It’s too darn hot. But there are ways to keep cool.
- Turn up the air conditioner, which raises your gas and electric bill, not to mention puts a strain on the electric grid.
2. Wear little to no clothing, but then you’d probably have to stay home all day.
3. Sit in a cold pool for hours, but then you’d look like a wrinkled prune.
4. Or learn the new science of increasing your hydration.
Did you know that when your brain isn’t hydrated you can experience cognitive issues? You might forget words or get confused. In fact, when my mother was hospitalized toward the end of her life for dehydration, a psychiatrist called to tell me “Your mother has full-blown dementia. I’d like to put her on an Alzheimer’s drug.” I responded by saying, “No she doesn’t. I spoke to her yesterday and she sounded fine.” As my mother’s medical health proxy, I did not give the doctor permission to put her on any drug. In fact, after she was infused with saline solution she bounced back to her normal status and was released from the hospital.
The book QUENCH: Beat Fatigue, Drop Weight, and Heal Your Body Through the New Science of Optimum Hydration by Dana Cohen, MD and Gina Bria (Hachette Books, 2018) reveals the science behind hydration (which I’m not going to get into in detail here) and ways to hydrate your body other than drinking water all day.
Why is it important to stay hydrated?
Our body is 50-65% water. It needs water to stay hydrated and flush out toxins. The brain, which is 70% water, gets dehydrated just like your body. When it’s dehydrated, neurotransmission — which is heavily dependent on water — is impaired, resulting in poor memory, concentration, and impaired abstract thinking. The next time your mind is muddled, drink a tall glass of water and notice the difference.
Water supports the flow of blood throughout the body, and helps the body eliminate waste. Water enables us to sweat in order to help cool the body, and is crucial to hormonal balance. Dana Cohen adds that staying hydrated is the most important thing we can do to prevent chronic illness, and suggests that many of the chronic conditions that people attribute to eating too much sugar and gluten and getting too little exercise may be due to not giving the body the hydration it needs for optimum health.
How much water do you need?
Drinking half your body weight in water in ounces is the general rule. So if you weigh 120 pounds, you should aim for drinking 60 ounces of water a day.
The book QUENCH provides lists of foods that contain a lot of water that are just as valuable as drinking liquids, and suggests that we eat our water. Food contains minerals, which are electrolytes, that help regulate chemical reactions and maintain the balance between fluids inside and outside your cells.
For example, sodium is the most abundant electrolyte in the body. It’s important for keeping the right balance of fluid in your cells and helps cells absorb nutrients. So make sure you’re eating plenty of fruits and vegetables both for the electrolytes and the water they naturally provide.
Eat Your Food
The Top 12 Hydrating Fruits are watermelon, starfruit, strawberries, grapefruit, cantaloupe, pineapple, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi, apples, pears, and grapes.
The Top 12 Hydrating Vegetables are cucumbers, Romain lettuce, celery, radishes, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli, carrots, and sprouts.
Dr. Dana Cohen and Gina Bria recommend drinking a tall glass of warm or hot water with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt first thing in the morning. It provides electrolytes and an instant hydrating boost.
They also suggest drinking a hydrating shake with greens such as 1 cup of spinach, juice of 1/2 lime, 1/2 cup of coconut milk, 1 to 2 cups of water, a cored and quartered apple, and 1/2 cucumber. If you like, add herbs like mint, parsley, basil, and celery. Blend everything in a blender, rather than extract the juice in a juicer in order to get the benefits of fiber.
Stay away from carbonated and caffeinated drinks. herbal teas and fresh fruit or vegetable juices are great in summer. Just remember that fruit juices are high in sugar and calories. Coconut water is cooling and helps to replenish electrolytes, which is especially important during and after an illness.
Enjoy these smoothie and popsicle recipes. They provide hydration, vitamins, and minerals, and are perfect for kids as well as for folks with dementia and Alzheimer’s who may forget to eat or lose interest in food.
Popsicles
Watermelon and Kiwi–makes 8
4 kiwis, peeled and sliced
3 cups of pureed watermelon
Place kiwi inside the sides of the popsicle molds. Pour in the watermelon. You can make this with other fruits: watermelon and strawberries, etc. Add basil or mint; lemon or lime juice with or without the rind.
For a beautiful popsicle with 3 layers: Add watermelon puree but leave room for 2 more layers. Freeze for 30 minutes. Take out of the freezer and pour in a small amount of coconut milk, the full-fat canned variety. Freeze again. Take out and add pureed kiwi and freeze. This is a treat for the eyes as well as your taste buds.
Strawberries and Cream–makes 8
2 cups of pureed strawberries (leave some chopped for texture)
2 cups cream of vanilla yogurt.
Blend and freeze.
Coco-Mango–makes 4-6
2 cups pureed mango
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
Optional: Add coconut flakes.
Blend and freeze.
Orange Cream–makes 4-6 popsicles
1 cup orange juice
1 cup vanilla yogurt
Blend together and freeze.
Protein shake recipes
My favorite delicious and easy-to-make shakes
Banana Berry Shake
- 1 frozen banana
- ¼ cup sliced strawberries
- 8 ounces of milk or non-dairy drink such as soy, almond, or coconut milk
- 1 scoop of whey protein powder
- Blend together until smooth.
Berry Sunrise Shake
- 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
- 3 medium strawberries
- 8 ounces of orange juice
- 1 scoop of whey protein powder
- Blend together until smooth.
Stay cool and enjoy your summer!
Barbra Cohn cared for her husband Morris for 10 years. He passed away from younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2010. Afterward, she was compelled to write “Calmer Waters: The Caregiver’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s & Dementia”—Winner of the 2018 Book Excellence Award in Self-Help—in order to help other caregivers feel healthier and happier, have more energy, sleep better, feel more confident, deal with feelings of guilt and grief, and to ultimately experience inner peace. “Calmer Waters” is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Boulder Book Store, Tattered Cover Book Store, Indie Bound.org, and many other fine independent bookstores, as well as public libraries.