I’ve been getting a lot of questions recently about how to fuel better for sport. Many of my clients come to me with digestive distress, or headaches, or fatigue associated with their training and racing and the first thing I tell them is to HYDRATE.
It’s critical to replace the electrolytes lost during sweat so that our bodies can continue to digest our fuel, continue to process our thoughts, continue to keep our bodies cool in the summer heat, continue to…LIVE.
No. No that is absolutely not enough. Straight-up water doesn’t have any electrolytes in it and by continuing to drink water as you’re sweating without replacing the electrolytes, you’re diluting the amount of sodium in the body (which is doing it’s best to keep your body hydrated even though you keep sweating!) This will likely result in digestive distress, and low-grade headaches as you become sodium depleted.
If you’re strolling about town, having a nice lunch in the shade then coconut water is a lovely rehydrator. If you’re going for a bike ride in the summer heat for longer than 30 minutes, then coconut water isn’t going to cut it. Yes, coconut water has SOME natural electrolytes, potassium to be specific, but it lacks in sodium and that’s really what we NEED to replace lost electrolytes. Over time, drinking coconut water to rehydrate can lead to hyponatremia – dangerous stuff. My friend and former colleague at Skratch Labs, Dr. Allen Lim, wrote a great article on “coconut water the bizzaro sports drink.” Read up!
You need minerals, and sodium, and a little bit of glucose to help your body to upload them quickly into your system and rebalance your electrolytes and keep your body going strong! You can get these critical ingredients from a sports drink…and I recommend that you do, actually! Especially during sport. My favorites are Skratch Labs Hydration Sport Mixes for its superior and universal performance, and Untapped Maple Ginger Aid (for those of you who need a bit less sodium, want a refined sugar-free option nd want to help balance your microbiome at the same time!)
But what about when you AREN’T exercising? It’s still important that you’re replacing lost electrolytes on days that you’re working in the garden, working in the kitchen, bouncing around town in a hot car. Any time you have boob sweat or body sweat or brow sweat – the way to keep your body balanced is with a little rehydration…and that’s where this Rehydrating Ginger Lemonade Switchel comes in.
Yes! A switchel is a beverage that’s made with water and vinegar, and often ginger. Sometimes called “Haymakers Punch,” switchel is the centuries-old electrolyte drink of choice for farmers in the fields and YES, it’s a perfect way to rehydrate our modern lives and bodies too.
This particular switchel is a favorite way to recharge my body on a midsummer’s day, with lunch or a little bit with dinner. I’ve been known to add just the tiniest amount of whiskey to it at happy hour too. AND, it’s the drink that helped rehydrate me in the hours immediately after Leo was born. We kept making batch after batch during my 40 days. I loved having a little cup of ginger lemonade and a cookie for midday snack when I was coming up to speed with breastfeeding, and it’s still a favorite way to recover from a ride: with a little lemonade and a cookie.
Beyond the rehydrating properties, this sweet, tart, salty, so so satisfying sipper is packed with anti-oxidants, probiotics, minerals and anti-inflammatory properties. Boosted with mineral drops, the electrolyte values help this to be the kind of bevy you could enjoy anytime to rehydrate, reinvigorate and renergize your body whole.
In principle, this switchel would be a marvelous sports drink…but carrying fresh lemon juice on a hot bike ride or toasty run could prove to be, well…unappetizing.
So, I suggest drinking a nice tall glass of switchel when you get home. After your run, ride or hike. With lunch. After gardening. Before dinner. Instead of a cocktail. In the middle of the afternoon when you’re feeling thirsty. Drink it anytime you want a little deep, honest true refreshment, and anytime your body is letting you know that it can use a little recharge.
…that depends on what you’re looking to derive from it!
If you’re looking to capitalize on the rehydrating properties of this lovely lemonade, drink your switchel at room temperature or just cool. That’s right, drinking switchel ice cold isn’t the answer. A couple of ice cubes to make your switchel “cool,” makes perfect sense. But since our bodies have to warm anything we eat – or drink – to 98.6°F before utilizing, metabolizing or digesting it, drinking an ice cold beverage literally ices down (and therefore halts) digestion from happening, and that means that you miss out on the immediate rehydration that this switchel has to offer.
If, however, you’re core body temperature is elevated and you’re looking to not only pull down your temp, chill out a bit AND to get some rehydration, then add a few more ice cubes. Drinking cold bevvies is helpful in drawing down pitta, and fast, even if it’s not great for digestion. (P.S. An elevated body temp isn’t great for digestion, rest or recovery either so it’s sort of a double-edged sword, only an ice cold switchel is much more pleasant.)
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