Thirst and Rehydration

Dry herbs ready to be infused

Did you know that by the time you feel thirsty, your body is already dehydrated? That may not be so bad during a normal day, but if you are doing something vigorous outside on a hot summer’s day, you can easily become very dehydrated and get seriously ill if you aren’t paying attention to your body and what it needs.

This was brought home to me very forcefully several years ago when I got a bad case of heat exhaustion while gardening on a very hot day. I wore a hat and drank lots of water, but after a few hours I was nauseous and vomiting and, unable to drive home, had to stay with friends overnight. This was the first time that I had any inkling that it takes more than just water to keep you properly hydrated.

Summer is the time when we most often think about dehydration and find we need to rehydrate, so for this midst-of-summer article I thought I would share a few tips on staying hydrated and why it’s so important. The research was far more fascinating than I expected. I didn’t know how important the proper balance of electrolytes is, or what a hugely important role electrolytes play in our body.

Electrolytes are elements and include sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, as well as a couple others. They are distributed throughout our bodies, both inside and outside our cells. They help maintain the proper fluid balance and pressure between the inside and the outside of cells, regulate blood pH, and are critical for the functioning of nerves and muscles.

Rehydrating and making sure we stay adequately hydrated are more complex than just drinking a lot of water. They also have to do with electrolytes and their balance in our bodies.

Dehydration (and overhydration—yes, you can drink too much water!) can cause electrolyte imbalances that can be severe enough to cause medical emergencies, and even death. It turns out that they are nothing to mess around with, or ignore.

When you are dehydrated, in other words, you have lost more fluids from your body than you have replaced in a timely manner, you need to replace the fluids that have been lost. However, simply drinking a lot of water will not give your body what it needs.

If you just replace water, then you increase the volume of fluids in your body without the requisite elements needed to keep them in balance and mild to severe symptoms can result. Therefore, you need to replace both water and electrolytes.

Fortunately, replacing electrolytes is quite simple, and even somewhat tasty at times.

Suggestions for good fluids for replacing electrolytes include coconut water (the fluid in the middle of young and ripe coconuts), fruit juices (real fruit juice, not fruit drinks or ades), milk and whey, and many fruits and vegetables (whole or in juice form) such as potatoes and avocados. This must be why we have so many fruits that ripen in the summer—to help us stay hydrated!

I hesitate to suggest sports drinks, as they are full of artificial flavors and colors, and my also be so sweet that they can upset your body’s balance.

So on hot days, or when you are doing a lot of physical activity, don’t forget to drink your electrolytes! Start before you even feel thirsty and continue to hydrate with electrolytes and water. You and your body will be very glad you did!

In the recipes below sugar is included. It actually helps your body absorb the salt better! Raw sugars also contain some potassium.

A very simple formula for a rehydrating drink has been formulated by the World Health Organization (WHO):
Recipe for ORS (Oral Rehydration Salts)
3 to 6 level Tablespoons of sugar
½ level teaspoon of salt
1 liter of clean water—about 1 quart plus ½ cup
Mix and drink.
Note: Molasses and raw sugars can be used that will give more potassium than refined sugar.

Rehydrationade Drink
(This is a recipe I was given and there are variations to be found on the internet and elsewhere.)
To a full 1 quart jar of clean water add:
1/3 spoon of sea salt I assume it is 1/3 of regular teaspoon)
1 spoon of sugar
Big ol’ drop of molasses
Lemon wedge (squeeze the juice into your mixture)
Shake well and drink.

More suggestions from Wikipedia: “You can add a bit of salt to your coconut water or fruit juice to help get the salts your body needs.. This includes salted rice water, salted yogurt drink, and salted vegetable or chicken soup….And a medium amount of salt can also be added to water in which cereal has been cooked, unsalted soup, green coconut water, unsweetened weak tea, and unsweetened fruit juice. The homemade solution should have the ‘taste of tears.’ If available, supplemental zinc and potassium can be added to or given with the homemade solution.”

Sources for this article were Wikipedia and the Rehydrate.org site.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte

http://rehydrate.org/rehydration/index.html#wikipedia

http://rehydrate.org/solutions/index.html

http://rehydrate.org/solutions/homemade.htm#recipe