How sugar and salt drinks fill your blood faster
Carbohydrate hastens hypervolemia achieved through ingestion of aqueous sodium solution in resting euhydrated humans
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When boys drink salt water, their blood gets more fluid after 60 minutes. If they drink salt water with a type of sugar (dextrin), it fills up by 30 minutes. Water alone doesn’t add extra blood fluid because the body pees it out.
Surprising Findings
Carbohydrate speeds up plasma volume expansion without increasing total fluid retention.
Most people assume carbs in drinks help you retain more fluid overall, but here they only sped up the process—no extra fluid was gained.
Practical Takeaways
For faster fluid retention after light dehydration, consider a drink with both sodium and carbs (like dextrin or glucose).
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When boys drink salt water, their blood gets more fluid after 60 minutes. If they drink salt water with a type of sugar (dextrin), it fills up by 30 minutes. Water alone doesn’t add extra blood fluid because the body pees it out.
Surprising Findings
Carbohydrate speeds up plasma volume expansion without increasing total fluid retention.
Most people assume carbs in drinks help you retain more fluid overall, but here they only sped up the process—no extra fluid was gained.
Practical Takeaways
For faster fluid retention after light dehydration, consider a drink with both sodium and carbs (like dextrin or glucose).
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Applied Physiology
Year
2021
Authors
Naoto Fujii, Akira Sugihara, Kazuhito Watanabe, Takehiro Niwa, Akira Katagiri, Shodai Moriyama, Izumi Miyanagi, Jumpei Kojima, T. Nishiyasu
Related Content
Claims (4)
Eating a lot of carbs might make your body hold onto more salt, which could raise your blood pressure.
Drinking salt water (with a little salt) can boost blood volume in healthy young guys at rest, and the effect starts within an hour and lasts. Plain water doesn’t do this because it makes you pee more and dilutes your blood.
Drinking a sports-type drink with carbs and salt boosts blood volume faster than drinking salt water alone — it starts working in 30 minutes instead of 60, at least in healthy young guys just sitting around.
If young, healthy guys at rest drink salty water (with 0.7% or 0.9% salt), they hold onto more fluid than if they drank plain water—because they pee less and their body fluids stay balanced.