This is a repost from LyteShow, used here with their permission.
By Mike McAdams
It’s late afternoon and you can’t drag yourself out of your sleeping bag. Your favorite band has come and gone. Your friend tells you it was the best performance in the history of the band. But you’re not listening because every sound ricochets through your skull like a bullet from a .22. She’s enjoying herself and you’re painting the walls of your tent with last night’s dinner. Hangovers — caused primarily by dehydration — are a bitch. Thousands of people will be hitting Burning Man this weekend. There will be a lot of hangovers for a lot of people that just want to have fun. Here’s some info on how to stay hydrated so you can enjoy your drinking instead of suffering from it.
1. Surprisingly, the obvious solution goes underutilized. Up the intake of fluids. A gallon a day of water and other clear fluids is a good start. Increase as needed. However, fluid retention and balance depend on some of the advice below.
2. Potassium is a key elecrtolyte that, in large enough quantities, is an excellent firewall against dehydration. Potassium promotes fluid balance and reduces dangerously high heart rates caused by thickening of the blood. A low potassium level also produces serious muscle fatigue and cramps. Foods high in potassium, such as avocados, can crush these symptoms. Eat a lot of them.
3. Healthy fats and oils are as important as high fluid intake. They’re strong regulators of fluid balance. Nuts and other foods (avocados again) are good sources. Omega 3 and 6 are healthy fats and oils. Omega 6 can be found in a lot of foods, but you’ll probably need to use supplements, such as fish oil, to get Omega 6.
4. When you’re partying hard, carry some over the counter medications like acetaminophen with you. Aceataminophen not only hammers headaches, it also helps control fevers caused by dehydration. Here’s something about fevers that sucks: once they’re in play they cause more dehydration.
5. Stay away from sugar. Your kidneys reflexively produce more urine to bring down sugar levels in the bloodstream. That causes serious fluid loss.
At LyteShow we endorse these tips with confidence. But we also know they’re not the answer to severe or persistent dehydration. These require the attention of medical professionals.
We created LyteShow as as an efficient answer to dehydration and hangovers. Unlike most sports drinks, LyteShow contains no unhealthy additives and includes a complete balance of electrolytes: potassium, magnesium, chloride, and sodium. We’d love it if you took LyteShow to the next music festival, but If you don’t, be smart and make sure you’ve got a way to keep the electrolytes on board.
Legal Stuff: We should remind everyone that our blog entries are for your information only and are not intended as medical advice. If you’re going to drink, do it legally and responsibly; don’t be stupid =).
