Live Right Now - Episode 030 – Cool It!
Much to the delight of grandkids and overheating grandparents… there’re here: inviting
ice cream trucks blaring Pop Goes the Weasel trolling neighborhood streets. When its
hotter than blazes, consuming popsicles, ice cream bars, slushies, might seem like
common-sense choices when you want to cool off, (spoiler alert) but they may do more
harm than good.
We mean well, but rehydrating our parched temple with diet soda, energy drinks, Mt.
Dew, beer, margaritas, wine spritzers is not the wisest decision as caffeine and alcohol
contribute to rapid dehydration. Excess alcohol consumption can cause dehydration in a
variety of ways and sugary desserts, doughnuts, ice cream, muffins, highly processed
breads, pasta, and grains require a lot of water to digest. Dietitians agree the temple
uses a lot of water to metabolize these foods, which depletes water reserves leading to
dehydration. Plus, you don’t get any nutrients, just unpleasant, disease-mimicking
effects.
Some symptoms of dehydration in seniors include confusion, irritability, dark colored
urine, dizziness, dry mouth, fatigue, frequent urination, reduced blood flow to the
extremes, sunken eyes and cheek. High blood pressure is common among the
chronically dehydrated. It can also be a warning sign of dehydration
Icy cold food and drinks might provide a short-lived cooling effect, but consuming these
food and beverages food leads to an increase in temperature as the process of
digestion is heat-generating. This combined with the rapid cooling initiated by cold food
and drinks means your temple over-compensates by increasing your core temperature.
So you may actually end up feeling hotter than you did!
Drinking an air-temp or hot drink increases the temples heat load and responds by
sweating. The output of sweat is greater than the internal heat gain, and this is where it
all starts to make sense ― when the sweat evaporates from the skin, it cools us down,
Dehydration is relatively preventable. Basically, take in more water than you lose. Drink
water throughout the day, back off caffeine and alcohol, eat as much watery fruits and
vegetables as you are able, mind your thirst levels and rehydrate accordingly, check
your urine—if you are drinking enough, it should be a pale straw color.
Certain fruit and vegetables score highly in this regard, so consider eating more
strawberries, cucumber, zucchini, celery, lettuce, Hoosier cantaloupes, and local
watermelon if we want to up the H2O. Watermelon is the juiciest and one of most
colorful of fruits to rehydrate.
Pedialyte, the electrolyte drink of our childhood, has suddenly become the drink of pop
culture. You'll find it in pro sports locker rooms for rehydration and in our fridges to help
you get through hangovers. (optional graph)
Include dark leafy-green salads with a rainbow of vegetables. Lettuce is 95 percent
water so it keeps you both cool and hydrated. Throw extra cucumbers on top, which are
96 percent water. Make pitchers of cucumber, fresh mint, peaches, and strawberry
water and carry a reusable water bottle with you throughout the day.
Plain and simple: pure water hydration is the staff of all life. Both mother earth and our
temple are two-thirds water by divine design. I doubt any garden would survive, let
alone flourish being watered with anything other than the colorless, transparent,
odorless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, rain and all lifeforms.
For more from Chef Wendell including the “Eat Right Now” books and info on how to book Chef Wendell to speak to your group go to http://www.chefwendell.com.
To connect with the Live Right Now Podcast “like” our Facebook page or email us at LiveRightNowRadio@gmail.com.
The Live Right Now theme music is “future soundtrack II” by Adam Henry Garcia from the Free Music Archive licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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