Staying Hydrated for the Summer

With summer fast approaching, it’s important now more than ever to discuss the importance of hydration!

Staying hydrated is key in every season, not just the summer. Drinking enough water helps your body eliminate waste and toxins, maintains your body temperature, lubricates your joints, sustains your blood volume, helps you sleep better, and keeps your energy levels up. You can feel a significant difference when you are well hydrated vs. when you are not: your focus is low, your mood might be impacted, and you’ll find that it takes extra energy to move your body (for those who exercise, you’ll see your performance decrease significantly). You may also notice swelling and bloating as your body attempts to hold as much water as it can to carry out its normal functions.

Our bodies lose water through sweat, breathing, and urination. In order to balance water loss, we need to ingest enough water each day. Males typically require 3.7 liters of water per day, while women need 2.7 liters (Mayo Clinic). However, everyone’s hydration needs differ depending on diet, weight, sweat rate, environment, illness, and exercise. A general rule for calculating your hydration needs is to determine your weight in kilograms (divide your weight in pounds by 2.2) and multiply it by 30. This will give you the amount of water in mL you need each day. Add extra milliliters if you’re someone who exercises frequently or lives in a hot climate. Individuals who exercise frequently have higher hydration needs than those who don’t since they perspire more often. Similarly, individuals who live in hot climates will have higher hydration needs. In the summer time our hydration needs go up as we spend more time outside and lose more water through sweat.

What about electrolytes? Electrolytes are minerals with an electric charge. In the blood, they help stabilize fluid volume, or the balance of water in our bodies. The primary electrolytes are sodium & potassium, but magnesium, calcium, chloride, and phosphate also play a role. We lose electrolytes when we sweat in high quantities, such as with exercise or on a hot day at the beach. It’s important to replenish electrolytes when we sweat in such high quantities in order to maintain our bodies’ water balance. Athletes often turn to products like Gatorade to help replenish their electrolytes, but coconut water, milk, or consuming whole produce can also help.

The telltale sign of being well hydrated is urine color. Pale yellow urine indicates hydration, while dark yellow urine means it’s time to start drinking more water. If your urine is closer to a brown color, this means you are severely dehydrated and need to consume lots of fluids and electrolytes.

So how can we stay hydrated throughout the day?

Starting your day with 16oz of water helps hydrate you after sleep. Try to drink water between every meal and have a glass or two with each meal. Buying a reusable water bottle that you can refill will help you keep water on hand throughout the day.

If you’re not a water drinker and prefer flavored beverages, flavoring your water with lemon, orange, grapefruit, or cucumber can help make it easier to drink.

Did you know that food can help you hydrate? Fruits & veggies that have a high water content are great for hydration because they also contain electrolytes that will help maintain blood volume. Watermelon, citrus fruits, berries, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli…the list could go on! Needless to say, the more produce you eat the more hydrated you’ll be.

It’s also important to get ahead of dehydration before exercise or spending time outside. Make sure to hydrate well before activity or situations where you may sweat. Your body and your brain will thank you for it!

By Jessica Kaplan