Since I am a big believer in the your health and wellness being your greatest asset, hydration plays a great role in my ability to maintain a working body. On average, the human body contains around 60% to 70% water, but we lose some of this through our daily activities. Depending on what you might be doing on any particular day, you may lose it faster on some days and slower on others. Monitoring this and knowing the signs can be particularly useful during the warmer summer months or when conducting business in a warmer region.
A lot of belief has been placed in the myth stating that if you are thirsty, you are already in the danger zone of becoming dehydrated. Although your body does need water at this point, you are not dehydrated yet. A person’s need for water depends on a lot of things such as amount of physical exertion, food they’ve recently eaten, and their perspiration levels. The body being thirsty is a built in mechanism for letting someone know they need to drink water, but you don’t necessarily have to drink a gallon jug the minute you feel the need for a drink. The sensitivity of your body’s internal gauge is high and it can detect even the slightest levels of water deficiencies within the body.
A good amount of water can be consumed by choosing the right foods as well. Some studies have proven that not only can eating foods high in water content help you to hydrate, but it can also help you lose weight faster. Health Magazine (Health.com) happened to do an article on just this and named the following fruits and vegetables to be amongst the best, as they contain a minimum of 90% water!
- Broccoli – great source of fiber and calcium.
- Cabbage – rich in antioxidants.
- Cauliflower – great source of cancer-fighting phytonutrients, vitamin C, and folate.
- Grapefruit - contains vitamin C, folic acid, and potassium.
- Lettuce – my personal favorite, Romaine lettuce, is a great source of B vitamins, folic acid, and manganese (helps regulate blood sugar).
- Radishes – contain potassium, folic acid, antioxidants, and sulfur compounds that aid in digestion. The green tops can be eaten as well and contain six times the vitamin C and more calcium than the root portion.
- Spinach - rich in iron, folic acid, and vitamin K, beta-carotene and vitamin C, as well as the phytochemical lutein, which protects eyes against age-related macular degeneration.
Some of my personal favorites in the high water content foods category are watermelon and honeydew melon. Besides tasting great and being healthy, they cut up into pieces well to be stored in my truck’s fridge for days of snacking. With a little bit of research, it is easy to find some foods that can help you to keep your water intake at acceptable levels in conjunction with water and have many other added health benefits as well.
With all the choices out there and the buzz being that nothing hydrates like plain water, what should you drink? With so many choices out there, it can be confusing knowing what you should be drinking to hydrate. Some studies now prove that I may have actually known what I was talking about when I told people, “There’s water in my Coke!” You do gain water from anything you drink that has water in it, but you also get whatever else is mixed into it. This is where things like sugary sodas and alcoholic beverages take away from the benefits of the water contained in them. Water will still hydrate you the best, but your body will get water throughout the day from other things you drink as well. This includes things such as coffee, tea, juices, and sports drinks. Your body loses other things as it perspires such as salt and potassium, which some sport drinks help to replenish. These typically are not necessary for replenishing these losses unless you are working out for more than an hour at a time, as your body will gain these back normally in the foods you consume.
During these warmer months, I always carry an extra case of bottled water under the bunk of my truck. This one, along with the one I already keep in the under-fridge storage in my Cascadia Evolution, help to insure that I have an ample amount in the truck for days that I have a need for more water consumption. I keep a case of my favorite sports drink as well, for those days I have to help on a floor load in a 120-degree trailer! Rule of thumb I try to stick with is more of a “don’t ignore my body when it’s thirsty” philosophy, rather than a “constantly drink until my eyes are floating” philosophy. Plan into your routine always having something to drink
nearby, especially in these warmer months, when our bodies tend to lose more water than usual. On days you work out (preferably with your FIT system), go for a walk/run, or help toss some of the boxes in your floor-loaded trailer, be sure to help replenish those nutrients your body has lost in doing so. Pay attention to your body and its signals and you can be sure to stay properly hydrated and feeling your best!