OK, so here's my quick and dirty review of the paper. It is a summary paper, looking at existing studies. It is not a metanylisis (a study that merges the data from many studies), but a summary.
Urine color, and thirst as indicators of hydration:Shows no evidence that watching urine color is of value. Up to a point, dark urine just means that the kidneys are doing their job of retaining available water.
An important point is that most people thing that large amounts of water, and drink well beyond their needs. This is dangerous.
Quote:
None of the eight studies looked at the correlation between urine colour and overhydration. This important oversight makes it difficult to recommend urine colour as a safe hydration assessment tool: attempts to produce pale or straw coloured urine may go too far, potentially leading to overhydration and hyponatraemia.16 Many of the studies recommend a stopping point, often using the 8-point scale to assess urine colour described by Armstrong and colleagues.5 but this seems to be based on speculation rather than research.
An important point. Overhydration has been responsible for deaths.
Quote:
Although we could not find a report in the medical literature of dehydration being a direct cause of death in marathon runners, we did find overhydration was responsible for several deaths.24 25 By following advice to “drink before thirst,” many athletes are drinking too much, which does not help performance and puts them at risk. A recent study of 88 participants in the London marathon found that 11 (12.5%) developed asymptomatic hyponatraemia.26
So, drink according to thirst, and not by urine color or by trying to drink before you become thirsty. I think old codger has been saying that on this forum for years.
StimulantsThe analysis of existing studies weakly supports the use of stimulants.
Carb/Prot combos for post-workout recovery and performanceVery weak evidence for the claims. But how many of us use supplements for this particular purpose? This did not look at other perported effects of supplements, in particular of protein supplements.
Quote:
BCCAs
The only significant benefit that was shown in the studies reviewed was for increased performance with long-term supplementation, and then it was no different for BCCAs vs. simple protein supplements, only when they were compared to placebo. In conditioned athletes, there is very limited evidence that BCCAs may slightly reduce soreness and enhance recovery.
Compression garmentsThis is a claim that I'm not familiar with. There is some evidence that wearing the garment for 24 hours after exercise reduces muscle soreness. Wow. I'd love to wear a tight-fitting set of long-handles for a full 24 after sweating it up in the gym! What a great idea. Happily for me, this summary showed nothing that convinces me of the necessity or benefit of doing so!
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