Hydration is essential for your health during winter snowstorms reports fresh water advocate

Press release

Hydration is essential for your health during winter snowstorms reports fresh water advocate

Radio host and Bio-Logic Aqua Research founder Sharon Kleyne reports on health, dehydration and winter blizzards in Buffalo

Hear the Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water on World Talk Radio, Voice America, Green Talk Network and Apple iTunesp

Nature recently dropped five feet of snow on the Buffalo, NY, area with more on the way. Accompanying news photos showed Buffalo residents digging with snow shovels and straining to push their cars.* Fresh water advocate Sharon Kleyne recently offered some health advice for people facing severe winter weather and unaccustomed heavy exertion: Keep the body hydrated by drinking a glass of fresh water before going outside and another when you come back in.

*Ohlheiser, Abby, "Buffalo lake effect storm turns deadly as snow keeps falling," Washington Post, November 19, 2014

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/11/19/buffalo-lake-effect-storm-turns-deadly-as-snow-keeps-falling/

The syndicated Sharon Kleyne Hour™ Power of Water® radio show, hosted by fresh water advocate Sharon Kleyne, is heard weekly on VoiceAmerica and Apple iTunes. The show is sponsored by Bio-Logic Aqua Research, a global research and technology center founded by Kleyne and specializing in fresh water, the atmosphere and dehydration. Nature's Tears® EyeMist® is the Research Center's signature Hand Held Portable Personal Misting Humidifier™ for dry eyes.

Kleyne will discuss the Buffalo blizzards, hydration and winter health suggestions on her Sharon Kleyne Hour™ Power of Water® radio broadcast of November 17, 2014 (Live show or podcast: http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2207/the-sharon-kleyne-hour).

Winter weather can be deceptively dehydrating, Kleyne warns, and heavy, unaccustomed exercise during severe winter conditions can make a person even more dehydrated. As air grows colder, it also becomes dryer; the amount of airborne water vapor droplets - also called "humidity" - that the atmosphere is capable of holding, decreases. Below freezing, the humidity droplets also freeze.

People are less likely to perspire in colder temperatures. But because of the extremely low humidity and dry air, according to Kleyne, they still lose significant amounts of body water to the atmosphere. Bundling up helps keep the body warm and slows water loss. But warm clothing does not prevent water loss. And without perspiration, the loss of body water may go unnoticed.

Understanding the relationship between humidity and temperature, says Kleyne, requires an understanding of "relative humidity" versus "absolute humidity." Relative humidity is expressed as a percentage of the total amount of water vapor the air is capable of holding relative to the temperature. Absolute humidity disregards temperatures and percentages and is expressed in volume or "parts per million." Here's the point: Air with a relative humidity of 50 percent and a temperature of 40 degrees contains far less water vapor than air with a relative humidity of 50 percent and a temperature of 80 degrees.

The lower the absolute humidity, Kleyne explains, the greater the pressure on water near the body surface - the skin, eyes and lungs - is to migrate out of the body and evaporate into the atmosphere. Lost surface water is then replaced by water from inside the body. If lost water from the body is not replaced, serious dehydration and dehydration related diseases, including heat stroke, can result.

Electrolyte balance (salt) is also important, according to Kleyne, because a dehydrated body tends to lose negatively charged ions, which are contained in the water, and build up positively charged ions. A health body prefers negatively charged ions and attempts to rid itself of positive ions.

Several other winter factors, Kleyne notes, affect dehydration and the body's need for water: Shorter days and less sunshine creates depression, which is dehydrating. Cold winds are extremely dehydrating. Increased time spent indoors, in rooms with forced-air heating and insulated walls and windows, is dehydrating because artificially heated air tends to lose humidity. Drinking extra water also protects against colds and flu, which are far more common in fall and winter and are also dehydrating.

Kleyne's fresh water hydration suggestions for winter: Drink eight glasses of fresh water per day in addition to all other fluid intake. Increase to 10 to 12 glasses if coming down with a cold or flu. When shoveling show or pushing a car, drink an extra glass of water before going outside and another when you return. Begin each day with two full glasses upon rising. Avoid drinks with caffeine, alcohol and excessive sugar. Consume the water in full glasses rather than sipping. Children ten or under should drink half their body weight in ounces per day.

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