If you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated. Let's take a look at the difference between drinking water and hydration and three easy ways to maximise your hydration levels.
This Summer, I was reading "Your Body's Many Cries for Water - You're not sick, you're thirsty." and in it Dr
Water & Hydration for fertility
Batmanghelidj hypothesises that the majority of health problems can be traced back to some form of chronic dehydration. They specifically mentioned hormone function and I thought this is relevant to all who are trying to conceive.
[perfectpullquote align="right" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]"Once you’re dehydrated you become amino acid deficient, you also become mineral deficient, which is the foundation for all diseases in the human body." ~ F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.[/perfectpullquote]
The idea about drinking water vs. Hydration is that sometimes people drinking water feel the water goes straight through them via urination or sweat. Batmanghelidj also sees dehydration as a form of stress on the body, let alone the other stressors you're experiencing in your life. And so it becomes a vicious cycle leading to chronic dehydration to the point where disease states start to appear.
[perfectpullquote align="right" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]"Every time you feel stressed, that translates to dehydration."~ F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.[/perfectpullquote]
Drinking water is not enough.
The concern with people who sweat a lot are likely to be losing electrolytes as well in their sweat. If you're only drinking water in this case, you'll be diluting the electrolytes left in your body. This can lead to other signs and symptoms popping up such as muscle cramping, tiredness, brain fog, dizziness, and lack of strength or power in your exercise regime. Long term you can become chronically dehydrated. The bottom line is sometime water on it's own isn't enough and you need to help your body get water into your cells for better hydration.
Tip # 1: The most unlikely thing you'd think would help is...
The solution is to add salt. This might sound counter-intuitive, but a little salt taken with water is effective in helping the water to access the cells. It helps clean and flush them out, taking with them cellular wastes and waste products as well as hydrating the cells. This is proper hydration.
We're not saying a lot of salt or salty water, but ONE TEASPOON of salty solution diluted in a glass of purified water can be enough for you to absorb water much better than with water alone. (See below for the quanity)
Tip # 2: For the more athletic or sweaty of us
Quality Electrolyte products are another recommendation, although I prefer the low-sugar, natural flavoured types, rather than the commercial, fluro coloured options.
An electrolyte product will be more efficient if you're doing high levels of exercise and sweating a lot.
To ease your body into proper hydration as a daily habit, using a good quality salt such as Himalayan Pink Salt or Celtic Sea salt are mineral rich and a good substitute in this easy DIY drink called Sole (pronounced Sol-lay).
Tip # 3: A pinch of good quality salt on the tongue as you drink your glass of water.
This is an alternative to the Sole and achieves a similar outcome. It's about a small qauntitiy of salt with your larger quanitity of water to effectively get the water into your cells. Once per day only.
So here's The Sole Recipe for Maximising your Hydration:
You will need:
- A small jar
- Good quality Pink Himalayan Salt or Celtic Sea salt
- Filtered Water
How to Make Sole:
- Put enough salt in the empty jar to a 1/4 full.
- Fill the rest of the jar with the filtered water.
- Shake and let settle. This can be for an hour or overnight.
How to use Sole:
- Starting out, use 1 teaspoon of the clear salty solution and put into a glass of filtered water. Do this once a day. You don't need more than this at this stage.
- I like to use the Sole in sparkling water for a refreshing twist
- Or once adding the Sole to the glass of drinking water, I like to add a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime, or fresh herbs such as rosemary.
- Drink it first thing in the morning before breakfast, or last thing at night.
- Drink it 20 min before meals, as it aids digestion.
- Check out my FB live video on it here
DIY Sole Hydration Drink
This is ideal for: People who have hyponatraemia or low sodium in a blood test. People working in office environments where its air-conditioned and very drying on the body. Alternatively, people doing trade work in the outdoors and sweating a lot, this is also perfect. Particularly for women and men that fit the "Dry Fertility Type" as mentioned in 'Making Babies' by Jill Blakeway and also this blogpost I wrote and in this other blogpost.
This is NOT for: People with Kidney Disease, Heart Disease, or salt intolerance. Please check with your doctor about your blood test results and electrolyte levels if you're concerned about increasing salt intake
Many people when asked how much water they drink, feel a little sheepish and quickly admit they should be drinking more water than they currently are. This method allows you to drink water and give your body the best opportunity to access and utilise the water fully. Rather than force 3 Litres into your body, you can drink 2 Litres and with a little salt, maximises the water intake you can manage happily. It's about getting the most out of your water drinking, and this is one of those "almost-too-simple-tips" that we all know to do but don't. Let's make it easier on yourself. Give it a try and leave your comment in the section below. I'd love to see how you go with it.
