1. Keep water within reach especially if outdoors.
2. Infuse water with lemon wedges, orange zest and mint leaves.
3. Use smaller bottles and aim to finish at least 4 of these in the day.
4. Distribute equally throughout the day, divide your day into 4 parts.
5. Keep a reminder on your phone.
6. Check hydration status (urine colour should be pale yellow).
7. Reduce tea/coffee consumption.
8. Eat foods with high water content eg., melon, cucumber, celery.
9. Include buttermilk, soup, coconut water and salted lemon water to make up your quota.
10. 2 L per day is the minimum, those with a higher protein intake/activity levels would need more.
Training:
- Exercising in humid conditions can increase thermoregulatory strain and risk of dehydration. When your core temperature rises beyond a point, your enzymes may actually be de activated and this can affect exercise performance.
- The ideal temperature to exercise is 18-21 degrees celsius unless you are training for an outdoor event/sport. If you train for longer hours you may need electrolytes along with water for optimal rehydration. The fluid should be cooler than room temperature. Check your weight pre and post training to gauge the rate of sweating. Make up 1.2-1.5 times this loss over the next 3-5 hours.
Guest Article, Dietician Shwetha Bhatia