around in the heat of the day to prepare (have your aircraft ready > in the cooler early part of the day). > 5. You should be wanting to have a wee whilst you are getting ready, and the wee > should be dilute (i.e. pale), this means you are adequately hydrated. > 6. Avoid sugary foods (i.e. chocolate bars and soft drinks) shortly before flight. > 7. Your food for the flight should be a ham salad and mayonnaise sandwich! > 8. Have water to drink whilst you are flying. > 9. Have a big pee just before you board the glider. > 10.Eat and drink regularly during your flight. > 11.If you are thirsty, you are starting to become significantly dehydrated. Top up > with water. > 12.Enjoy yourself. > > > My 2c > > M.T. > > > Expanded points below: > > 1. Plan from the day before, have a good night's sleep before your day's flying, no > party drugs either. Having a good rest should be self evident. Many recreational > drugs (alcohol included) can effect you ability to concentrate the following day, > even after the acute affects of the drugs have passed (hangover effect). > > 2. Eat a hearty and nutritious breakfast early. This allows your body time to digest > the food and to store energy for your big day. Fats and proteins are also important > for normal functioning, enabling longer term energy storage as well as protein for > repair and recuperation. > > 3. Start drinking water to hydrate soon after you wake up. Remember that being > asleep is a time of fasting. You will know that you are hydrated when you start > passing dilute (pale) urine. Don't over do it though especially if you have prostate > problems. > > 4. Avoid running around in the heat of the day to prepare. This can lead to > dehydration. Have your aircraft ready in the cooler early part of the day. Do the DI > early. Have everything ready early. Prior to flight you need to be relaxed and feel at > ease. > > 5. You should be wanting to have a wee whilst you are getting ready, and the wee > should be dilute (i.e. pale), this means you are adequately hydrated. This is an > indicator that your hydration is working. > > 6. Avoid sugary foods (i.e. chocolate bars and soft drinks) shortly before flight. > Some people have a condition called rebound hypoglycaemia, whereby their blood > sugar level paradoxically drops after eating sugary foods. This is because the body > is trying to get the sugar into the cells rapidly, and sometimes this mechanism > works too well. Also drinks that contain caffeine (Coca cola, coffee, tea) are > diuretic, i.e. make you pee and become dehydrated. > > 7. Your food for the flight should be a ham salad and mayonnaise sandwich! This > provides a balance of complex carbohydrate for energy, fats for more sustained > energy release, protein for repair and maintenance. There are also salts in it as well > to replace electrolytes lost through sweating and peeing. Plus it is a tasty meal. > > 8. Have water to drink whilst you are flying. When dehydrated it makes sense to > replace water with water. > > 9. Have a big pee just before you board the glider. Means that your bladder will be > empty and hence will there will be a longer time before you need to pee again. > > 10.Eat and drink regularly during your flight. Allows a sustained release of nutrients > and water throughout the flight. > > 11.If you are thirsty, you are starting to become significantly dehydrated. Top up > with water. Thirst kicks in when you are ~1% dehydrated (i.e. you have lost ~1% of > body mass, in other words 750 mL water loss for a 75kg adult). Concentration > starts to suffer when you are 1% dehydrated. At 2% dehydration, concentration > worsens significantly. > > 12.Enjoy yourself. Despite all the above points. > > > For those who are interested, references below: > > Gopinathan PM et al. (1988) Role of dehydration in heat stress-induced variations > in mental performance. Arch Environ Health, Jan-Feb;43(1):15-7 > > Richter ED et al (1981) Death and injury in aerial spraying: pre-crash, crash, and > post-crash prevention strategies. Aviat Space Environ Med Jan;52(1):53-6 > > Bollinger RR, Carwell GR. (1975) Biomedical cost of low-level flight in a hot > environment. Aviat Space Environ Med Oct;46(10):1221-6 > > Harrison MH & Higenbottam C. (1977) Heat stress in an aircraft cockpit during > ground standby. Aviat Space Environ Med 1977 Jun;48(6):519-23 > > Hofeldt FD. (1989) Reactive hypoglycemia, Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am 1989 > Mar;18(1):185-201 > > Miller JB et al (1995) The glycaemic index of foods containing sugars: comparison > of foods with naturally-occurring v. added sugars. Br J Nutr, Apr;73(4):613-23 > > Convertino VA et al (1996) American College of Sports Medicine position stand. > Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc Jan;28(1):i-vii > > Yesavage JA & Leirer VO. Hangover effects on aircraft pilots 14 hours after alcohol > ingestion: a preliminary report. (1986) Am J Psychiatry Dec;143(12):1546-50 > > Billings CE et al (1991) Effects of alcohol on pilot performance in simulated flight. > Aviat Space Environ Med Mar;62(3):233-5 > > Holdener F. (1993) Alcohol and civil aviation. Addiction Jul;88(7):953-8 > > Janowsky D.S. et al,(1976) Simulated flying performance after marihuana > intoxication. Aviat Space Environ Med Feb;47(2):124-8 > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
