By Richmond Natural Medicine

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June 25, 2021

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With longer days and warmer weather, more and more people are spending the day outdoors, and it’s important to be mindful that the summer season requires extra awareness in terms of replenishing our body.

Mid summer is the most physically active time for many, and there’s hardly a more exciting time for outdoor activities. What the body can more easily tolerate in the fall and winter is very different than in the summer, and it’s easy to forget (or not pay attention to) our body’s signals for nourishment when we are depleted from a long day in the sun.

Stay Hydrated – It’s very easy to become dehydrated in the warmer summer months, especially if we spend a lot of time outdoors being active and sweating. Aim to consume about half of your body weight in ounces of water each day, not to exceed 100 ounces for women and 120 ounces for men. For example, if you weigh 160 pounds, that’s 80 ounces of water. Consume this throughout the day to maintain hydration, and invest in a large water bottle to keep with you if you’re out and about during the day.

More Tips on Staying Hydrated

Avoid prolonged sun exposure – Too much intense sun exposure can be draining and cause fatigue, skin irritations or cause you to become overheated. If you are spending much of the day out in the sun, bring some shade with you and do your best to avoid prolonged, direct sunlight between the hours of 12-4pm. You can also protect your skin by wearing spf clothing and high quality sunscreens.

Even if you don’t think you’ll need it – always pack and apply a clean sunscreen consistently during the day. The sun is a harsh reminder of how sensitive our skin is, and even a minor sunburn can be damaging to our overall skin health. When looking at sunscreens, look for zinc oxide as the main ingredient, and you can also check ewg.org to cross-reference your ingredients for safety.

More Summer Skin Care Tips

Snack on water rich, fresh foods – Plan ahead for your days outdoors by packing snacks that will not only nourish you, but provide some hydration relief and electrolyte support. Fresh fruits are ideal snacks for outdoor adventures as they are water rich, contain antioxidants and are refreshing to eat! Strawberries, blueberries, apples, peaches, raspberries and oranges make wonderful snacks on warmer days (and are a sneaky way to get more water in!).

Bring cooling supplies – Bringing along ice packs or ice water to soak a cloth in to place on your neck or face can be a welcome relief if you’re starting to feel overheated outside. This can quickly help to lower our body temperature – especially in our face and head – if we’ve overdone it in the heat.

Replenish – Consuming extra water, electrolytes, taking Epsom salt baths, eating plant-based nutrients, practicing skin / lymphatic massage and taking rest are all essential to allow your organ systems and muscles to recover from a day outdoors. Although you may have done simple outdoor things like floating down a river or playing lawn games, when the weather is so warm the body often overworks to account for the extreme weather and replenishment after those activities. Keep in mind that alcohol is dehydrating to the body, and if this was part of your day outdoors, you should be drinking twice as much water for every ounce of alcohol you’ve consumed. For example, for every 8-ounce beer, you need to follow that up with at least 16 ounces of water. Sounds like a lot (and it is!), so keep track of this and make sure you’re replenishing properly before, during and after your day.