Portland, Oregon just had its first frost of the year and I’ve never seen so many unhappy faces. We just don’t like the cold very much here. But, winter is inevitable and it’s really important that, as the temperature drops, you stay hydrated with ionized water. It’s more important than you think. Here’s why.
It may seem counter-intuitive but your sweat evaporates FASTER in cold weather than warm. Why? Because cold air is DRIER. Drier air is empty and it sucks up moisture, which can dry out your skin and dehydrate your body faster than warm weather.
The dry, cold air is also responsible for sucking up more fluids from your body. This is a two-fold process. One, you body is using more fluids to work to stay warm. These fluids come out as as you breathe.
Secondly, the cold air gets inside your body and dries it out from the inside, causing your body to need even more fluids to function properly!
The weight of your jacket, pants and other winter clothing also causes your body to work harder than it normally would to accomplish the same tasks, like walking. This means it is using more fluids than normal.
Your body is also using more fluids to produce heat and stay warm. So, you can see how easy it is to get dehydrated!
To complicate your life even more, your body kind of goes numb in cold weather. It’s not very good at telling you that you’re tired, or upset, or happy, or even thirsty. The pathways that these signals travel along get cold and don’t function as well. Because of this, your body’s thirst response can diminish by up to 40%!
That means it’s vitally important that you are aware of how much water you are drinking. The old adage is to drink at least eight ounces of water an hour. In cold weather, you should be drinking 10 ounces or more.
You also have to watch out for acidic water. Bottled waters that are purified by reverse osmosis or distillation are acidic, empty water. They still hydrate your body, but not as well as neutral or alkaline, ionized water. Acidic bottled or tap water is also in an empty state that can absorb nutrients and minerals from your body that can make you sick over time.
The negative effects of acidic water are exasperated in the winter time so be sure you are at least drinking spring water. The best water to drink is alkaline, ionized water because it is full of minerals and antioxidants that your body needs to balance, hydrate, and detoxify.
In the winter, it’s a good idea to carry a bottle of alkaline, ionized water wherever you go. Attach to your belt, carry it in your purse, put it in your backpack — whatever you need to do.
We often get busy with our jobs, or school, or driving and it’s not convenient to find ionized water to drink. So, carry it with you and drink at least 10 ounces every hour. Staying hydrated with ionized water is the best way to combat cold weather dehydration and keep your body healthy!
