why hydrate?

there's always so much talk about hydrating...I've never had the need to pee in my suit while diving...and i've never dehydrated...

are you people sweating too much under water? (overinsulated and/or out of shape)

I don't change a thing about my fluid consumption just cause I'm diving...and I only drink 2 or 3 glasses of fluid a day. Coffee with breakfast...and whatever with lunch and dinner...I've never experienced dehydration...if I sweat in my suit, I overdressed.

so what makes it so YOU have to increase your fluid intake and then need a pee valve?
I had a buddy once who said he pee'd 5 times in the ocean...prostate problem?

There appears to be a cause/effect relationship between dehydration and decompression sickness (DCS). Dehydration is often one factor (among others) in cases where divers take a hit. The relationship isn't well understood, however, it's pretty well established.

Depending on the type of diving you do it could be important: for example, deep trimix decompression dives lasting over an hour or so, or a liveaboard vacation where divers may perform 4 or 5 dives a day for 4 or 5 days in a row. Diving itself removes moisture from your body via exhaling. In these cases hydration is important.

One or two recreational dives per weekend may not result in any problem, but why increase your risk?

You are likely in a constant state of mild dehydration. Most people are. The simplest way to tell is look at your urine. If it's clear with very little color, you are well hydrated. If it is darker you are dehydrated.

Note that some vitamins will cause a flourescent coloring that no amount of hydration will remove. But if it's a darker yellow color you're dehydrated, the darker the worse it is.

punisher,
Have you ever had cottonmouth or dry throat during/after a dive? Or had a post dive headache? The air in your tank is very, very dry. I think the humidity is less than 1% (others may know more exactly). Anyway this tends to draw moisture from you lungs when you exhale and thereby dehydrate you. Being well hydrated can reduce these affects.

Plus, being hydrated may help in avoiding getting heavily narc'd.

I believe in being hydrated, but not over hydrated.

I've seen divers swilling bottle after bottle of water before and between dives.

I normally will drink one bottle or so of water more than my customary fluid intake before a dive to offset any moisture loss from breathing dry air.

But in my opinion, the constant consumption of water or other liquids is just overkill.

We all have different physiological requirements, but one can, after a few dives, determine the amount of fluid consumption that is necessary without going to the point of having to fill up the bottom half of one's wetsuit with urine.

Extended dives with long deco stops are another matter due to the time factors involved, but for recreational diving I think many divers take the hydration aspect to a ridiculously high level.

But, once again, that's just my opinion.

I am not a medical doctor, nor do I play the part of one on TV.

the K

Most Americans are in a constant state of mind dehydration according to the AMA. The basic recommendation is 8-10 8oz glasses of water (or other clear liquid, not coffee or pop) everyday. Instead of thinking about hydrating prior to and during dives, I simply try to make sure I drink my 64oz of water everyday so I don't ever have to worry about dehydration, diving or not.

IMO an ounce of prevention is worth it.

DiveMe:

Most Americans are in a constant state of mind dehydration according to the AMA. The basic recommendation is 8-10 8oz glasses of water (or other clear liquid, not coffee or pop) everyday. Instead of thinking about hydrating prior to and during dives, I simply try to make sure I drink my 64oz of water everyday so I don't ever have to worry about dehydration, diving or not.

IMO an ounce of prevention is worth it.

Click to expand...

When did the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) get involved with medical issues? LOL - Just kidding, but I couldn't resist!

punisher:

there's always so much talk about hydrating...I've never had the need to pee in my suit while diving...and i've never dehydrated...

are you people sweating too much under water? (overinsulated and/or out of shape)

I don't change a thing about my fluid consumption just cause I'm diving...and I only drink 2 or 3 glasses of fluid a day. Coffee with breakfast...and whatever with lunch and dinner...I've never experienced dehydration...if I sweat in my suit, I overdressed.

so what makes it so YOU have to increase your fluid intake and then need a pee valve?
I had a buddy once who said he pee'd 5 times in the ocean...prostate problem?

Click to expand...

There's a lot of misunderstanding about hydration in the SCUBA community. The scientific evidence, as it currently exists, says that the only cuase-and -effect factor involved in DCS is exercise shortly before or after a dive. Dehydration has been assumed to have been a factor in a few documented cases of DCS when no other factor could be blamed, and the patient was dehydrated.

Urine colour is not necessarilly a good marker for hydration status. Your kidneys exist to maintain salt and water balance in your body. The reason urine can vary in colour is because your kidneys can dilute or concentrated the urine based on how much water you need to be properly hydrated.

For the average, recreational dive that is not pushing the NDL's, hydration is probably not a major issue. For multiple dives, decompression dives, and perhaps recreational dives which push the NDL's, dehydration may become more important. I figure drinking more water can't hurt, and might help, so why not go for it, just don't fall into the popular SCUBA myth thatdehydration causes DCS, and that you need to drink so much water that your urine is colourless.

Cam

If you only drink 3 glasses of fluid a day, and you came up to Colorado... you'd definitely get altitude sickness.

When doctors recommend 8-10 glasses / day, I believe they mean 16oz glasses. I usually drink a GALLON of water each day... However, when I'm in CO, I live at 10,800 ft. above sea level.