Eating right in the heat

Photo By Sgt. Marcus Floyd | Pvt. Daniel Moon, a medic with the 3rd Engineer Battalion, eats a salad for lunch at one of the dining facilities on Fort Hood, June 12, 2014. “High protein food produces a lot of uric acid, and you need water to get rid of that,” Capt. Kim Feeney, chief of clinical nutrition service. “Fruit and vegetables are good, because they have a lot of water and electrolytes.” (U.S. Army photo released by Spc. Marcus Floyd, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

06.25.2014

Story by Spc. Marcus Floyd 

7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT HOOD, Texas - As the days get warmer, it becomes more and more important to properly manage everything we put into our bodies.

Nutritionally, dehydration is going to be the biggest concern when working in hotter environments.

“When you’re in a hot climate it’s harder to stay hydrated, so you have an increased risk of dehydration which can lead to things like heat exhaustion and heat stroke,” said Capt. Kim Feeney, chief of clinical nutrition service. “When you get overheated, it starts breaking down your muscle, and that can cause damage to your kidneys and potentially the liver too.”

However, staying healthy in warm climates requires more than drinking a lot of water. Field training in hot environments comes with certain performance nutrition requirements. For example, in hotter climates you burn more energy than you normally would in a temperate climate.

“At 2 percent dehydration, that’s when you can’t regulate your temperature as well because your blood is what helps us cool our bodies down and when you’re losing fluid you’re losing blood volume,” said Feeney. “When you get to 3 percent, it will affect your physical performance and four percent will start affecting your strength, and more than that is when you get into the really bad stuff like heat exhaustion, stroke.”

Although heat doesn’t affect water other than its palatability, it’s important to remember to clean water containers when drinking flavored water.

“The problem we see a lot in the Army is the MREs (Meal, Ready-to Eat) have the pouches in them with the carbohydrate beverage base, and when you put them in your canteen that gives a food source for bacteria,” said Feeney. “So if you don’t wash your canteen or your CamelBak out well, then you can actually get bacterial growth and get sick.”

With all the things that can potentially go wrong with the combination of food and heat, the way to combat the pitfalls is simple.

Eating fruits and vegetable, however cliché, is the best way to stay healthy when exposed to heat for long periods of time.

“High protein food produces a lot of uric acid, and you need water to get rid of that,” said Feeney. “Fruit and vegetables are good, because they have a lot of water and electrolytes.”

Furthermore, salting your food is another way to help. Salt is useful when the body is in need of electrolytes, without them the body may fall prey to water intoxication.

“Nutritionally, our bodies need about 2,000 to 4,000 milligrams, but the Army recommends 4,000 to 9,000, because your losing it in your sweat and you need to put it back,” said Feeney. “It’s why we get salt packets in MREs.”

Additionally, avoiding things such as alcohol, which can dehydrate your body, and caffeine, a diuretic, will help improve physical performance as well.

• Date Taken: 06.25.2014
• Date Posted: 06.25.2014 18:00
• Story ID: 134429
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US