Hydrate

As the days get longer and hotter you need to make sure you’re drinking plenty of water.

The old rule was to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day. Purists say WATER. People with common sense say, hey, once it hits my belly, my body doesn’t know whether it’s plain water or some other form of liquid, so who cares if it’s plain water (except that plain water has NO calories!)

About twenty percent of our water comes from our food – fruits and veggies are full of water. The Institute of Medicine recommends that you drink about 2.5 – 3 litres of fluid a day. BTW, eight 8-oz glasses of water is about 2 litres.

Dehydration can have some pretty painful consequences. According to an article published in Environmental Health Perspectives, there’s a link between hot days and kidney stones. Since only about 10% of the population is susceptible to kidney stones, higher temperatures only increase the risk of kidney stones in those predisposed to them. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t also dehydrated.

Research led by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia analyzed medical records of more than 60,000 adults and children with kidney stones between 2005 and 2011 and found that as temperatures go higher there’s a increase in the number of patients presenting with kidney stones, mainly because of dehydration.

Signs that you’re dehydrated include light-headedness, fatigue and headaches. Dry mouth and increased thirst are sure signs. Look at your pee. The paler it is the better. If it’s very yellow, you’re dehydrated.

When I was shooting the pilot for Money Moron, one shoot was set up in a greenhouse. It had to be 45 degrees that day, and as there wasn’t enough water or a way to cool down. I tried pouring cold water over my feet with little impact. The makeup was dripping off my face. My pee was almost brown that night. And I had a raging headache that lasted two days. Ah, the glamorous life in TV land. To add insult to injury they didn’t even use the scene the idiot show runner insisted on shooting.

Severe dehydration can result in a drop in your blood pressure, rapid heart rate, poor skin elasticity, lethargy and confusion.

Whenever I get a low-grade headache, the first thing I do is drink a couple of glasses of water. If you perspire because of your work or your exercise routine, you have to increase your water intake. And when the temps surge over the next couple of months, drink more water. Water’s not only important for kidney function it aids digestion and is very important for brain function.

Make yourself a water bottle, keep it on your desk and sip it throughout the day. Vary your liquid intake so you don’t get so fed up you stop drinking. Milk counts, so does tea and coffee, though you have to watch your caffeine intake. I like to mix green tea and lemonade, adding mint or strawberries. And sometimes I use fruit juice and fizzy water to change things up.

You can slice up cucumbers and put it in your jug of water… I’ve been to a few spas that do this and the resulting water is surprisingly refreshing (I’m not a fan of cukes, but this is really lovely.) Or toss some mint lives, sliced ginger or lemongrass into your water. If you like your water cold, freeze berries or grapes and drop them into your water jug.