With the arrival of true summer and heat and humidity that goes with it, know one thing for certain: you need to stay hydrated, but you don’t necessarily need fancy drinks to accomplish that task.
It is very easy to become dehydrated in higher temps, especially if you are active. While people frequently assume that hydration drinks are “better” than water, that isn’t necessarily true. One thing electrolyte-laden drinks usually give you is a surplus of calories, however there have been some more recently added to the list that are lighter on the calorie load. You need to be very careful about how much of these drinks you consume– a calorie is still a calorie. It is generally recommended to leave the sports drinks alone unless you are, in fact, participating in a sport or strenuous activity for over an hour at a time.
Other than that, good ol’ water should suffice fine. We do not need to be adding extra sodium and electrolytes to our system when we are not depleted– that causes more harm than good.
Another area is the question of just how much should you drink during the day out in the heat? While there are a variety of recommendations (i.e. one half cup of water every 15.3 minutes) there is one simpler way to gauge that you are staying hydrated. 1. that you are urinating as much as you typically would 2. that your urine is a very pale yellow or clear.
I was at an outdoor event recently in the staggering heat. Later when participants noticed, “I drank a lot throughout the day but just realized I never went to the bathroom.” That is a sign that even though they felt like they were drinking a lot– it was not enough. The second part of their statement had to do with how they periodically had felt very bad, light headed, fatigued and had a headache.
And yes, although it is rare, we do sometimes hear of water intoxication that can be just as harmful as dehydration. So again, monitor your urine and do not drink copious amounts of water in situations where it is not warranted.
Enjoy your summer! If it goes by as fast as 2009 is screaming past, this will seem like a fleeting area to address in the big scheme of things.
