Hydration Expert Dr. Ralph Holsworth Warns That Dehydrated Driving is as Dangerous as Driving Drunk

BOTHELL, Wash. - Aug. 18, 2015 - PRLog -- This Labor Day weekend many will take to the road after spending a long day in the sun while at the beach, barbeques or at sporting events. In some cases, people will not drink enough water during the day and will consumer alcohol. These factors increase the risk of extreme dehydration. Dr. Ralph Holsworth, a medical physician, hydration expert and Essentia Water (http://www.essentiawater.com/)’s director of clinical and scientific research, warns that in some instances driving dehydrated is just as dangerous as driving drunk. Dr. Holsworth notes that dehydration can have serious side effects such as dizziness, nausea, palpitations, and weakness and fainting, which make drivers a danger to themselves, their passengers and others on the road.

A study recently published in the journal Physiology and Behavior (http://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/news/2015/april/54-dehydrated-drivers.html), confirms the dangers of driving while dehydrated. In fact, the study shows a big increase in potentially-dangerous driving errors such as lane drifting, crossing rumble strips and lane lines, late breaking, etc. when the study subjects were provided with only 25ml of liquid an hour, compared to the days they were given 200 ml of fluid each hour.

Dr. Holsworth offers the following tips to combat driving dehydrated:

1. Set hourly water intake goals when setting out on a trip.

2. Plan ahead to bring the amount of water you’ll need, especially if there is limited water available at your destination.

3. For optimal hydration, pack high alkaline water such as Essentia Water. In a double blind clinical study, Essentia was shown to be 88 percent more hydrating than another leading brand of purified water.

4. Check your urine color before setting out on a car ride for the day. If it’s dark, for example, you will know that you’re starting out the trip dehydrated in some way and should drink before the trip even begins.

As director of clinical and scientific research for Essentia Water, Dr. Holsworth oversees studies validating claims related to the company’s ionized functional water. This includes laboratory studies and clinical trials, and ensuring the medical accuracy of statements on product fact sheets, consumer education pieces and labels. He is also the lead author on a recent pilot study of firefighters, designed to examine the effect of heat stress, physical exertion and dehydration on Whole Blood Viscosity (WBV) levels, confirming that dehydration has a profound negative effect on blood viscosity (thickening blood). The study, published in the July/August 2013 issue of Alternative Therapies, further found rehydration with Essentia Waterto be an effective means of significantly improving WBV levels that were depressed during high stress activity, as well as very nearly restoring the body back to its pre-exercise state.

Most recently, Dr. Holsworth was the lead on Essentia’s double-blind placebo controlled clinical study examining the hydration properties of Essentia versus another leading brand of water. The results of the study show that Essentia is 88 percent more hydrating than the other leading brand of bottled water. The results of this study will be published later this year. Dr. Holsworth also serves as medical physician at Southeast Colorado Hospital in Springfield, Colo.

Essentia® Water (http://www.essentiawater.com/) is the leading alkaline water brand in the United States. For more information, visit www.essentiawater.com.

About Essentia

Headquartered in Bothell, Wash., Essentia Water, LLC launched its hydrating alkaline water in 1998. The first functional bottled water offered in the United States, Essentia is the no. 1 selling bottled water in the natural channel and a leading alkaline water brand. Essentia is hydration perfected™, created using a proprietary process that results in water with an alkaline 9.5 pH. Essentia is now listed in the 2015 Physician Desk Reference – a first for a bottled water brand.

To learn more about Essentia, please visit www.essentiawater.com. Or connect with Essentia on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EssentiaWater), Twitter (https://twitter.com/EssentiapHwater) or Instagram (http://instagram.com/essentiawater/).