Staying Properly Hydrated This Summer

By Emily Waterfield-Buttner, INHC @golden.wellness

What's your favorite way to hydrate? With summer right around the corner, it's so important to talk about proper hydration and the importance of having mineral rich beverages in rotation during those hot summer days. 

When it comes to drinking water, we often hear about certain goals, such as drinking a gallon of water per day, or drinking water until your urine is clear, or even relying on apps or timers to tell us when to drink water. It's a lot! 

I'd like to suggest stepping away from all of that plain water, and offering up another alternative. (I don't know about you but I get sick of plain ol' water sometimes, so let's jazz it up).

When we consume copious amounts of plain water, we may actually be doing our bodies a disservice. Drinking too much plain water can actually cause our water soluble minerals and nutrients to be flushed out of the body, causing things such as electrolyte imbalances, mineral dysregulation, bloating, and the feeling of being dehydrated despite drinking a ton of water. 

Our modern lives and stress can already cause us to go through minerals at a rapid pace, so we want to be doing everything we can to actually be replenishing our mineral stores, as minerals are at the crux of hormone health. 

So a few key things to keep in mind: 

• Drink when you feel thirsty. Rather than relying on a timer, rely on this natural cue from your body to remind you when you actually need hydration.

• Switch up the method that you hydrate. You don't have to drink water all day, there are many ways to get yourself hydrated, while replenishing minerals all the same. 

• Aim for light yellow urine, not perfectly clear urine. When our urine is clear, this is a sign of overhydration, we want to see some color in there after we go. 

Now don't worry, I've got you covered, here are some alternatives to plain water that will keep you hydrated and satisfied, while replenishing those minerals all summer long:

•  Coconut water

• Bone broth

• Herbal infusions/iced teas

• Adrenal cocktails (my go to recipe is below)

• Adding liquid chlorophyll drops to water or sparkling water

• Homemade lemonade with added sea salt

• Sparkling mineral water with added citrus

• Adding a pinch of sea salt or trace mineral drops to water or any beverage to up the mineral content

And finally, this is my current go to adrenal cocktail recipe, a mineral rich beverage that provides the adrenals with nutrients they need to continue producing adequate amounts of hormones and keep stress levels at bay:

Margarita Style Adrenal Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut water

3 tablespoons lime juice

Splash of orange juice

Large pinch of sea salt

Lime slices

Ice

Method: 

Mix all ingredients together in a glass, sit in the sun and enjoy the summer sunshine.