Water
Our bodies are 60% water, so it's important to replenish our water by drinking water. While this may seem like a simple fact, it's harder than most people think. We lose water with every breathe we take, every time we sweat, and each time we use the bathroom. All health professionals agree that drinking plenty of water is essential to health, but the recommend amount varies between sources. Currently, the most clinically supported recommendation is about 9-13 cups daily (2.2-3L).So when you're out and about this spring and summer, make sure you pack a water bottle or two to keep hydrated and healthy.
Juice
Natural fruit juices are a great alternative to water when they are in their purest form. Things like watermelon (which is 90% water), oranges, grapefruit, and other melons can all help to keep us hydrated. The negative of drinking juice is the added sugar to make them sweet. Sugar is linked to obesity and other health risks when consumed in large quantities. If you were to consume 9-13 cups of juice in replacement of water, you would be consuming 207-299g of sugar based on an average of 23 g of sugar per cup of juice. The recommended daily sugar intake is roughly 25g, making this a very unhealthy way to stay hydrated.We recommend that if juice is the way you want to keep cool, try to limit your consumption to 100% pure fruit juice without added sugar. This will help to replenish your body without a huge sugar rush.
Soda
A study performed by Harvard School of Public Health has reported that consuming pop not only has little nutritional value, but can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and chronic health conditions. They found that diabetes and heart attack risk increased by 20-26% in people who drank 1 to 2 cans of pop a day. Another study found that men and women who regularly drink a can of pop a day increased their risk of autoimmune conditions like gout by 75%. Other health concerns with drinking soda pop is the high levels of phosphates, which can have a negative effect on bones both in adults and in growing children.Overall, knowing the health risks that come with these sugary drinks and that it does little to keep you hydrated compared to water and natural fruit juices, it is not a recommended regular beverage to keep you cool during the long summer days.
Sports Drinks
Sports drinks are great at replenishing our electrolytes and keeping us hydrated, especially when exercising or being active. It is often the drink of choice when doing work out in the sun, playing sports, or being otherwise active. Still, for those of us that enjoy the outdoors via a lawn chair or floating in the pool these drinks and their added perks aren't any more beneficial than water. Still, they are great for hydration after a hard sweat.Energy Drinks
Caffeine has had a bad rep as a dehydrator in popular culture. The belief was that because caffeine acts as a diuretic, which increases urination, it dehydrates you more than it hydrates. That is long since been found to be clinically false, making energy drinks okay to drink on a long, hot day. Like juice, due to the size of most energy drinks, their caffeine content, and added sugars it is not recommended solely drink energy drinks to stay hydrated this summer. It is best to have one or two of these a day, drinking water to replenish your body the rest of the way.Alcohol
Alcohol dehydrates. It's as simple as that. While there are plenty of fun summer drinks that contain alcohol, it is best to limit your consumption. If you are going to be out in the sun and drinking, it is recommended to have one cup of water for every alcoholic drink you consume to replace the water you are losing.For more information on this and other health and wellness tips visit our website at:
www.oxborochiro.com
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/healthy-beverages
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/soft-drinks-and-disease/
