I Went to a FIFA World Cup Match in Miami. Here Is What 90,000 Fans Got Wrong About Water.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office issued a hydration advisory before the match. I rolled my eyes. I am a dietitian. I literally tell people to drink water for a living. How bad could it be? Then I stood in line for thirty minutes at Hard Rock Stadium, surrounded by fans in jerseys, and watched a man in front of me pass out.
It was not even halftime. The temperature was 94°F. The heat index was 107°F. The man was maybe thirty-five, looked reasonably fit, and had been drinking beer since 10 AM. When the EMTs got to him, his skin was clammy. Classic heat exhaustion. I asked his friend if he had had any water. The friend said, "He had a Gatorade at the tailgate." One Gatorade. Four hours ago.
Here is the thing about large outdoor events in South Florida. Thirst is not a reliable signal. By the time you feel thirsty in this humidity, you are already down one to two percent of your body weight in fluid. For a 180-pound man, that is nearly two pounds of water. In a crowd of ninety thousand, the stadium had water refill stations, but most fans ignored them in favor of beer lines. The Sheriff's Office knew this would happen. That is why they put out the advisory. People do not listen until someone hits the ground.
I tracked my own intake that day. I am 130 pounds. My baseline goal is about 2.3 liters per day. In Miami heat with moderate activity, that jumps to 3.5 liters. At a stadium with no shade and constant walking, I aimed for 4 liters over eight hours. I hit 3.8. I felt fine. Not great. Fine. My urine color at halftime was pale yellow. By the end of the match, it was straw-colored. I was still behind.
The beverage hydration index matters here too. Beer has a BHI of about 0.9, meaning it hydrates almost as well as water in the short term. But alcohol is a diuretic. For every 100 mL of beer, you lose about 120 mL of urine over the next few hours. The net effect is negative. Sports drinks are better at 1.1 BHI, but the sugar can slow gastric emptying when you are already dehydrated. Plain water with electrolytes is the baseline. It is not boring. It is efficient.
I saw fans carrying those giant souvenir cups. Thirty-two ounces of soda. That is 400 calories and 100 grams of sugar. In heat like that, your body sends blood to the skin to cool you down. Less blood is available for digestion. A sugar bomb sits in your stomach like a rock while your core temperature climbs. It is the worst of both worlds.
My advice for anyone doing outdoor events this summer? Pre-hydrate. Drink 500 mL of water with a pinch of salt two hours before you leave. Carry a bottle and sip every fifteen minutes, not chug every hour. Alternate water with an electrolyte drink if you are sweating heavily. And for the love of everything, eat something with sodium. Pretzels. Nuts. A sandwich. You cannot retain water without sodium. I tell my athletes this every day. I told the EMTs this while they were loading the passed-out fan onto a stretcher. They nodded like they had heard it a thousand times. They probably had.
The man was okay, by the way. They gave him IV fluids in the medical tent. He missed the second half. His team won. He found out on Twitter. Hydration is not glamorous. But it is cheaper than an ambulance ride.
Jordan Lee, Miami
