Contributed by: Healthians Team
Introduction
Summertime is back and with a vicious vengeance. With temperatures on the rise, it’s essential to stay hydrated.
When you’re dehydrated, your body doesn’t just lose water, but also essential electrolytes, such as salt and potassium, which help to keep the vital organs of your body active.
Signs & symptoms of dehydration
Some of the signs of dehydration include:
- Dark coloured and strong-smelling urine
- Lack of energy
- Confusion or irritability
- Dry skin
- Rapid heart rate and breathing
- Dizziness
- Sluggishness
- Fatigue
- Muscle cramps
The importance of preventing dehydration
Dehydration can be mild, moderate, or severe; depending on how much fluid is lost from your body.
It’s always better to catch dehydration early because severe dehydration — defined by the WHO as losing more than 10% of your body weight in fluid — can necessitate a hospital visit for IV fluids, as well as renal damage and nervous system complications.
That’s the bad news — the good news is that you can easily replenish your fluid stores and keep dehydration at bay this summer.
Coconut water
Coconut water tastes delicious on its own and does wonders for renewing your body during the summer.
Coconuts are an all-natural way to stay hydrated and rehydrate. High in potassium and electrolytes, naturally free of fat and cholesterol, and super hydrating — these are just a few of the many benefits ascribed to coconuts.
Touted as mother nature’s sports drink, it has fewer calories, less sodium, and more potassium than a sports drink.
If you intend to consume coconut water, go for the plain coconut water and avoid those with added sugar or juices, which are no different from other sugary beverages.
Lemon water
Start your day with a glass of warm lemon water: it helps you combat the summer heat by lowering your body temperature.
It is definitely one of the most hydrating drinks to replenish the fluids you lose throughout the day.
It’s arguably better than drinking glasses of water because it has more vitamin C, antioxidants, and citrate.
During the hot, humid season, it is best to blend it with little rock salt and drink it twice a day to provide you with an optimal hydration mix.
Milk
A glass of cold, delicious milk is a great choice to stay hydrated and rehydrate.
It contains the right mix of sodium and potassium, the two major electrolytes in your body, which are important for maintaining hydration.
Milk, according to researchers, is a superior source of hydration to a sports drink.
Not only is milk at least 90% water, but it also contains protein, vitamins and other nutrients.
It has fat and sugars, making it a complete beverage for rehydration.
Consider adding milk to your list of hydrating fluids if you’re active or have children who play outside to keep everyone happy, hydrated, and healthy.
Fruits and vegetables
You don’t always have to drink water to stay hydrated. Summer fruits and vegetables are good for staying hydrated as they contain a lot of water.
Fruits such as watermelon, raspberries, blueberries, grapes and non-starchy veggies such as cucumbers, celery, tomatoes and spinach are excellent, water-rich choices to keep dehydration from sneaking up on you in the summer.
Adding these special seasonal foods to your diet can keep your hydration at an optimum level.
Yoghurt
The primary nutritional benefit of yoghurt is its 88% water content. It’s also chock full of healthy ingredients such as high calcium, zinc, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and vitamin D content.
When the heat outside seems to be unbearable, plain yoghurt (with no flavourings) is the option that you should choose to keep you hydrated for long hours.
Final thoughts
Don’t get caught up in the everyday challenges of life and neglect hydration to the point where dehydration starts affecting you not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well.
Eat and drink healthful hydrating foods each day — especially during hot weather, when the body loses water and critical electrolytes through sweating — to help maintain hydration levels and supply a variety of nutrients.
As a necessary add-on, make a habit of taking preventive health checkups, especially during summers, as they can help you in getting a complete insight into your health.
This will also help you with taking measures to promote your overall well-being.
