It’s understood that we need to stay hydrated not only during physical activities, but in general. But how can we improve the efficiency with which our bodies use hydration?
A former collegiate track and field athlete, Vishal Patel has worked with Olympic and World Camp calibre athletes on personalizing their nutrition and hydration strategies to excel in their sports. As Senior R&D Manager for Nuun, he has developed hydration products for the past five years.
For those who are not familiar with Nuun, they make dissolvable hydration tablets. In this episode, Vishal explains the science and rationale of general hydration and how Nuun has designed multiple hydration solutions that are optimized for specific types of activity plus how and why hydration is so important, even if you are not active.
He shares with us the methodology and philosophy that Nuun has regarding hydration supplements and specifically the role that sugar plays in performance fueling products.
He gives us insight into an easy, visual method for determining your daily hydration level and how Nuun fits in with other training and performance fueling products.
Questions Vishal is asked:
2:23 First Four:
- How old are you?
- Where were you born?
- Where do you live now?
- What is your favorite race distance?
4:54 What is your educational, running and professional background?
6:32 What distance was your specialty in college?
8:10 What was your major in college?
9:00 When did you start working for Nuun?
9:55 How did Nuun get involved with hydration products and how did you become involved in their product expansion?
15:03 How are the different types of Nuun hydration tabs designed for pre, during and post-activity?
20:31 If someone was not being active and wanted to supplement their water, could they add Nuun to their regular water?
21:11 When would be the best time for someone to consume Nuun electrolytes and do your recovery tabs contain protein?
24:05 How does Nuun approach sugar and sugar-alcohols with their products and what are the differences?
29:59 How would Nuun work with taking gels or other fueling during training and races?
32:06 What is the March Natural Products Expo West and the Nuun 5k
35:31 Can people pre-register for the 5k?
35:45 What are some of the best parts about working at Nuun?
38:05 What is it that
matters
about what you are currently doing?
43:36 Final Kick Round:
- What is your favorite local training run (location, starting point, parking, distance, terrain and safety issues)?
- Favorite running book(s)?
- Advice for new runners?
- Favorite Quote?
Quotes by Vishal :
“We learned at a very early time that the fundamentals to hydration are (1) water, and (2) the blend of electrolytes; your amount of sodium, potassium, magnesium calcium and chloride.”
“The fundamental goal of hydration is to flow oxygen to your working muscles to give them the energy they need.”
“Every hour try to consume 10-12 fluid ounces of water. Keep a water bottle at your desk. Add flavor and electrolytes products like Nuun that are low in calories that have clean ingredients will make that water taste less boring.”
“Having a little bit in a product like ours is actually ok IF the sugar is clean and if we can make sure that it’s filling the functional role that we need it to.”
“I feel like I have the best job because I get to work with all of our athletes / professional ambassadors and I’m designing products to make people achieve their personal best and goals.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run
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Mentioned in this podcast:
Run To The Top Winners Circle Facebook Community
March Natural Products Expo West
Calendar of Nuun Racing Events
Book: Peak Performance – Steve Magness
Stacy Sims Run To The Top Interview
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