Location: Wisconsin Joined: 23 Feb 2009 Posts: 266 Born: 26 December 1974 Gender: Female
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:05 pm Post subject:
Wow, I don't think I've ever given someone else a bad rep before... _________________ Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to loose - Recorded by Janis Joplin
Location: Milton, Wisconsin, USA Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 6067 Born: 10 March 1960 Gender: Male
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:28 pm Post subject:
I am not currently taking any supps. I have in the past. I've taken multivitamins. I have no idea whether or not it did me any good. I have taken potassium and magnesium for leg cramps. It seemed to help, for a while at least. For the past few months, I've been drinking less water. I think it's possible that too much water may dilute electolytes. Balance is important, but I think concentration probably is too. I've had no problem with cramps since I started drinking less water.
I honestly believe that if I'm eating a healthy diet, there should be no need for supps. So the question becomes, do I really believe I'm eating a healthy diet? I most certainly do. That doesn't mean that correct diet will correct everything immediately. It may take some time for things to work themselves out. _________________ Eat, Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow We'll Die
Location: Flyover Zone Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 5143 Born: 3 January 2010 Gender: Male
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:57 am Post subject:
jeff wrote:
I think it's possible that too much water may dilute electolytes. Balance is important, but I think concentration probably is too.
What does this mean? Balance is maintained by concentrations. They are not mutually exclusive. Solutes will suck water via osmosis to either side of a cell's semipermeable membrane. The concentration of electrolytes (the solutes) are the catalyst to that phenomenon. It is the proper balance of sodium and potassium that are essential for the action potentials conducted along the surface membranes of muscle and nerve cells, which is responsible for contractions. An imbalance will cause misfires and thus cramping.
It's all basic physiology.
Besides, getting too much water is extremely rare, and would never cause muscle cramping. If one is losing water, drinking more will help. Glycogen depletion (or storage) is a good way to lose it. Being dehydrated will cause electrolyte imbalance, and, hence, muscle cramping. That is a classic symptom of dehydration. _________________ When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix Every day you'll see the dust
Never get off the Bus!
Location: Wisconsin Joined: 23 Feb 2009 Posts: 266 Born: 26 December 1974 Gender: Female
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:35 am Post subject:
Dean wrote:
jeff wrote:
I think it's possible that too much water may dilute electolytes. Balance is important, but I think concentration probably is too.
What does this mean? Balance is maintained by concentrations. They are not mutually exclusive. Solutes will suck water via osmosis to either side of a cell's semipermeable membrane. The concentration of electrolytes (the solutes) are the catalyst to that phenomenon. It is the proper balance of sodium and potassium that are essential for the action potentials conducted along the surface membranes of muscle and nerve cells, which is responsible for contractions. An imbalance will cause misfires and thus cramping.
It's all basic physiology.
Besides, getting too much water is extremely rare, and would never cause muscle cramping. If one is losing water, drinking more will help. Glycogen depletion (or storage) is a good way to lose it. Being dehydrated will cause electrolyte imbalance, and, hence, muscle cramping. That is a classic symptom of dehydration.
Ok, I should admit that most of this is over my head, but...
I have only been able to consume too much water once in my life. My last pregnancy I bordered on gestational diabetes and preeclampsia at the end. I have never been so thirsty in my entire life. I was consuming 2+ gallons of fluid a day at one point, and the doc told me to cut it back to one gallon. He said I was diluting my blood and straining my kidneys. I don't remember the excessive water consumption causing any cramps, but I felt like I got run over by a truck pretty much every day at the end, so who knows. _________________ Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to loose - Recorded by Janis Joplin
Location: Flyover Zone Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 5143 Born: 3 January 2010 Gender: Male
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:01 pm Post subject:
jeff wrote:
I've had no problem with cramps since I started drinking less water.
jeff, try eating a bunch of sugar and don't drink any water and watch how bad your muscles will cramp. I guarantee they will. To store all that excess glucose, your body will suck every drop of water it can out of any place it can find it, otherwise you'd be dead in minutes from sky high blood sugar. Once the water gets sucked out, your electrolytes will get sucked along with it. In the muscles where glycogen stores are being formed, that too will cause a shift in the concentration of these ions, again, throwing off the balance temporarily. These ions maintain a balance so that the electrical conditions remain the same. It is when the balance shifts that the electrical conditions change, thus causing unwanted contractions. It gets a lot more complicated, so I won't go into the whole calcium, actin, myosin, ATP, etc. deal and how nerves use neurotransmitters to send signals to muscle cell membranes, and certain ion gates get opened, etc., (it's actually very fascinating how muscles contract) but, like I said, try it, jeff. You'll be guzzling water to help stop the cramps. _________________ When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix Every day you'll see the dust
Never get off the Bus!
Location: Milton, Wisconsin, USA Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 6067 Born: 10 March 1960 Gender: Male
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:41 pm Post subject:
Dean wrote:
jeff wrote:
I think it's possible that too much water may dilute electolytes. Balance is important, but I think concentration probably is too.
What does this mean? Balance is maintained by concentrations. They are not mutually exclusive. Solutes will suck water via osmosis to either side of a cell's semipermeable membrane. The concentration of electrolytes (the solutes) are the catalyst to that phenomenon. It is the proper balance of sodium and potassium that are essential for the action potentials conducted along the surface membranes of muscle and nerve cells, which is responsible for contractions. An imbalance will cause misfires and thus cramping.
It's all basic physiology.
Besides, getting too much water is extremely rare, and would never cause muscle cramping. If one is losing water, drinking more will help. Glycogen depletion (or storage) is a good way to lose it. Being dehydrated will cause electrolyte imbalance, and, hence, muscle cramping. That is a classic symptom of dehydration.
Ok, "too much water" was not what I really meant. I should have said something like "more than necessary" or "more than the body requires". I use to drink lots of water. Just for the heck of it, because we are told "drink lots of water". Now I drink only when thirsty. Most days I drink very little water. I will have some days when I drink non at all. Although I certainly get a fair amount from the meat that I eat. I also drink quite a bit of coffee, but that is supposedly a diuretic, right? So I'm not sure how that factors in.
_________________ Eat, Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow We'll Die
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