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Strong Women
Worried about staying hydrated in the heat? Try focusing on these 5 key nutrients
By Lauren Geall
2 years ago
5 min read
Did you know that good hydration is about more than just drinking water? Here are five vitamins and minerals that can make a difference to how hydrated you feel.
We all know how important staying hydrated is for our health and wellbeing, but when we speak about hydration, a lot of focus tends to be placed on the ‘recommended’ amount of water we need to drink every day or the hydrating properties of different drinks. But what if we told you your liquid consumption wasn’t the only factor that contributed to your hydration levels?
The fact that most people don’t even need to drink eight glasses of water a day aside, there are several vitamins and minerals that can impact how hydrated you are and help the water you do drink to do its job properly. Without these nutrients, staying hydrated becomes a lot harder no matter how much water you drink (and too much water can also have a negative impact, by the way).
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So, whether you’re struggling with symptoms of dehydration or just want to find out more about the vitamins and minerals you need to prioritise to stay hydrated during the current heatwave, we asked Michael Stewart – registered nutritional therapist at the IV nutrient company Get A Drip – and Lily Keeling – a registered nutritionist at Green Chef – to talk us through the five most important nutrients for optimum hydration.
1. Sodium
Sodium plays several important roles in the hydration process – both when it comes to increasing fluid intake and ensuring that fluid does its job inside the body.
Alongside working in tandem with potassium and chloride (more on those later) to maintain proper fluid balance in and around the cells in the body – a process which is critical for good hydration – sodium also makes it easier for water to pass into our cells in the first place.
“When sodium is dissolved in water – like in the fluid inside your cells – it becomes electrically charged and can alter osmotic pressure,” Stewart explains. “Osmotic pressure is the amount of energy required for something to move through a cell membrane, so by regulating osmotic pressure, sodium makes it easier for water and other electrolytes to move into cells to restore hydration.”
He continues: “Sodium also triggers your thirst mechanism, encouraging you to up your fluid intake when dehydration starts to set in.”
Keeling agrees: “Sodium helps to balance fluids in the body while supporting the body to retain water and manage blood pressure. It’s important not to consume too much sodium, though, as this can have negative effects.
“Opt for foods like pickles, sports drinks, broths and even tomato juice to up your sodium intake on a hot day.”
2. Chloride
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Chloride plays an important role in numerous processes, ranging from electrolyte balance and body fluid regulation to tissue hydration and blood pressure maintenance.
It’s found in an array of foods but is most known for its presence in sodium chloride – aka table salt. “Chloride is, after sodium, the most abundant electrolyte in the bloodstream,” Stewart explains. “A great way to help replenish sodium chloride is to have some savoury snacks available. If you’ve been sweating a lot, you could also season your lunch or dinner with a small pinch of salt.”
3. Potassium
Potassium also plays a key role in maintaining normal levels of fluid within the cells, as well as offering other benefits.
Keeling explains: “Potassium works alongside sodium to maintain fluid balance while supporting muscle and nerve function.”
Like sodium and chloride, you’ll find potassium in most sports drinks – but this isn’t the only way to up the levels of potassium in your system.
“It’s important to consume potassium-rich foods such as fresh fruit and leafy greens each day to restore the electrolytes lost via sweating and urination – particularly in hot weather,” Stewart says. “Fruit also naturally contains lots of water, so it contributes to your daily water intake.”
Keeling recommends turning to bananas as your first port of call if you want to up your potassium intake. “You can also include spinach, avocado, tomatoes and sweet potatoes into your meals to up your intake,” she adds.
4. Magnesium
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Magnesium doesn’t play as important a role in hydration as the likes of sodium, chloride and potassium, but it’s still beneficial if you want to ensure your hydration levels are optimised.
“Magnesium plays a vital part in the reabsorption of other electrolytes such as potassium in the kidneys, meaning that if your magnesium levels are optimal, your kidneys can do a better job of holding onto other essential electrolytes when needed for dehydration.”
Keeping your magnesium levels up can also help to reduce the likelihood of muscle cramps due to sweating and hydration, Stewart adds.
And while magnesium is a popular supplement, it is still possible to up your magnesium levels using natural food sources: spinach, dark chocolate and avocados all contain high levels of the stuff.
5. Glutamine
Recent research has shown glutamine could play an important role in hydration because of its ability to increase electrolyte and water absorption by boosting the integrity of the intestinal lining.
“For proper hydration to occur, the water and electrolytes that we consume must be absorbed into the bloodstream during digestion – only then can they enter our cells and become effective,” Stewart says.
It’s for this reason that nutrients that can help to improve gastrointestinal absorption, like glutamine, can really help to boost hydration levels and make the water we drink work harder.
While glutamine can be taken as a supplement (either in a powder or tablet form or via an intravenous drip), it can also be found in foods including eggs, milk and tofu.
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