The gestures (and accessories) that guarantee you proper summer hydration, not only if you play sports

Summer and hydration: an essential combination. And not only for sportsmen who subject the body to greater effort, but also for those who do not regularly practice physical activity and are still forced to face the sultry heat. Responding to a body need that changes with increasing temperatures requires some precautions: one is to monitor the amount of water we absorb, the other, no less important, is to check the color of the urine. Then, obviously, what you eat requires particular attention, paying attention not to exceed the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

To shed some light on good practices during the summer, here are some useful tips elaborated by Edoardo Tacconi, Doctor of Exercise Sciences, basic kinesiologist econsulent and popularizer for Gensan, for proper hydration during the hottest months of the year.

Monitor how much water you drink

The most important tip is to monitor how much water we drink. You almost always tend to drink only when you have the urge, but this may not be enough for many people. In fact, if the stimulus of thirst is perceived, it means that the dehydration process is already present so you should always try to anticipate it. The guidelines recommend in conditions of optimal temperature – that is 20 degrees and humidity at 60% – at least 1.5-2 liters of water per day for women and 2-2.5 liters of water for adult men. It is therefore clear that in warmer climatic conditions it is advisable to drink more. Still on the parameters and sensations front, feeling constantly dry lips or skin is a signal that must remind us to drink more.

Check your urine color and weight

Even the color of the urine, apart from in the morning as soon as you wake up and immediately after intense and prolonged muscular effort, it must be transparent, so if this is not the case, you have to commit to drinking more. In sports it may be useful to weigh yourself before and after physical activity (without clothes), to analytically understand the amount of fluids lost.

Increase your consumption of seasonal fruit

Seasonal fruits are precious foods that contain a lot of water. This is the case, for example, of melon and watermelon, which also contribute to the intake of many precious trace elements that can be lost in the summer with sweating. In addition, they are also an excellent source of vitamins and fiber.

Cut back on alcohol

Alcohol dehydrates and produces toxic by-products for the body. This is why it is always useful to prefer to drink a lot of water during dinners and aperitifs.

To these good practices, valid for all, are added some specific ones for sportsmen. In the summer, the increase in temperatures causes a greater sense of exhaustion and asthenia, which does not encourage you to carry out further physical effort. Remember to drink and to consume a calorie intake adequate to our needs, as well as giving yourself time to acclimatize, not giving up on training. “Do not underestimate the losses of macro and trace elements during physical activity. Intense sweating from physical activity mostly causes us to lose sodium and chlorineand precisely these two molecules are the components of common kitchen salt, which should not be eliminated but managed in an optimal way. In this sense, it may be useful to rely on the only figures who can help, namely the nutritionist biologist, the dietician or the dietician “.

In order not to forget to keep yourself constantly well hydrated and above all to make drinking water a good and pleasant habit, here is a gallery of ideas and accessories to choose from!