Cellular Hydration: A Deeper Look at Staying Hydrated
How good are you at staying hydrated? For a lot of people, getting enough water can be a struggle. Maybe you feel like you're drinking and drinking water and all it's gotten you is a lot of extra trips to the bathroom. True deep hydration goes beyond just chugging water throughout the day. There are key aspects that allow your cells to truly absorb the hydration that you are providing, and we are going to cover them today.
Mineral Balances
One of the major components of hydration is electrolytes. These trace minerals are essential for regulation of fluid levels within the cells, as well as the cell's capacity to bring water across the cell membrane. Unfortunately, most mineral content is lost in our tap water through the filtration process. This means that the water we drink from our taps actually has a reduced capacity to penetrate our cells.
What Minerals Are Required for Hydrated Cells?
Sodium: Sodium is crucial for maintaining cellular fluid balance and is mainly found outside the cell where it helps regulate the cell’s external fluid volume, which influences water movement into cells.
Potassium: Potassium is the primary intracellular electrolyte and plays a vital role in cellular function, including maintaining the electrical potential across cell membranes. Potassium also helps by facilitating water movement into cells.
Chloride: Chloride works alongside sodium to regulate extracellular fluid volume and helps maintain proper cell hydration.
Magnesium: Magnesium is involved in numerous cellular processes, including energy metabolism and protein synthesis. It also plays a role in regulating cell membrane potential and influencing water movement into cells.
How Can You Ensure Proper Mineralization?
Drinking water that contains these minerals, such as spring water, is an excellent way to maintain proper hydration. You can also purchase trace mineral drops to add into your water.
Another important factor is making sure you eat a proper diet that contains mineral rich foods like fruit, vegetables, beans and legumes, whole grains, fish, meat, dairy, and eggs. It’s also best to limit processed foods that tend to contain high sodium levels which can cause an imbalance in electrolytes. A sprinkle of high quality sea salt on your home cooked meals goes a long way.
While sports drinks are promoted due to their electrolyte content, they are also high in sugar and artificial ingredients and I don’t recommend them as a regular hydration booster.
How Much to Drink
Did you know that drinking too much water can actually dehydrate you? Yep, because as excess water is flushed out of the body, it takes a lot of the electrolytes along with it, which leaves your cells dehydrated and lacking the minerals necessary to be penetrated by water molecules.
While the age old ‘8 glasses a day’ is a good rule of thumb to start with, it’s important to feel into what is best for YOUR body. Experiment and see how you feel, while making sure you are getting the right amount of electrolytes.
Pay attention to signs of dehydration like your energy levels, darkness of urine, thirst, skin texture, and dry mouth.
How and When to Drink
Starting your day with a glass of water is an excellent habit to form, as we can become dehydrated from our sleep, especially if we are mouth breathers or it’s hot in the room.
Beyond that, it’s best to sip water throughout the day, before and after meals, and ahead of bedtime. (Don’t drink too much before bed to avoid nighttime trips to the toilet) Carrying a water bottle is a great way to remember to drink water.
Bonus Hydration Tips
Add Sea salt to Fruit Before Bed
Fruit is hydrating! Adding a little bit of high quality sea salt to a piece of fruit (oranges, apricots, and peaches are my faves for this!) can help hydrate you with less risk of a midnight bathroom wake up and serve as a yummy bedtime snack too.
Drink Coconut Water
Coconut water is a great source of electrolytes, and so is a great natural alternative for sports drinks! You can also add it to smoothies for a refreshing boost.
Infuse Your Water With Flavour
Adding herbs, fruit, or veggies to your water to infuse it with flavor to help you feel motivated to drink more. Lemon and lavender is a favorite combo of mine.
Eat Your Hydration
Snack on hydrating foods like melons, berries, peaches, oranges, bell peppers, and celery.
Happy Hydration!