Summer is upon us! When the weather is warm, we can get dehydrated more easily, so it’s important to be mindful. Luckily, Ayurveda offers numerous tips for aligning with the natural seasonal rhythm and ensuring that we stay well-hydrated, cool and comfortable.
Tip #1: Avoid the Cause
Tip number one is always to avoid the cause. Often we get dehydrated in the summer because we’re out in the full sun with no protection, doing physical activity that causes us to sweat a lot and we’re drinking alcoholic beverages and eating packaged snack foods. Nope! Go easy on the hottest days. Exercise earlier in the morning before the sun is high, stay in the shade or indoors for the hottest part of the day, and reduce the amount of alcohol you drink, or even better, avoid it altogether. Alcohol (of any kind, to varying extents) is fermented, which increases the heat in your body. It also causes you to urinate more, which can trigger dehydration. Packaged snack foods– think chips and crackers– are dry, rough, crunchy, all qualities that increase Vata and deplete fluid.
Tip #2: Eat Watery Foods
Summer produce is ripe with hydrating goodness (pun intended). Watermelon is an obvious and delicious choice, as are cantaloupe and other melons. NB, it’s best for digestion to eat your melons separate from other foods by at least an hour. Cucumber, sweet fruits and berries, and celery are all good choices. Tomatoes are juicy and hydrating too, as long as you’re not prone to Pitta maladies like heartburn or heat rashes. Many foods are better cooked than raw, but tomatoes are the least pitta-aggravating in their raw, juicy state. Coconut water is a great way to replenish electrolytes.
Tip #3: Later-ade, Gatorade!
Read the ingredients on a Gatorade, and then repeat after me: “Thanks, I’ll pass.” You can make a hydration drink easily with the recipe below. The basic idea is simple: Ayurveda always has an eye towards balancing the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, space) through the use of the six tastes (sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent). Each taste is made up of two elements (sweet, for example, is water and earth). If the water element is low, we ensure that we are consuming enough of the tastes that include water (that would be salty and sweet). The following hydration recipe is primarily water, with a little salt (composed of water and fire) and a little natural sweetness to help us retain the water that we’re drinking. The sour taste (lime in this case) helps to stimulate digestion (you need to digest your water too, did you know that?) so the water can actually nourish your tissues.
And please, drink your beverages room temperature or cool in the summer– not over ice.
Easy Hydration Drink Recipe
Ingredients
1/4 cup hot water
2 cups room temperature water
1/8 tsp Himalayan salt
juice of 1/2 organic lime
1 tsp raw local honey
Directions
1. Add salt to the hot water; stir to dissolve.
2. Add a little room temperature water, then stir in the honey until it dissolves.
3. Add the rest of the room temperature water and lime juice.
4. Enjoy and sip slowly!
