Hydration & Electrolytes
We sweat. A lot.
Did you know that on a cool day we can lose 500 ml of water through our skin? If that seems significant for a moderate temperature, on a hot day the body can shed up to 10 litres of water through sweat alone! So, how can we combat this water loss? By being mindful of fluid intake and aiming to get around half of your bodyweight in ounces of water. In many cases, it is also recommended to include electrolytes as part of a balanced diet.
Calcium, chloride, magnesium, potassium and sodium are all electrolyte minerals.
From an everyday perspective, they not only help maintain proper fluid balance, but they are involved in every bodily process. With an active lifestyle proper intake of electrolytes can aid with fluid absorption, endurance, stress management, and inflammatory response mitigation.
You can replenish electrolytes:
– through food, containing the previously mentioned minerals,
– or through drink, containing <10% electrolyte concentration.
The most important thing to remember is that simple strategies are the most effective strategies. Hydration doesn’t have to be complicated.
It can be as simple as adding some cucumber and lemon to your water-bottle!
Some favorite flavor combinations are show above:
- cucumber-mint,
- lemon-raspberry,
- blueberry-mango,
- watermelon-mint.
Just remember to hydrate often and eat well.