Sodium and its role in hydration

Many products that purport to help with hydration contain a significant carbohydrate load (lots of sugar) in order to improve taste and be seen as a fuel source.

Often these sports drinks contain too little sodium to effectively activate the Co-Transporter or to replace sweat salt losses.

The Co-Transporter needs two sodium molecules and one glucose molecule to be activated. Once activated, for every two sodium molecules and one glucose molecule, 210 molecules of water will be absorbed through the intestine2.This is the most effective way to stay hydrated when exercising.

Sodium loss through sweating ranges between 0.8 – 4.0g/hr 1. This needs to be replaced to maintain your level of performance.

Typical sweat loss in an athlete is 1.5 – 3.0 litres per hour.Compare this with the rate of gastric emptying of water alone which is only 0.8 – 1.4 litres per hour. Drinking water alone will only slow the rate of dehydration.

Poweramp Hydrate increases the rate of gastric emptying from the stomach to the intestine at a rate which can exceed sweat loss and further improve fluid balance with both facilitated diffusion and passive osmosis (Hypotonic beverage).