H2O for the Win! Hydration, Coconut Water, and Water Bottles
Summer is upon us here in Indiana, and I’m excited for warmer weather!
One of Kaleb and my favorite things to do on a Saturday in the summer is load up the dogs and hit the road for a state park. We love taking 1/2 day hikes with really good views (yes, even Indiana has some great views! Lol).
I remember learning in school that an average adult’s body weight is made up of 2/3 water.
Dehydration occurs when someone loses more water than they can take in. Even such a small amount as a 2% loss of one’s body weight can lead to adverse side effects such as mood changes.
More notable dehydration can lead to a host of serious symptoms including dizziness, confusion, and fatigue, while severe dehydration can lead to medical emergencies such as seizures of heat stroke.
Along with dehydration comes a loss of electrolytes, needed chemicals often made from sodium, potassium, and calcium.
Hydration is so important, especially during physical exercise. Researchers believe that moderate physical exertion requires about 1500-2000 ml (or 6-8 cups) of water per day. Of course, that amount increases and can even double as temperatures rise or the exercise is more strenuous.
And, I don’t know about you, but some of my best hikes have been in the middle of the summer on a hot day!
It may be a pain to carry a water bottle around with you or pause during your workout for a quick drink, but it’s worth it.
I love this BPA free water bottle from Hydroflask! It has been through some 102 degree days in Cambodia where the ice water in the morning was still very cold water in the late afternoon.
Of course, keep in mind it may not stay that cold if you are using the sport cap or the straw lid but I find it hard to drink large quantities of a cold drink when exercising anyway! I usually use the standard cap when traveling because the bottle gets thrown around in bags so much.
Hydroflasks are still by far my favorite water bottles!
And it’s BPA free, meaning I’m not drinking in chemicals used in the making of plastic!
Have you Considered Coconut Water?
You may be wondering if coconut water really lives up to all the hype. It does. Believe me!
Coconut water is made of healthy vitamins, mainly vitamin B and C, sugars, and enzymes. Additionally, it’s packed full of potassium, which is great for replenishing electrolytes!
In Southeast Asia, there were times I was too thirsty for water to do much good quickly and would crave coconut water like none other! I’d rush to a street vendor to get one of these coconuts, and gulp it down fast!
Your body always seems to know what it needs!
In my travels, I’ve had coconut water straight from the coconut more times than I can count. It is one of the most delicious and refreshing beverages, especially on a very hot day. And it, in my opinion, nowhere near compares to the bottled coconut water drinks available at grocery stores here in Indiana.
Though the bottled drinks really do contain coconut water, it’s not fresh. And the drinks often have added ingredients.
But we wanted to know how the coconut waters around us measure up in both ingredients, needed chemicals such as sodium and potassium, sugar content, and taste.
Here’s what our taste testing report found…
Ingredient List: 100% Coconut water
Sodium: 3% of daily value per serving (8 fl oz/ 240ml)
Potassium: 10% of daily value per serving (8 fl oz/ 240ml)
Sugar: 10g per serving (8 fl oz/ 240ml)
Taste: This one was probably our least favorite and most expensive! It had less flavor than the other unflavored one and tasted a but too much like the aluminum can for be. Kaleb said it had a bit of a sour taste in his opinion.
Ingredient List: Coconut Water, Less than 1% sugar, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)*Note: Ascorbic Acid often contains corn, so it is not great for those with a corn allergy
Sodium: 2% of daily value per serving (8 fl oz/ 240ml)
Potassium: 10% of daily value per serving (8 fl oz/ 240ml)
Sugar: 11g per serving (8 fl oz/ 240ml)
Taste: This one had a very slight bit of that sour taste at the beginning and left a good aftertaste. Because it had ascorbic acid I took only a small sip. This was our favorite unflavored one. Kaleb rated this one as his 2nd favorite
3.Fresh Thyme Coconut Water with Mango
Ingredient List: Coconut Water, Mango Juice
Sodium: 3% of daily value per serving (17.5 fl oz)
Potassium: 25% of daily value per serving (17.5 fl oz)
Sugar: 26 g per serving (17.5 fl oz)
Taste: Our #1 Favorite! This one tasted the most sweet to us, but it actually had less sugar than the pineapple flavored one. Kaleb and I both liked this one the best, but we like sweeter tasting things.
4.Fresh Thyme Coconut Water with Pineapple
Ingredient List: Coconut Water, Pineapple Juice
Sodium: 3% of daily value per serving (17.5 fl oz)
Potassium: 25% of daily value per serving (17.5 fl oz)
Sugar: 32 g per serving (17.5 fl oz)
Taste: This one was my 2nd favorite and Kaleb’s 3rd favorite. We liked the subtle hint of pineapple taste added to the coconut water
Dogs Also Need Hydration
We recently started using this dog water bottle with drinking spout called the M&MKPET Outdoor Pet Water Cup.
Just push on the button and the water in the bottle will stream into the drinking bowl section. Though I wish it held more water, it has been a very good purchase!
The water bottle plus plastic container (used as a makeshift bowl) was just not cutting it anymore! Haha
Fold-Up Travel Backpack that Can Carry 2 Water Bottles!
When hiking, sometimes it feels like we don’t need a bag to carry our things as much as a bag to hold the water bottles. (I mean, how much does a married couple with 2 dogs really need for a morning of hiking?!).
Our conundrum: Finding a backpack that would fold up to almost nothing for easy storing and traveling and yet have not one but two water bottle side pockets.
You would be surprised at the amount of research we did to find this! There really aren’t options out there.
We finally came across our now loved Venture Pal backpacks. They fold up into small bundles for traveling or storing away, and yet they fold out into a considerably large backpack with several pockets, even one pocket that is waterproof! See picture below of Kaleb using ours at the zoo.
Read here for more information about this awesome backpack! For longer days out, we both carry one so Kaleb can carry his water and the dogs’ while I carry mine (or we both have a dog water bottle, depending on the length of time we’ll be gone)…
Here’s to getting out and staying hydrated!
