I’ve talked about hydration in other blogs – the role of minerals, the fact that hydration isn’t just about water, and sources of hydrating nutrients.
In the media, hydration is often a summer story. Its hot, we’re sweating more, remember to hydrate. However, I think there’s a much bigger story: dehydration – how the winter presents increased risks for it resulting in increased risk for immune challenges.
It gets cold(er – I live in Southern California and I would be teased by most of the rest of the country to call it “cold” here in December, but coldER it is). And what are the first things we do? Turn on our heaters, have a hot beverage versus an iced one, switch from salad to soup for a healthy but warming lunch, the vegetables of the season are the roots and the cruciferous and we roast, bake, and saute them. We still workout, we still sweat, and at those times we have it ingrained in our minds to drink water or even a hydrating beverage. However, the net from the aforementioned changes is more likely to leave us dehydrated.
Unlike the water-based fruits and vegetables of the summer, the winter ones contain little water (some do provide potassium though) and often we cook them further drying them out or replacing water with oil. Soups typically contain a higher amount of sodium than salads which tend to provide more water. Hot drinks we favor such as lattes, hot cocoa, cider lack the water that iced tea and coffee provide. And so on.
Our cells require water (and potassium to keep the water in the cells versus sodium which draws it outside the cell) for optimal absorption of water-soluble nutrients as well as for their numerous energy creating and disseminating equations. Thus, if a system nets dehydration the body will function less optimally from an energy standpoint. Similarly, if the body is dry and skin cracks there is an opportunity for bacteria to enter thus dryness increases the risk of infections which can enable a cold to enter more often.
So add hydration to your daily mental checklist – a hot water with lemon, an herbal tea versus a latte or after the latte, consume some coconut water, banana, tomato sauce, or dried fruit as a way to consume potassium. Choose lowest sodium soups, skip the soy sauce at sushi, choose lowest sodium meats and prepare food versus buying ready-to-eat as often as possible as you can best control your sodium intake that way. Lock-in moisture with applying oil (I use coconut oil) to your body and face while wet just after a shower or bath. Keep the heater as low as endurable and snuggle under the covers (its better for the environment to).
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[…] NOTE: Increasing potassium encourages intracellular water (vs extracellular water) which is beneficial for hydration, healthy skin, optimal metabolism and weight loss. Read my blog on hydration. […]