Did you know that food can rehydrate you more profoundly than water alone.
I have given a guideline of drinking ½ of your body weight in ounces of water. That is true but 45% of those ounces come from food. The smartest strategy is getting our hydration from food and water.
You can pay attention to your own signals of being dehydrated by the top two signals – the “afternoon crash” or fatigue and brain fog. Right behind those are headaches, stiffness and joint pain, dry mouth and nasal passages, irritability and low mood. Some dehydrating foods are: alcohol, sugar, grains, starches, meats and cheeses, coffee and tea
Plants have anywhere between 80 -98% water by volume. So think about eating an apple or pear. These are giving your body pure water, fibre which holds the water in your body and nutrition and minerals. Whenever you eat a plant – whether a leafy green, a pear or even chia seeds it is a form of water!
Water rich foods are packed with proteins and their amino acids, antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. They also carry calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium which are known as electrolytes. This converts to electrolytes via electricity. Water conducts electricity not only for fuel but for cognition, judgement and mood – hydration runs our electrical function.
Salt can help you stay hydrated but not the regular table salt that you use but sea, rock, Himalayan or celtic salts are good electrolytes. All those sports drinks are loaded with sugar or sugar substitutes, they use synthetic electrolytes which a manufactured. A good alternative is to make your own.
Start with a glass of water with lemon, apple cider vinegar and a pinch of sea salt.
You can drink too much water. It is called water intoxication and is dangerous as it dilutes the sodium in our blood. This can show up in swollen feet and hands, disorientation, fatigue. Sip slowly before a workout or hot yoga and slowly during and after. Do not chug large amounts of water.
A great way to get water is by drinking a smoothie as opposed to juice. Smoothies blend the whole fruit or vegetable, retaining the fiber. The effect of plant fibers creates a long lasting, slow release absorption of water. Juicing filters out the pulp. It is still good to drink juiced fruits or veggies but a smoothie is better.
Movement- Fascia is the webbing that holds your muscles to your bones and rests your eyes in their sockets. Fascia not only transports water it is actually made up of water – gel water plus collagen. Together they make the body flexible. It’s like the scaffolding. How the fascia gets the water to your tissues is through a hollow tube. Any form of movement activates this delivery system. Twisting, turning, stretching. It’s like a hydraulic pump (hydraulic means movement by water). Movement draws the water from our tissues into our cells. Drinking starts the hydration process but movement completes it.
Simple movements like looking up, twisting your body, touching your toes. When you are hunched over you are constricting your tissues and your breathing and this restricts the flow of water in your body. If you have surgery or a sports injury, it is water that returns fascia’s elasticity and the first step in repairing. Fascia requires hydration to do its job. It is the largest system in the body. Yoga, tai chi and qi gong are great ways to keep your fascia flexible.
Introduce micromovements throughout your day. Twist in your chair, look over your shoulder, do ankle circles, look up and down, side to side, ear to shoulder, squeeze your shoulder blades together. This can be done anytime of day. Do micromovements when you are waiting for your coffee to brew, while the kettle is boiling etc. Dance while you are cooking or doing the dishes, just keep moving – slow and steady.
