Sometimes drinking water doesn’t seem to be enough to quench your thirst. It may be necessary to make sure you are replacing electrolytes in your body. Electrolytes are soluble minerals in the body fluids such as sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and bicarbonate. They keep you hydrated, regulate pH levels and keep your muscles and nervous system healthy. Here are some go-to lifestyle hacks to have in your pocket to stay hydrated and replenish electrolytes in your body!
Home Base: Fruits and Veggies
To stay adequately hydrated, it’s important to consume fruits and vegetables that have a high water content and contain important electrolytes such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium. Sometimes we get busy, and meals get away from us. Take a step back and look at how many hydrating fruits and vegetables you are consuming to replace vital electrolytes.
Here are foods that contain high amounts of electrolytes.
- Avocado
- apple
- banana
- celery
- cucumber
- grape
- grapefruit
- lemon
- melon
- orange
- pear
- persimmon
- strawberry
- tangerine
- watermelon
- leafy greens
For example, watermelon contains potassium, sodium and phosphorus. Because it is naturally water-rich, eating watermelon can provide yummy hydration. It can even be blended into a smoothie. Try putting watermelon and some peeled lemon in the blender for a lemonade smoothie!
Fresh Juice
A fresh juice with watery vegetables or fruits like orange, watermelon, celery, or cucumber as a base can be very hydrating and provide many minerals and electrolytes. Fresh, raw juice is much more hydrating than processed juice. Using celery-cucumber together as a base works well and keeps down the amount of concentrated sugars you are consuming. You can add whatever you want to the base: lemon, ginger, turmeric, apple, or pear. Orange - Carrot is another popular mix. Find the juice you like the best!
Cucumber in Water
Cold Herbal Tea
The following herbs have cooling properties and make for refreshing herbal tea.
- Fennel
- Hibiscus
- Hops
- Peppermint
- Lemon Balm
- Rose
- Tulsi
- Sumac
You could try some combination of the herbs listed or use your favorite herbs. By using multiple bags or loose leaf tea, you can make a large batch of tea to store in the fridge. Sun tea can be made by placing the herbs into a mason jar of water and letting it sit outside in the sun for a few hours. Add a squeeze of lemon and a touch of your favorite sweetener to have delicious, iced tea at your fingertips!
Trace Minerals = Electrolyte Boost
- Bone Broth is rich in minerals and can be taken as a drink, used as soup base, or used in place of broths in recipes.
- Coconut Water contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium – a nice array of electrolytes.
- Use sea salt in your cooking as it contains trace minerals.
- Add trace minerals to your water or supplementation routine.
- Shilajit is a mineral rich exudate - a sticky, tar like substance – found in the Himalayan mountains. It contains humic and fulvic acids that are rich in minerals. Shilajit is usually found in a powdered form that can be added to water or hot drinks. It does have a strong, earthy flavor.
- Fulvic Acid can be found as a concentrated mineral product.
- Trace Minerals Research creates trace minerals liquid, capsule and gummy products derived from salts.
Alkalize while Hydrating
Tried and true, lemon squeezed into water feels so good. We hear again and again that apple cider vinegar (ACV) is good for us. While lemon and ACV are not directly hydrating, they help to alkalize and cleanse the body. Bringing balance to body pH can help you feel better in general. In general our diets have a lot of acid forming edibles like coffee, white flour, meat and eggs.
Consider making it a routine to ask for lemon in your water when you go out. Maybe have some lemon slices and a bottle of ACV in your fridge to give yourself an alkalizing balancer every once in a while..
Quality and Quantity
For the most part, these tips are ideas to help spruce up your water to provide more nourishment or health benefit. If you have a hard time drinking enough water throughout the day, maybe it will be easier to make yourself a spritzer or add flavor to your water. By making it a thoughtful treat for yourself you may find yourself increasing the amount of water your drinking.
Not all water is created equal either! If you can, get access to filtered water or spring water. Reverse osmosis water actually lacks minerals and it is important to add some back with either a pinch of salt or trace minerals. Learn more about the best water here.
Featured photo by Laura Mitulla on Unsplash