Summer Safety Series- Hydration

Now that Fiesta is over for 2023, it’s time for school to be out!! Summer quickly approaches, and 127 days to football season! I have many young children, teens, and college-age kids coming in for their summer and fall sports physicals. Football and band practices, baseball, soccer, and just playing on the beaches and at the lake, spending time with family instead of a classroom… it’s time to enjoy! And it reminds me to share with all the readers that South Texas can be hot and humid. We sometimes underestimate how much the sun can drain our bodies of the liquids it needs to keep going.

So what do I mean by liquids? Well, water, of course!

Many kids ask me if sodas or energy drinks, and electrolyte drinks are as good as water or if these drinks “count” as water. After all, these drinks have water in them, correct?

The answer is no. Many teens are relying on energy drinks and caffeine for the boost it gives in energy and mood, and it comes with a price. Caffeine works as a diuretic, meaning it pulls water out of the body, not allowing water into the body. Caffeine can lead to dehydration, so many drinks don’t look brown as we correlate the brown color of fluids to be caffeinated. Caffeine drinks can be clear or colored. Many drink labels do not prominently advertise their ingredients and amounts of ingredients simply because labels might affect their sales.

Also, consider that many energy and electrolyte drinks contain sugar, preservatives, food dyes and are high in calories leading to weight gain and diabetes.

We as a society are addicted to sugar and sugar-free sweeteners that are not good for us.

Good old-fashioned water is the ticket to excellent rehydration, but many do not like plain water. People will buy flavored waters and run into the same issues as above. Water cleans your organs and tissues and helps supply the energy needed for all your activities and the body to function normally.

For you adults, alcohol has the same diuretic effect and can be high calorie and not to mention impair judgment when you have had enough.

How much water should you drink?

About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men

About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women*

Children ages 1-3 years need approximately 4 cups of beverages per day, including water or milk. This increases for older kids to around 5 cups for 4-8 year-olds and 7-8 cups for older children.**

Add more for increased exercise and activities outside.

What are the symptoms of heat stroke?

Symptoms of heat stroke include:

Confusion, altered mental status, slurred speech

Loss of consciousness (coma)

Hot, dry skin or profuse sweating

Seizures

Very high body temperature

Fatal if treatment delayed***

Call 911, and don’t hesitate! If you see someone acting confused or clumsy, or if you see someone collapse sud- denly. Call 911 immediately!

To discuss the different kinds of water to choose from etc. is too large of a topic for this article but my best advice is to drink!

Happy Summer, all! Be safe!

Marianne Pinkston, MD

Drpbetterlife.com

Podcast•YouTube•Radio

210-698-7825 Clinic, San Antonio

*Mayo Clinic

**American Academy of Pediatrics

***cdc.org

The health benefits of sunlight at MedNatura we give you our recommendations to recover your health and well-being

- Improves sleep

The body creates a hormone called melatonin that is critical in helping you sleep. Because the body starts producing it when it's dark, it usually starts to feel sleepy two hours after the sun goes down, which is one of the reasons our body stays awake naturally later in the summer. Research indicates that an hour of natural light in the morning will help you sleep better. Sunlight regulates the circadian rhythm by telling the body when to increase or decrease melatonin levels. Therefore, the more exposure to daylight, the better the body will produce melatonin when it's time to go to sleep.

- Reduces stress

Melatonin also reduces stress reactivity and being outdoors will help the body regulate melatonin naturally, which can help reduce stress level. Plus, because you often do physical activities when you're outdoors (walking, playing, etc.), that extra exercise also helps you reduce stress.

- Keeps bones strong

One of the best (and easiest) ways to get vitamin D is to be outdoors. The body produces vitamin D when exposed to sunlight; About 15 minutes in the sun a day is enough if you have fair skin. And since vitamin D helps your body maintain calcium and prevents bones from becoming brittle, thin, or misshapen, sunbathing may be just what your doctor ordered.

- Helps maintain weight

Going outdoors for 30 minutes between 8 a.m. and noon has been linked to weight loss. Of course, there could be other factors to this, but there seems to be a connection between sunlight in the early morning hours and weight loss.

- Strengthens the immune system

Vitamin D is also critical to your immune system, and with constant exposure to sunlight, it can help strengthen it. A healthy immune system can help reduce the risk of disease, infections, some cancers, and mortality after surgeries.

- Fights depression

It's not just an idea; There's a scientific reason why sunbathing improves your mood. Sunlight increases the body's level of serotonin, which is a mood-enhancing chemical that helps you stay calm and focused. Increased exposure to natural light can help relieve symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, a change in mood that typically occurs in the fall and winter months, when there are fewer hours of sunlight.

- Can give you a longer life

A study that followed 30,000 Swedish women revealed that those who spent more time in the sun lived six months to two years longer than those who had less sun exposure. More research needs to be done in this area, but it's something scientists are still investigating.

Welcome!

Every summer is a time of transition and celebration. Summer marks the end of spring. It is a time to celebrate graduations, travel plans, and focus on outdoor activities with friends, while trying to beat the South Texas heat. Despite it being a time of celebrations for most of us, not everyone is joyful.

It is also a time to focus on Mental Health. With the numbers of people affected with mental health disorders growing in all age demographics, it’s more important than ever to be aware that many people we interact with every day may be struggling with mental health disorders. Studies estimate that over 20% of the United States population has a mental health condition. Depression and anxiety are the most common. Among young people aged 18-25 years of age, the prevalence of mental health illness is 33%. Rates of depression and anxiety doubled during the pandemic and have not decreased to their pre-pandemic levels. Given the turmoil in the country, it is more likely that these rates will continue to increase.

Mental health disorders are historically under-reported to physicians, and when they are reported, they tend to be under-treated. The primary mental health condition is usually just the tip of the iceberg. When mental health conditions go untreated, it is the rule, more than the exception, for patients to develop other conditions that are physical manifestations of ongoing mental stress. Insomnia, high blood pressure, pain, autoimmune conditions, and many other conditions may develop due to prolonged, untreated mental health conditions.

Prescription medications and various forms of counseling are the gold standard treatments from a conventional medicine perspective and offer many patients significant relief. Lifestyle adjustments and alternative therapies are showing tremendous promise for helping patients, and in some cases, curing certain conditions. For those of us who would like to avoid prescription drugs, there are some easy, free interventions that can help, as well.

Regular cardiovascular exercise, 30 minutes for three or more days per week has equal effcacy at controlling mild to moderate depression, as do SSRI medications. That has been shown in many studies over and over again. Dietary changes, including more plants and fewer refined carbohydrates and simple sugars, have a positive impact on overall health through improved nutritional support and better health and diversity of our microbiome that largely controls neurotransmitter production and supports better mood health and less inflammation. Gratitude journaling has profoundly beneficial effects on depression and even chronic pain (done correctly). Look up Shawn Achor, Harvard University, happiness-researcher’s explanation of how and why this works. Medical cannabis can be incredibly beneficial for anxiety. While not causing impairment, it is currently legally available for patients with PTSD (and other conditions) in Texas. Meditation and prayer are other favorite interventions for mood health that can be profoundly helpful and therapeutic for mental health and many of its conditions. I know most patients are skeptical, but meditations’ power to change people’s lives is well supported by scientific research.

The world today is a more stressful place than ever before, but help is available, in white coats and little orange bottles, but also, in many unexpected places.

In good health,

Dr. Wendy Askew, MD