Get hydrated for a summertime glow

Once people know that I have a holistic nutrition background, I get the usual summer complaint, “I just can’t drink a lot of water, but I know I should.” It is important to keep adequately hydrated all year long, not just in the warm to hot summer months when we sweat more and need to replace vital fluids.

Hydration enables natural fluids in the body to carry essential vitamins, minerals, hormones, antibodies, electrolytes, fats, oxygen, proteins, and carbohydrates to our body cells awaiting their nourishment for proper functioning. Hydration also enables our cells to discharge their waste products efficiently.

Having hibernated in our homes during the colder months, our skin can become more dried out from the fluctuating temperature changes of warm homes to cold cars to warm offices. When we get overheated and begin to sweat, toxins are attracted to the ingredients we sweat out, especially fats.

These toxins need to be wiped off the skin to prevent reabsorption. Proper hydration will support our sweating, keep our cells happy and well-functioning, and will give our skin a glow.

Adequate hydration also helps our body regulate our temperature more efficiently. Heat stroke is especially dangerous, so drinking water throughout any long term exposure to heat is vitally important. Sipping a little water every hour is ideal as it won’t leave one feeling water bloated.

Sometimes a person experiences overall itchy skin in the summer. When there doesn’t seem to be an apparent reason for the itching, it is called idiopathic pruritus.

Hydrating well often can resolve this skin condition calming nerves and providing flexibility of cells and their ability to take in nutrients and expel wastes.

Another important reason for drinking enough water is the prevention of kidney stones.

Kidney stones can occur from a variety of causes, but hydration is vitally important for moving fluid wastes efficiently through the kidneys for elimination. If your urine is brighter in color, this can tell that you are deficient in water consumption.

One of my favorite sayings from one of my favorite medical researchers on health, Dr. Sherry Rogers, is “the solution to pollution is dilution!”

Health requires timely movement of wastes from our own cellular metabolism, from chemicals and toxins in food, water, and air, and from poor lifestyle choices.

Hydration moves such invaders more quickly through the body to maintain proper functioning.

Sip water often and remember your sunscreen as well. Your whole being will be happy this summer.

Krystle Shapiro, MSHN owns NewTritionally Yours! providing nutrition education classes. She can be reached at 208-290-6760.