HAPPY SUMMER!
It is so hard to believe that today is the first day of summer! I honestly feel like 2024 began and now we are officially into summer.
This summer has come in with a bang of hot weather and some extreme conditions! But honestly, not more than what is typical at times for us here in Ohio!
I do feel that now is a good time to talk about proper hydration though! So, let’s talk about why water and hydration are so important!
Water makes up 60% of our bodies and when we do not have proper hydration The communication between the cells in our body does not work properly and we are also unable to move toxins through our body properly.
We all know that we are supposed to drink lots of water during the day, and even more on hot days like we have been having, but most people are not aware of gel water even though it is a huge part of our body composition.
An anthropologist, Gina Bria, wanted to help her mom who seemed to be doing all of the usual things to stay hydrated but was just unable to maintain proper hydration.
She started researching people who lived in deserts, and how they could stay hydrated when they had limited access to water on a regular basis. She found that they prioritized finding foods like cacti and chia seeds and those two plants contain what is known as Gel Water. This allowed people to stay hydrated without an abundance of drinking water.
Gina then asked Dr. Gerald Pollack, a bioengineering professor at the University of Washington, about this as he was already studying the phenomenon known as “The Forth Phase of Water”.
Dr. Pollack’s research states that gel water is better at hydrating than regular water because it has absorptive properties that help retain more water in the body. He has a book that explains that gel water can hold energy because it has a negative charge, much like a battery and it can also deliver energy too. Because most of the water in your cells is already in this form, the body is believed to absorb it much more efficiently.
So, gel water, which you can get from plants such as aloe, melons, greens, and chia seeds, offer an extremely effective way to stay hydrated, energized and healthy.
But how can you implement this, especially with your kids on these hot days? Maybe add some crushed chia seeds to a smoothie, add a pinch of sea salt to your glass of water, add some lemon or lime to your water or try making your own hydration drinks!
A patient told me about some Homemade Gatorade that her and her family have been loving and it only includes 4 ingredients! I have included the recipe below and I am excited to try to make it for my family soon!
Also, still make sure to keep up your water consumption throughout the day! Don’t think just because you add a little lemon to once of your glasses of water that you don’t need to drink as much throughout the day!
Let me know if you have any questions! And drink up and stay cool!
Homemade Gatorade
2 Cups Coconut Water
2 Cups Watermelon Juice
1 Pinch of Salt
1 Lime, juiced
Stir and serve!
(If you have a disorder such as a kidney disease where you’re unable to naturally excrete excess potassium from your body talk to your doctor before consuming coconut water which has a much higher concentration of potassium than Gatorade.)
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