#ygkChallenge: Keep Cool!

Welcome to Kingstonist’s weekly challenge, dare, resolution or whatever you prefer to call it. Each week we establish a new and ambitious community goal, encouraging our readers, followers, friends and families to step out of their comfort zones and do something great, and hopefully a little out of the ordinary. Consider this your official and personal invitation to join us in completing a small but meaningful achievement. By taking part in this community-wide initiative, we hope to make Kingston a slightly better place to live, work and play. And of course, we also hope that you will feel proud of your contribution and achievement.

This week’s challenge encourages you to:

Keep Cool! In the midst of this heat wave it can be challenging to stay hydrated and prevent overheating. This week I challenge you to keep cool through nutrition! In addition to drinking plenty of water (at least 2-3L per average adult) and staying out of the sun when possible, there are certain foods you can eat to help you cool off. An important thing to remember about drinking water is that you need to drink it even if you are not thirsty, as thirst itself is not a good predictor of dehydration. Foods such as watermelon and cucumber for example contain 95% water, which help to decrease body temperature. Other water-rich foods include tomatoes, lettuce, celery, and grapefruit. A perfect reason to eat more salad this summer! Astringent foods with moderate to high tannin contents such as bananas, lentils, pomegranates, peppermint, and grapes also promote hydration by contracting the tissues in the body and increasing the absorption of water. To replenish some of the electrolytes lost during sweating consider drinking plain coconut water, which contains sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Keep in mind that most commercially sold coconut waters may not contain enough electrolytes to fully rehydrate you and thus is not considered a complete rehydration solution. The challenge is on: stay cool Kingston!

Sign up and commit to completing this week’s challenge by commenting below with an “I’m in“, “challenge accepted“, “en garde” or something along those lines. Further, help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag: #ygkchallenge. As you work towards completing this week’s task, please feel free to lend others a helping hand by providing tips on how you achieved success.

Thanks to Andrew for today’s photo.