By Marcey Klein BS, NC
Summer is right around the corner and it’s all too easy to bask in the sun, stay out all day and overdue it either at the beach or at festivals. I have a tendency to become a weekend warrior myself, and when that happens, I come home fatigued, burnt from the sun, and bleary eyed. It takes a few days to recover, and this is when we need to take extra care of ourselves since our immune systems are more susceptible to the things going around. This summer I have vowed not to let this happen. With just a few tweaks we can make sure not to get sunburned, to keep ourselves energetic by upping our electrolytes and hydration, and getting our antioxidants and vitamin C from summer fruit.
Investing in a double walled water bottle is a great idea to keep our water nice and cool, no one wants to drink warm liquids. I invested in a 40 oz hydroflask, and let me tell you, it was fantastic at the last music festival I went to, keeping my water cool all day long. We want to drink about half our weight in ounces if we are really active and sweating, otherwise it’s 8 or more 8oz glasses of water a day. Water helps regulate our body temperature, flush out toxins, and helps us with cellular, immune, and brain function. Water is the elixir of life, literally! But please drink filtered water, the water that comes from our tap contains chlorine which damages our own bacteria, causes our livers to have to work more to detoxify, and interferes with our thyroid’s absorption of iodine, slowing down our metabolism.
Some shade and good sunscreen will protect our skin from UV damage. Yes we want some sun to help us with our vitamin D levels, but it’s very easy to get burned out there, there is a fine line. Skin that isn’t normally exposed to the sun needs to be especially protected, and the sunscreens that I like to use are the physical sunscreens, not the chemical ones. The physical sunscreens contain the protective minerals zinc and titanium dioxide, studies
have shown that chemical sunscreens can be hormone disruptive and even cancer causing.
Electrolytes are minerals in our bodies that have an electrical charge. They help us with energy, contraction of our muscles and regulating our heart beat. The major electrolytes are calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and phosphate. I love electrolytes because they make me feel all charged up, they give me good energy. I’ll drink a trace mineral packet, or a magnesium packet. Of course you can get electrolytes in nutrient rich foods like coconut juice, watermelon, avocado and bananas, it’s just sometimes easier to carry packets of them you can take with you and take them when you need the energy. You can also make your own electrolyte sport drink with a pinch of sea salt, honey, and a squeeze of honey or maple syrup. Cool herbal teas are also really nice for hydration, and there’s som
e beneficial properties in them as well.
And last but not least, eating ripe fruit in season will give you the most nutrition, hydration, antioxidants and phytonutrients they can offer. These include watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines, peaches, cherries, raspberries, and grapes. They deliver an absorbable form of nutrients to our cells helping us stay active and healthy during these hot sunny days. So have fun, but take time to nourish and care for yourself in the process so you’re not having to pay the price later.
