hydration – in thriver words

Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate!

Unseasonably hot, dry weather and a chameleon in my house are reminding me how important it is to hydrate. At a recent party, I listened to a fellow gardener recount her experience of heat exhaustion. Alone in a community garden, she reached the point of losing bladder control. While she managed to get home on her own and avoid a trip to the hospital, she was in a danger zone.

When your body doesn’t have enough fluid, it doesn’t function properly. Dehydration can lead to complications like heat injuries, kidney problems, seizures, and low blood volume shock Electrolyte imbalances resulting from dehydration can cause heart malfunction. These complications can be life threatening in the very young and very old. While most of us may be able to rehydrate fairly quickly, it’s better to prevent the problem than risk the complications.

Proper hydration isn’t just a function of consuming a specific amount of water. Diet, fitness and activity level, alcohol consumption, weather conditions, and medications can affect the amount of fluid you need on any given day. But we still need a starting point to know if we’re at least getting the minimum amount we may need.

Some sources suggest dividing your weight in half to arrive at the number of ounces you need per day. If you weigh 120 lbs, that will be about 7.5 cups (8 oz cups). If you weigh 180 lbs, you’ll need more – around 11.25 cups. I read that as the amount of water alone I need even if I consume additional fluids.

Food, tea, coffee, and soft drinks add fluid, but they can be counterbalanced by sodium content or diuretic properties. Energy drinks add both fluids and electrolytes and can help stave off dehydration during intense activity or heat exposure. But none of these should fully replace water.

An insulated tumbler can help you keep track of the amount of water you’re consuming. Well, that’s if you’re someone unlike me. I like to keep a certain ice/water balance which means I never let the thing get empty before I refill with both ice and water keeping me guessing exactly how much I actually drank. (Reminds me of those parties when the host refills your wine glass before you’ve finished. Yet I digress.) But an insulated tumbler is still a great thing to carry every time you leave your house.

Bottled water and energy drinks are available at any convenience store if you forget your tumbler. Yes, you may consume some plastic drinking them, but that’s better than the possible complications of dehydration.

While most of us may be able to rehydrate fairly quickly, it’s still better to prevent dehydration than deal with ill effects. Older people may not notice any symptoms until they’re already behind the curve so they can get caught off guard by unexpected fatigue, dizziness, or confusion. They may collapse in the garden, or puke on their boots…hiking up a mountain…on a date. (Okay, that last one may only apply to me.)

My first clue that I’m already way behind on fluids is a headache. This can be confusing for a moment if I’ve had a normal amount to drink that day. But when I factor in what I drank the day before, the weather, and my activity, it usually becomes clear there was a gap in hydration I failed to recognize.

In order to avoid such a headache this summer, I carried an ice chest with water in my car even on short trips to the store. This also allowed me to stop at a grocery store for a cold item on the way to another errand rather than having to double back or go out of my way. I’m not sure why I haven’t been doing this for years.

If you don’t love straight water, try filling your ice chest with canned, flavored water. Put a little squeeze of lemon, orange, or lime in your tumbler. You may also want to include some fruit in your ice chest – strawberries, blackberries, watermelon, peaches, and even apples are more than 80% water.

No matter how much you eat or drink, there’s electrolyte balance to consider. Whether you have to supplement sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, fluoride, phosphate, or bicarbonate will depend on your diet and lifestyle as well as your unique metabolism.

Energy drinks like containing electrolytes can take some of the guesswork out of staying hydrated during intense activity. They were originally developed to improve athletic performance. Unfortunately, all of them make me want to puke…on my boots… (oh never mind).

Anyway, the main point of this is to remind you to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate so you can avoid the doctor, doctor, doctor. Drink up!

Foods That Hydrate

When you greet every morning thinking it’s too bleeping hot, you need water and foods that hydrate! It’s hard to drink enough water and keep electrolytes in balance when a heat dome engulfs your environment. Such conditions affect more and more of us for longer and longer periods. This week as temps climb, I’ll be filling my plate with foods that are high in water content.

Some of my top choices will be:

Cucumbers – not only do I love the light taste and crunch, I’m growing them in my garden. They have the highest water content of any solid food at 96%.

Bok Choy – if I could eat this in a salad with fresh ginger dressing every day, I’d be happy. Wait, I can! Or at least frequently. The bok choy is thriving in my garden. And it’s 96% water.

Romaine Lettuce – yes, I’m growing it in my garden too. It’s slightly more bitter than the commercial variety and has slightly less water content than iceberg lettuce (95% vs 96%). But hey, it also provides vitamins C and A plus folate & fiber.

Summer Squash – I’m not growing it, but I love to sauté it with onion and red bell pepper. It’s 94% water and that combo is one of my favorites.

Bell Peppers – just transplanted some plants from pots to my garden. Hopefully, I’ll have peppers soon. They’re 92% water.

Asparagus – I like asparagus because it’s quick, easy, and delicious. It’s also great for hot weather with its 92% water content.

Cantaloupe – or honeydew or watermelon. I like them all. Watermelon is 92% water, cantaloupe about 89%, and honeydew clocks in around 91%. All are great for a summer BBQ or picnic.

Past these, I’ll add cauliflower just because I like it (92%).

There are also some high water content foods I won’t choose as often. Why? They’re either high in histamine or I don’t like them as well, but they’re still great for hydration!

These include:

Celery – I don’t hate celery; I just don’t love it enough to buy it all the time. It’s 95% water, crunchy, and full of fiber.

Radishes – not my thing. I like the color. I feel like I should enjoy them, but I really don’t. Still, you might and they’re 95% water.

Tomatoes – these I love, but they’re high in histamine so I didn’t plant any. About a dozen plants grew voluntarily in my garden. I’ll give away those gorgeous balls of 94% water away when they turn bright red.

Mushrooms – I like some varieties better than others, but my tummy doesn’t always like any of them. At 92% water, you can enjoy some for me.

Spinach – yep, also high in histamine. I hate that because I used to grow a lot of it in my garden and it grew well. It’s 92% water.

Strawberries – this one I miss. I love strawberries on shortcake, dipped in chocolate, on cereal, on cheesecake and made into jelly. They don’t need to be 92% water for me to want them. Unfortunately, they are also problematic for my low histamine regimen.

These are not comprehensive lists. Peaches, pineapple, oranges, and broccoli are also good for hydration as are blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. And it never hurts to increase our intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Extreme heat curbs my appetite for heavy food. Lighter fare appeals. Luckily, that lighter fare includes many foods that hydrate. I plan to enjoy several of them today!

Dehydration Can Increase Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Joint Pain

tree Dehydration can increase gastrointestinal symptoms and joint pain. Today it’s 97º with a heat index of 105º. I’ve been without power for the past 4 days since a tree took down my electric lines in a storm. The air is back on now, but it still feels hot in my house. Even minor activity like wiping out the refrigerator I had emptied early in the outage causes me to break a sweat…inside…in the air conditioning. I keep drinking water, but I feel like I can’t get ahead.

With the constant heat and humidity, it’s a continual battle here to drink enough water in the summer. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to become dehydrated. And for someone like me who has digestive issues, dehydration can make them worse.

One of the early warning signs of dehydration is pain ranging from heartburn to gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD). If you have Celiac Disease or are gluten intolerant, this pain can be mistaken for a response to an accidental gluten ingestion.

Another indicator is joint pain. The cartilage in your joints is composed mainly of water and, lacking blood vessels, is dependent on water to deliver the nutrients required for maintenance and repair. Dehydration contributes to abrasive damage that happens when cartilage surfaces glide over each other when you bend your arms or knees. Since the inflammation experienced by those of us who suffer from autoimmune disorders often experience joint pain, this too can be mistaken for a problem other than dehydration.

If you feel extra tired or depressed, it can be a reflection of a lack of sufficient hydration. All I wanted to do this afternoon was sleep. I’m certain this was a result of all the hours I’ve spent in extreme heat the past few days without managing to drink as much water as needed. I have functioned through sheer force of will which is absolutely not the healthiest way to function.

When I get too hot, I don’t notice that I feel hungry or thirsty. Sometimes, I have to stop what I’m doing and eat something salty to trick myself into drinking more water.
water
So, how much water is enough?

Of course there’s no easy answer. It depends on size, weight, environment, and activity level. Some experts recommend between one-half and one ounce of water for each pound you weigh every day. That’s 9.375 eight ounce glasses per day on the low end and 18.75 eight ounce glasses or 2.34 gallons per day on the high end for a 150 lb person. Hardly any of us drink 2.3 gallons of water each day!

If you notice that your urine is dark, you have a headache, you’re overly tired or experience the other symptoms mentioned above, increase your water intake and see if the symptoms improve.

Also keep in mind that many fruits or vegetables contain a significant amount of water and are refreshing when served chilled. Watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, raspberries, grapes, cucumbers, zucchini, and spinach are all high in water content. A chilled wedge salad or a cup of gazpacho can fill you up and hydrate you at the same time.

As summer moves toward its peak, we’ll all have plenty of opportunity to be reminded to hydrate. For those of us who struggle with gastrointestinal or joint pain, a little extra water may bring us some unexpected relief.

Bottoms up!

https://www.healthambition.com/how-much-water-do-you-need-daily/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256

http://nutritioninfo.tripod.com/id19.html