[pct-l] The dangers of 'Cameling Up'

[b j]

I'm in the middle of reading 'Waterlogged' by South African MD Tim Noakes.  His work has been instrumental in exposing the dangers of the forced overhydration that sports drink companies have touted, especially adopted in the marathon world.  

The dangers in extreme cases of 'cameling up' as we call it, is to add so much water to the blood that we dilute the blood sodium levels, causing the cells in the body to compensate by sucking up water from the blood to get back to the required sodium concentration in the blood -- sodium needs to be at a certain level in our bodies to do a myriad of important things for us, so the body takes great care in regulating it to its required concentration.  This cell swelling causes potentially deadly effects such as swelling of the brain and fluid
 in the lungs.  Slight women on Vitamin I or the like are particularly susceptible to this, due to their relatively lower blood volume. 

It seems this fits our PCT conditions, especially in the South: lots of exertion, heat, lots of sweating, sporadic distant water sources, and some of us on Vitamin I.

Apart from reading Noakes' Waterlogged book, here's an article that talks about ultra marathoners that discusses further:

http://www.irunfar.com/2012/08/waterlogged-part-ii-trials-questions-and-suggestions-regarding-hydration-and-ultramarathons.html

What to do?  What to do?

It seems research from Noakes and others point towards (from the end summary of the article): 

"1.  Drink to thirst! Drink to thirst! If 
seventy years of research, and a 400+ page review of it by Tim Noakes in
 Waterlogged, can be distilled to three words, those are it. Don’t fear 
dehydration. Even if you become deficient enough to impair performance, 
water is quickly absorbed and any ill effects are short-lived. But 
over-hydrating can take hours – or days – to reverse. Drink to thirst!

2.  Keep the stomach turned on and the calories streaming. Food
 is one substance that the body easily deals with in excess (the obesity
 epidemic is ample proof of that). Individualize: eat what works for 
you. Unlike water (and salt), carbohydrates are much slower acting and, 
when in deficit, can be very slow to replace. Keep the calories flowing!

3.  Salt probably helps – we just don’t know why.
 It’s not because of blood sodium. But as Dr. Noakes theorizes, there 
might be a brain or neurological action wherein salt improves 
performance. We just don’t know for sure yet.

4.  Be minimalist, especially with the things the body doesn’t easily handle: water and salt.
 Most of us train with minimal salt and water, even on long runs. Thus, 
it doesn’t make sense to radically and regimentally increase these 
things in an ultra. Listen to your body!"