A quick interview with Fitness Guru Ben Greenfield About ORAL I.V., Hydration and Endurance
We at ORAL I.V. think Ben Greenfield rocks. And thankfully the feeling is mutual. We recently caught up with Ben while he was in Costa Rica (!). As you probably know, his accolades are many: fitness author, personal coach, biohacker, speaker, host of the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast... and ORAL I.V. avid user and fan. Over the years, Ben has had the opportunity to interview numerous people in the health and wellness space, nutrition experts, PhDs, and biohackers who are progressive thinkers all dedicated to improving their lives. One in particular was Dr Timothy Noakes, a leader in this movement and an acclaimed author. Dr Noakes' book “Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports” brought so many misconceptions to light about physiology and water consumption. The book covered a very serious issue for athletes and endurance sports, exercise-induced hyponatremia, which is a potentially fatal condition brought on by over-hydrating. This book and general philosophy sprung questions to mind that we thought would be interesting to pose to Ben. So we did.
Ben is always on the move, so we emailed him interview questions which he speedily answered via audio file. Below are our interview questions, just in case Ben is talking a bit too fast for your brain to keep up (as some of us experienced). We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did!
Click here to listen to Ben's audio answers!
ORAL I.V.:
In 2012 you conducted a killer interview with Dr Timothy Noakes in your podcast “The Death of Gatorade – Should You Stop Using Electrolytes During Exercise?” Of course we always have to say there are exceptions but, like him, we also recommend the everyday person engaged in general fitness activities like running, cycling and CrossFit to avoid large amounts of electrolyte replacement products, especially salt tabs. We believe the average person can easily replenish their sodium loss via eating their normal foods. ORAL I.V. doesn't replace--it activates the body's ability to hydrate.
Q. We know you agree with this, so how do you recommend athletes engaging in heavy and lengthy training or racing replenish their sodium loss from sweating? And when?
Dr Noakes' book “Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports” brought so many misconceptions to light about physiology and water consumption. The book covered a very serious issue for athletes and endurance sports, exercise-induced hyponatremia, which is a potentially fatal condition brought on by over-hydrating.
Q. From your perspective, being so involved in the OCR and athletic world, how has the current acceptance and understanding of this issue progressed among athletes?
Q. What are endurance athletes, such as yourself, doing to hydrate effectively and safely on race day?
Q. What can athletes do in advance of race day, to "prep" their body to hydrate effectively on race day -- avoiding the over-hydrating issue mentioned above?
Q. Can you share a little ditty about yourself ... is there a time that you didn't hydrate properly, bonked, and learned a tough lesson?
Q. Let's go outside the athletic bubble for a moment. Everyone can benefit from a solid understanding of hydration -- it affects our health & wellness, appearance, and performance in all our daily lives. What hydration advice can you give those people that aim to be healthier and perform better?
Q. How and why did you get involved with ORAL I.V.?
We want to thank Ben for taking time out to answer these questions in such depth. Dr Anthony Beck and we are stoked that you're using ORAL I.V. as a “daily tonic”—and living life better hydrated! For more with Ben Greenfield check out www.bengreenfieldfitness.com