COLD WATER COOLS BEST IN HOT WEATHER by Joanne Larsen MS RD LD*
Thursday, August 12, 2010
This has been a hot, hot summer in most of the U.S. making it hard to stay cool and hydrated. Whether you are playing sports, walking, biking, gardening or enjoying water activities, you need to drink cold water especially when you sweat.
If you drink cold water before activities, it can result in a 10% improvement in performance and reduce fatigue or heat stroke in hot, humid conditions. Drink water to keep body temperature normal and prevent over-heating. If your body temperature goes up, it can impair heart function. The best beverage to keep cool with is cold water - 40 to 50° F water. Thermos® brand water bottles use a stainless steel vacuum insulated container with an airless space between the outside and inside walls keeping cold inside, a green alternative to disposable plastic water bottles that can heat up fast.
Nobody likes sweating right? In comparing lukewarm water to cold water, cold water helps cool skin temperature and lower heart rate, which causes less sweating in hot, humid weather. People are also more likely to drink cold water, which helps cool the blood and body by reducing body temperature.
Hydration is important for all, though specific ages and sexes may have slightly different needs. Women tend to drink more water than men during activities so men should drink more water during activities to stay hydrated. Older adults are more likely to drink water during exercise in hot weather and stay hydrated when they drink cold beverages. Teens at summer sports camps need special efforts to stay hydrated, but not by drinking sports or energy drinks.
Be mindful not only of the temperature, but what you’re drinking. Avoid beverages with caffeine or alcohol both of which will cause you to lose more water. Low sugar content flavored beverages can encourage you to consume more fluids, and sodium helps you retain water. Electrolyte beverages are helpful for competitive athletes who compete at intense exercise lasting more than 1 hour. Everyone else should drink cold water.
Good hydration habits to keep cool are:
1. Drink cold water every hour during hot weather. Drink enough to replace sweat loss, which you can gauge by keeping your urine almost colorless. You should feel the need to urinate every couple hours.
2. If you want flavored water, dilute real fruit juice with three times as much water i.e. 1 cup fruit juice to 3 cups cold water.
3. Offer infants and children cold water every time you drink water.
4. Camp coaches should remind kids at camp to drink water even in mild temperatures 5. Older adults with memory loss may not remember to drink water so care givers should offer water every hour in hot, humid weather.
6. Keep your water cold and protect the environment by using insulated, re-usable water bottles.
*Article commissioned by Thermos L.L.C.
Savings in Charlotte
Thursday, July 22, 2010
With the summer temperatures in Charlotte easily topping 90+ degrees, it’s more important than ever for my husband, Kristien, and me to stay hydrated. We both exercise outside nearly every day, and if I get a little lazy about hydrating, I end up with a terrible headache in the afternoon. Luckily, it seems we’ve found a great solution to our hydration woes – Thermos® Hydration Bottles.
I used to scoff at people who carried around fancy-looking water bottles, but one day I realized that I was frivolously wasting resources and money by buying plastic bottles all the time. The habit was hurting the environment and my wallet.
Environmentalists estimate that plastic bottles take hundreds of years to biodegrade in a landfill; some estimates are as high as 1,000 years! That means the plastic bottle you sip from today might not biodegrade until 3010 – crazy! Imagine how much waste we create as a community by relying on plastic bottles for hydration. Plus, each time I ran into the store to buy a one-use plastic bottle of water, I lost about $1.25. The Thermos® Steel Hydration Bottle seems pricey at $20.99, but most people will earn back that investment quickly.
Disposable Water Bottles
Price: $1.25, per use
Total Cost Over First Month: $37.50
Total Cost Over Twelve Months: $450.00
Thermos Steel Hydration Bottle
Price: $20.99, single purchase
Total Cost Over First Month: $20.99
Total Cost Over Twelve Months:$20.99
Over the course of a year, you can save about $430 by using a Thermos® hydration bottle over plastic bottles. That’s assuming you only buy one plastic bottle per day, and of course, we need more water than that to fuel our daily activities, exercise efficiently, and aid digestion! With such great beverage bottle options on the market, it’s truly a waste to rely on plastic bottles for hydration purposes
We tried several different kinds of reusable bottles, but most brands lacked functionality or style. Once my husband and I made the switch to Thermos® Hydration Bottles, it seemed like drinking water was FUN again! One of my favorite bottles is the Camo FUNtainer™ Bottle, which comes in cute designs and is BPA free. Plus, it has a flexible straw that reaches all the way to the bottom of the bottle – I love to sip from straws! My husband prefers the Thermos Steel Hydration Bottle, which holds an additional 6 ounces of water and has a big mouthpiece so he can drink quickly.
Since both bottles feature double-wall vacuum insulation, our drinks stay cold even in the car. This is another HUGE bonus to the Thermos® Hydration Bottles over other reusable bottles or plastic bottles. When I would accidentally leave another brand’s bottle in the car, the water would get hot and undrinkable. As a result, I would never hydrate enough. Plus, the other bottles got sweaty and left rings of water in our cupholders! The Thermos® Hydration Bottles don’t sweat, which means I can screw the top on really tight and toss it in my purse, right next to my wallet, cell phone, and camera without a bit of worry.
By keeping up with our hydration, we feel more energetic, sleep better, exercise harder, and feel more alert. Hydration is such a simple act, but it’s truly improved our overall quality of life! Happy hydrating!
*Article commissioned by Thermos L.L.C.