Fitness and Well-being

5 Simple Hacks To Beat Dehydration This Summer!

Summers are here and here are few ways to beat dehydration this summer! 

Sweating it out in the gym or on the track can be the best way to keep you on top of your game. But sweating out due to summer heat can destroy your fitness in more ways than you can imagine!

As the temperatures soar higher, it becomes tougher to keep yourself hydrated, simply because you can’t escape the heat!

But is it all about exposure to sunlight that causes dehydration?

Well, just remember the amount of fatigue you experience after a long day’s work in summer. Though you must have been sitting comfortably at a shady place, probably air conditioned, but still you feel the tiredness.

The fact is that summer heat is not just the temperature but also the humidity and the volume at which you perspire.

Just observe, in summers you sweat a lot. So, the body fluids are drained out easily causing essential salts to flow out. And when the body needs them, there’s a massive shortage!

  • Symptoms of dehydration-
  1. Fatigue: Feel tired without exertion? That’s an alarm.
  2. Low energy levels: Simple tasks seem difficult? Your body’s telling you something.
  3. Weak immunity: Catching a cold more often than not? Beware!
  4. Reduced calls from nature: Urinate lesser than before and pass yellowish urine? Get ready to make some changes in your lifestyle.
  5. Headache: feel a frequent hammer on your head?
  6. Vomiting: Sense that you feel like puking or just puke frequently? Take strenuous notice.

So, if it’s the heat that is bogging you down, does it mean you stop training until the summer cools down?

Or would you like to beat the heat and train even harder?

Buckle up your courage and take an affirmative step forward! The heat can be strong, but if you decide, you can be stronger! The heat won’t fall, but you can choose to rise up! Here are few hacks that help you in beating summer heat!

5 simple hacks to tackle dehydration:
  1. Avoid oily food:

Oily foods not just need more water to be digested but also increase the body heat. So the water you consume is used just to pacify your thirst and keep your natural body temperature low.

Just imagine, if you are travelling in intense heat, you’d need more water to keep your body hydrated. But since the water is used to cool the heat produced by food, there’s not much of it left when you are exerted.

Rather, eat fruits, raw veggies and sprouts.

2. Avoid caffeine:

The daily dose of chai or those refreshing cups of coffee has become irreplaceable elements of our routine. But sadly, these are major contributors to dehydration.

They produce heat, a lot of it and the body immediately uses more water to decrease inner temperatures.

Simply say no to tea and coffee and refresh yourself with a glass of buttermilk or a fruit juice.

3. Eat raw:

Raw food is easily digested. Though we cook food so that we can digest easily. But the idea behind raw food is to consume eatable veggies, fruits and this does not include meat.

Why raw food? Because they help in water retention, have a lot of fluids and are assimilated effortlessly.

Just try having breakfast full of fruits like watermelon, muskmelon, banana, apple, pear, grapes, berries, papaya etc. along with raw veggies like carrots, radish, tomato, cucumber etc. and see the difference by yourself!

4. Drink water:

Needless to say, you have to be wise during drinking water. The idea isn’t to drink gallons of water initially and not have a sip in the next 6 hours.

Rather, keep sipping water all the time. This gives constant hydration and if you observe, this way you are able to drink more water without overworking your kidneys or hampering your eating capacity!

5. Hydrate smartly:

Hydrating is not just about drinking water. It is about replenishing the nutrients that have been lost due to sweating.

So, every now and then, drink lemonade with rock salt as an alternative to water. Drink buttermilk after lunch, or include fruit juices in your breakfast or snacks.

Or simply opt for the multi-beneficial coconut water. You can make smoothies and add eggs to nullify the water absorbing capacity of protein in eggs.

Using these 5 hacks, you can simply beat the heat and work out as hard as you want.

Challenges keep coming but it is important to see opportunities in them and rise to achieve your best!

Happy hydrating!

Tags: Nutrition
Akshay Kulkarni

I am a sport lover who can't imagine a life without play.