Many people are starting to take notice of the science of hydration with a barrage of new products entering the mass market on a daily basis promising better hydration results; however, rather limited attention has been paid to the emerging field of personalized vitamins and its potential impact on hydration. We are all familiar with the process of buying standard, off-the-shelf vitamins. You head into the confusing and overwhelming vitamin aisles of the retail store, with your head presumably swimming from the multitude of options, and cobble together a do-it-yourself (“DIY”) vitamin regimen. This approach can miss the mark in various ways. You may underdose your vitamin deficiency needs by selecting a generic vitamin, say a men’s or women’s multivitamin, with low dosing in accordance with Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA), the required nutrition for the average healthy person. If you are healthy, and that is one level of assumption, by simply meeting the basic requirement, you are not likely to get enough vitamins and minerals from this vitamin to impact your hydration levels. Alternatively, if you chose a personalized vitamin, the dosing would be calibrated to your specific heath profile, including your fitness routine. In fact, the personalized vitamin may be accompanied by an additional “booster” vitamin to address situational supplement needs like intense exercise. It makes sense that if you take a vitamin in accordance with your personal profile that you will see better results in areas like hydration.
Getting Enough Of What You Need
What are some vitamins that have been shown to impact hydration, and could they be properly dosed through a personalized vitamin?
- Potassium: This essential electrolyte helps fuel your muscles to function optimally. This encompasses not only the muscles you use to walk around and stay active, but also things like your heart. Potassium is helpful to take in limited quantities as a part of a periodic nutritional supplement but not in elevated doses as it can cause dangerous side effects if too much is consumed.
- Sodium: Whiles salt is something people tend to think they should avoid to stay healthy, it turns out that many of us actually need extra salt at times. When we sweat or have a temperature, we lose salt in great quantities. When we have low blood pressure or avoid processed foods, we may actually need more sodium.
- Magnesium: Is an essential electrolyte that many people benefit from on a daily basis and particularly when dehydrated. Magnesium plays a critical role in hydration, muscle function, heart health and more. It can be an essential part of a personalized vitamin and effective supplement for hydration.
- Chloride: This important nutrient is often included in vitamins and supplements for hydration. Combined with sodium, it helps the body hold on to vital fluids.
Sodium and potassium assist to regulate just about every essential bodily function. They do this by allowing your cells to work properly. Magnesium is also an essential electrolyte for dehydration that helps your body hold onto the potassium it requires.
Sports drinks, like Gatorade, contain some of these electrolytes, but it is often in combination with loads of sugar and other artificial additives. And, if you are not drinking these sports drinks on a regular basis, you are only getting intermittent hydration support. Hydration supplements such as Power Up™ are a more direct and effective way to ingest vital electrolytes before and after a workout without any added sugar or caffeine.
Personalized Vitamins Meet The Hydration Challenge
There are many off-the-shelf generic multivitamins that fail to address the hydration challenge. They may lack some of the aforementioned essential nutrients for hydration like sodium. For ingredients that are present in the formula, like magnesium, there can easily be shortfall in dosing when considering the health and lifestyle profile of the individual. A personalized vitamin can be calibrated for your lifestyle and adapted in dosing for aspects like your workout routine. If you can find a personalized vitamin with all-in-one formulation, it will make it easier to stick to your routine and will be more affordable than a pill pack or other forms of personalization. Consistent use of a multivitamin can make it easier to lever up your nutrition with a situational supplement that can be layered onto your balanced daily nutrition. Personalization opens the door for impactful and tailored dosing in vitamins, and this advancement holds strong potential for improvements in individual hydration levels.
