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Tuesday 28 August 2012

Foods to Hydrate You


GetFit likes to take a scientific approach to health issues and so we’ve spent hours in the office slicing, dicing and munching our way through loads of fruits and vegetables* to discover the top five hydrating fruit and vegetables you can serve up to keep yourself fully hydrated!

The top 5 hydrating fruits are:
  1. Watermelons 92% (no surprise there),
  2. Strawberries 92% 
  3. Grapefruits  91%
  4. Cantaloupes  90%
  5. Peaches  88%

And the fruit with the lowest water content? The humble banana with ‘only’ 74% (But it’s still a piece of fruit, so don’t ignore them!)

Similarly, the top 5 raw Vegetables with the highest hydrating properties (i.e. with a high water content) are:
  1. Iceberg lettuce 96%
  2. Cucumbers 96%
  3. Radish 95%
  4. Courgette (Zucchini for our friends in the US) 95%
  5. Celery 95%
  6. Red Tomato 94% 
(Ok well top 6 then)

And it’s the white potatoes with just 79% at the bottom of the list.

Apart from giving you all the veggie and fruity goodness that eating vegetables and fruits give you, remember that for them to count towards your 5-a-day, they don’t have to be ‘fresh’, but a portion can be canned (drained and washed if in salt water or brine), dried, frozen, or in a 150ml juice (if its 100% fruit juice, but it counts as only 1 portion, no matter how many you have)

Just a cautionary warning though… too much of anything can be toxic… so whilst water aids in the process of removing toxins from your body (the next blog topic…), too much water can alter the balance of the salt in your body and can lead to ‘water intoxication’ which can be fatal…

The next GetFit blog is all about getting a good nights sleep...

(*Actually we did a lot of online research from various agricultural experts across the world to find the top 5 of each… but we did eat a lot of fruit and veg whilst we were researching!)

Saturday 18 August 2012

Hydrate to stay awake…



About two thirds, or roughly 60%, of a healthy body weight is made up of water and there are many different studies and ideas that claim to establish how much water you should drink each day, both to stay hydrated and to help the body function optimally…

GetFit looked up how much water the Department of Health recommends for hydration purposes, and it’s about 1.2 litres a day. You actually lose about 2.5 litres a day, but you make this up through the foods you eat and a little bit that your body recycles from certain chemical reactions in your cells (clever things…)

Of course this is the average, for the average person on an average day. And GetFit knows that you’re anything but average…

GetFit see it like this… We all lead different lives with some of us leading more active lives than others (so possibly sweating more); some of us work in air-conditioned offices (lucky you), whilst others spend their work time in cars or working outside. Each of these factors will have an effect on how much water your body losses throughout the day (more so on a hot day).

So it’s up to you to spot the symptoms of dehydration… and here are the most common

-          Check the colour of your urine – here’s a link to a colourchart that may help!
-          Not going to the loo for many hours, especially if it’s hot
-          Headaches and/or feeling light headed
-          Lack of energy… Dehydration will leave you feeling tired…

So what to use to hydrate with?

1.       Water is obviously the best choice – if you don’t like it (a quite common problem) add a dash of (sugar free) cordial, a slice of cucumber or a sprig of mint (or all 3…)

2.       Milk is good to – calcium and vitamins thrown into – try the 1% semi skimmed variety.

3.       Fruit juice – can count as one of your 5-a-day (but only once). Check that it’s 100% juice and not a ‘juice drink’ that may have loads of sugar and very little actual juice!

But what about  Tea, Coffee and Energy drinks? These contain caffeine which can make you produce more urine (unless they're decaffeinated that is) . These drinks should not be your only source of hydration!

It’s not just liquids that can be used to hydrate – food can help too and some foods are better than others – which GetFit will talk about in our next blog…