How to stay hydrated in hot weather?

How to stay hydrated in hot weather or how to hydrate body and skin effectively? That may seem very easy but sometimes becomes challenging. Enjoying sunny days in summer and outdoor activities need some preparation.

Stay hydrated and maintenance of fluid balance in the body is so critical for functioning all organs in the body including the skin.

How to avoid dehydration in hot weather?

What does dehydration mean?

Whether it’s body or skin dehydration, it means your body or your skin does not have enough water, it may be mild or very severe depending on how much water your body has lost.

Body dehydration may have different reasons including fever, diarrhea or vomiting.

In hot days of summer, dehydration may happen because of excessive sweating. You have to apply some strategies to hydrate your body and skin.

How to avoid skin dehydration?

How to hydrate our skin? which of the following factor is more effective?

• Apply skincare products, moisturizers and hydrators
• Treating systematically by drinking liquids

In fact we need to do both.

• Skin hydration is critical for maintaining healthy skin, and moisturizers are an essential component of primary skincare.
• Skin needs hydration by drinking water. Research studies show after additional water intake, deep skin hydration was observed, particularly in individuals with lower prior water consumption, signs of dryness and roughness were decreased.

How to hydrate the body and skin in hot weather?

To stay hydrated and to avoid body and skin dehydration, simply drink lots of water, after all, water is the best drink for everyone.

Keep reminding yourself to have your bottled water with you.

Water is the best drink

Of course, water is the best drink to hydrate our body and skin, however, sometimes you need to bring some healthy changes to your water and make a special summer drink that is good for the whole body and your skin:

1. Make a mixture of fresh lemon juice with water
2. Squeeze some fresh lemons in your ice-cold water with a few leaves of mint and take it with you. It’s naturally flavoured and very healthy.
3. Make a drink with 1 tablespoon of chia seed and 2 tablespoons of rosewater in a glass of cold water, chia seeds and rosewater are great for hot days and this drinks perfectly quench your thirst.

Water-packed foods to stay hydrated

Although drinking several glasses of water is very essential to hydrate your skin and body, you can also get that from nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables. These water-packed low fibre foods hydrate the body effectively such as watermelon, strawberry, cantaloupe, cucumber, peach, celery and more.

What drinks to avoid:

Remember when you lose lots of water by excess sweating, sweet drinks do not help you and your situation can get worse.

Sugar does not hydrate you but instead, it causes your body to lose water and it works like a diuretic.

So stay away from sugary drinks.

Sport drinks are a better choice, they contain a balance of sugar and salt and minerals.

What are dehydrated skin symptoms?

Dehydrated skin means that your skin does not have enough water.

When the skin is getting dehydrated at early phases you may not notice unless a dermatologist looks at your face closely. But later on, you will notice the symptoms which include:

• itchiness
• lack of brightness
• darker under-eye circles
• sunken eyes

As you go further without treating your dehydrated skin you may notice your skin loses its elasticity and appearance of fine lines and surface wrinkles are increasing.

Severe dehydration can go behind the skin. Keep reading to the end of this article.

Hydrator vs moisturizer? Which one do we need?

What is a hydrator?

Hydrator provides water to the skin using some humectants such as aloe, hyaluronic acid, glycerin or honey. Everybody needs a skin hydrator no matter what is the main skin concern or skin types.

What is a moisturizer?

Moisturizer is a cosmetic product that contains lipid in the formulation so it has emollient effects. The lipid has occlusive effects and lock in hydration and keep the skin feeling soft and smooth.

All skin has a natural lipid (oil) barrier. Skin can regulate its water contents and works as a barrier against pathogens, dirt, or damage, while protecting itself from drying out and becoming brittle and rigid. But when skin is drier, or ageing, that lipid barrier starts to break down, and the skin loses moisture.

The emollients in the moisturizers prevent evaporation of water from the skin by forming an occlusive coating on the surface of the skin.

Which one to use moisturizer or hydrator?

To hydrate the skin we need both. Hydrator provides the water to hydrate the skin and moisturizer lock the moisture and make the skin smooth and soft.

You can use the products that support both features.

Best moisturizers in summer

There are some skincare products that hydrators and moisturizers are combined. You may choose the one based on your skin needs and types.

In summer you may need something lighter with rapid absorption and not greasy and not heavy feeling especially if you have oily skin. In that case, you can choose a gel moisturizer that hydrates and soften the skin.

For drier skin type if you use hydrator separately, you need to apply moisturizer too.  Start with your hydrator and then apply your moisturizer

You should apply moisturizer and hydrator morning and night. If you are applying your sunscreen, it has to be after moisturizer and hydrator.

Dehydration can go beyond your skin

Dehydration can go beyond your skin and cause symptoms such as:

Symptoms of dehydration:

• thirst
• not urinating much
• headache
• lack of energy

and in sever cases:

• fast heartbeat
• low blood pressure
• very dark urine
• sunken eye
• dark skin
• decreased skin elasticity.

How to avoid dehydration in children

If you have kids with you on sunny days you have to be more careful.

Newborns and young children have a much higher water content than adolescents and adults and are more prone to water and electrolyte {sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+)} loss if they sweat.

Remember that children who are dehydrated and have ongoing fluid losses need to have those fluid losses replaced.

The replacement of ongoing fluid losses usually occurs in a ratio of 1 mL of replacement to each 1 mL of fluid lost.

During excessive sweating, we lose not only water but also electrolytes such as sodium and potassium. Replacing water and electrolytes are important to restore the body function.

So the best therapy for you and your kids is oral rehydration therapy.

Oral rehydration is the treatment of choice in children with mild to moderate dehydration. This solution contains dextrose, sodium, potassium and chlorine.

It is recommended by the World Health Organization(WHO) and should be used early, particularly when treating children and the elderly.

Recipes for Homemade Oral Rehydration Solution

Recipe #1

• Fruit juice 240 mL (1 cup)
• Honey (pasteurized) 2.5 mL (one-half teaspoonful)
• Salt 0.5 mL (one-eighth teaspoonful)
• Baking soda 1 mL

Recipe #2

• Purified water 1 L (4 cups)
• Salt 2.5 mL (one-half teaspoonful)
• Sugar 30 mL (2 tablespoonfuls)

What is your strategy to stay hydrated when you go out or when you do activities? what do you do for your skin?