by Fern Shaw | Jul 15, 2013 | Health and Hydration
Or as Martha sang, ‘Heat wave …. uh … Heat waaaaaaave …’
Or as a fellow FB’er posted … ‘Don’t we just call this summer?’
Anyhow, tamayto, tomado, whatever the weather *cue all-knowing sniggering* the fact remains, when the temperatures soar, do you know how to keep hydrated?
Here’s a refresher (thanks for this, AquAid compadré) about keeping yourself refreshed and hydrated through this blistering (and no, do not mean this in a sexy way) heat. To make it super easy, I’ve repeated keeping cool ideas for home, work and all around.
In the workplace:
- Stay hydrated! Set an alarm clock if necessary to make sure that you visit the water cooler as often as needs be to replenish your drinking water.
- Chill your wrists: Run cold water over your wrists for a minute every hour. Try not to do this using the cool water from the water cooler – it’s messy and I doubt the water cooler station is meant to be used as a private bathing area. Rather use the taps in the bathroom.
- Drink cool (but not icy cold) liquids to help lower your body temperature. Yep, the water cooler station is perfect for this.
- Turn off electronics: If they’re not being used, unplug electronic devices to keep them from generating unnecessary heat.
At home:
- Chill your wrists: Run cold water over your wrists for a minute every hour:
- Stay hydrated! Kids may not feel thirsty, but it’s essential to stay hydrated, so make sure young ones are getting lots of water. If you’re planning to leave the house, freeze some water bottles and take them with you.
- Drink cool (but not icy cold) liquids to help lower your body temperature.
- Try to keep water refrigerated prior to drinking, if possible.
- A little help from some fans: They may be little, but those battery-operated personal fans can make a big difference.
- Frozen flannel: Freeze a flannel and then plop it on the back of your and your family’s necks – instant refresher.
- Turn off electronics: If they’re not being used, unplug electronic devices to keep them from generating unnecessary heat.
- Stay downstairs: Downstairs areas tend to be cooler. Herd kids into an air-conditioned basement, if available. If not, stay on the ground floor.
- Don’t cook: Feed your family fresh foods such as salads and fruit. Not only will this cool the body’s core, it’ll also keep cooking-related heat from filling up the house.
- Postpone laundry: Plan to do heat-generating activities after the sun goes down. Do laundry at night, for example.
All around:
- Shut windows and pull down the shades when it is hotter outside. If it’s safe, open them for ventilation when it’s cooler.
- Avoid the heat: stay out of the sun and don’t go out between 11am and 3pm (the hottest part of the day) if you’re vulnerable to the effects of heat.
- Keep rooms cool by using shades or reflective material outside the windows. If this isn’t possible, use light-coloured curtains and keep them closed (metallic blinds and dark curtains can make the room hotter).
- Have cool baths or showers, and splash yourself with cool water.
- Drink cold drinks regularly, such as water and fruit juice. Avoid tea, coffee and alcohol.
- Stay tuned to the weather forecast on the radio or TV, or at the Met Office website.
- Plan ahead to make sure you have enough supplies, such as food, water and any medications you need.
- Identify the coolest room in the house so you know where to go to keep cool.
- Wear loose, cool clothing and a hat if you go outdoors.
- Check up on friends, relatives and neighbours who may be less able to look after themselves.
- People who have epilepsy or heart, kidney, or liver disease; are on fluid-restricted diets; or have a problem with fluid retention should consult a doctor before increasing liquid intake.
- If you’re sweating a lot, be quick to replace lost salts and minerals as well as water. Fruit juice or sports drinks with electrolytes are good choices, but do not take salt tablets unless directed to by your doctor. Taking calcium supplements, however, is a good idea.
- Drink cool (but not icy cold) liquids to help lower your body temperature. Try to keep water refrigerated prior to drinking, if possible.
by Fern Shaw | Jun 28, 2013 | Health and Hydration
This week I thought I’d take my foot off the proverbial history; good-for-you, bad-for-you, beat you with the facts and dates accelerator and trip the light irreverent with some more trivia:
Channel Tunnel
To dig the Channel Tunnel, 11 tunnel boring machines were used to extract 8 million cubic meters of chalk, clay and soil. At the end of the drill one of the boring machines was buried in the side of the tunnel. (I wonder if our water coolers were installed down there during construction? I’ll have to ask!)
The tunnel has over 100 miles of railway lines, 1200 telephones and 20,000 lighting fixtures over its length. The building of the channel tunnel involved 15,000 workers.
Scaremongering
Thanatos is a term widely used in psychoanalytic theory to represent the encouraging to destruction, or an apparent pleasure in seeing the worst outcome. It seems that much of the UK press knows this term all too well with headlines like ‘House Market Throttled as Loans Fall 56%’ – the article then explained that mortgage issues were down by 56%.
What the press is failing to explain in the headlines or the articles (in many cases) is that measures such as this only use part of the total loans i.e. new loans and do not account for all the mortgage market – and especially remortgages.
Agatha Christie
The only statue in the world of the prolific crime writer Agatha Christie is a bronze bust on the seafront at Torquay (her birthplace) opposite the Grand Pavilion. It is believed that the Grand Pavilion is where her first husband proposed to her.
The Guinness Book of Records lists Agatha Christie as the best-selling fiction author of all time estimating 2-billion of her books have been sold in 103 languages worldwide. Her first novel, published in 1920, was “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” and she received £26 for it.
Champagne Bubbles
Britain pops the cork on champagne bottles to the tune of 40 million times a year, which is pretty impressive, and something to celebrate particularly when you consider that is twice as many as the next biggest market – the USA. In fact the only people to drink more champagne than the Brits are The French, but then, they do make it. (As delicious as bubbly is, remember to keep hydrated with water in between all that bubbles quaffing – your body will thank you).
And finally …
Steeple chasing
Steeple chasing began in 1750’s when two riders in Ireland decided to test their horses’ speed by racing across country between two churches – steeple to steeple. (No, no, AquAid did not provide the refreshments, the first water cooler was a hundred years or so away!)
by Fern Shaw | Jun 24, 2013 | water cooler, Water Coolers
So, there I was, lurking (and trust me, blogista’s lurk with style) at the water cooler, almost in a lion-gathering-around-the-watering-hole (but not as predatory) manner, waiting to pick up on tips regarding the general consensus of the effectiveness of said water cooler.
Sadly, even though I lurked for a number of days (perhaps my four day leg fuzz was a tad off putting?) I didn’t pick up anything worthwhile – apart from Tad’s recipe for lemony corn fritters – way to go Tad.
So, I broke my watch and haired *harf harf harf* off to my desk and my beloved pc. Now, there’s true inspiration, just waiting to be resourced.
Factual and informative stuff
- A water cooler on site can increases staff productivity.
- Saves on electricity costs. For a reference on this story, read about Winston.
- AquAid have more distribution centres than any other water cooler company.
- Water wastage is reduced as there are no dripping taps and no having a beady eyed staff member appointed to constantly check on potential water wastage.
- AquAid also include an illustrated urine chart for the bathrooms upon purchase of a water cooler. This chart indicates hydration vs. dehydration so you can see at-a-glance whether you should be upping your water intake.
- The water in AquAid’s bottle fed coolers means you are drinking water from source, with a consistent mineral content.
- By having an AquAid water cooler on site, you allow easy access for your schoolchildren at schools and staff at your company to keep hydrated, thereby indicating your care for their well-being.
Touchy-feely feel good stuff (also factual)
- By having an AquAid water cooler on site, you allow easy access for your schoolchildren at schools and staff at your company to keep hydrated, thereby indicating your care for their well-being.
- Every purchase of an AquAid water cooler means a donation to our chosen charities, Christian Aid and The Africa Trust.
- Donations to The Africa Trust mean that millions of people in rural communities throughout Africa have access to clean, fresh drinking water and continue to have access due to more Elephant Pumps being built every year.
- By keeping yourself hydrated and learning more about correct hydration, you become an ‘ambassador’ for drinking sufficient water and thereby create awareness while keeping yourself healthy, happy and productive.
We have oodles of information about sufficient water intake, hydration and all other matters water available for a squizz at our blog page. We also welcome your feedback and comments on the blogs as learning every day is just grand.
by Fern Shaw | Jun 14, 2013 | Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
Staying properly hydrated ensures that all of your bodily functions are … well … functioning. You can only go three days or so without water, and as your body loses its hydration, you will experience all kinds of awful side effects. Dehydration can cause irritability, lethargy, dangerously low blood pressure, rapid heart rate, headaches, shock, and even death.
The average adult can usually maintain proper levels of hydration by drinking enough water. That being said, extreme heat or exertion can be draining on even a healthy adult. Kids and the elderly are more susceptible to extreme dehydration than the average adult … so if you have kids or older adults in your life that are important to you, the tips outlined below can be especially important for them (and for you!)
1. Pick the right water.
As a general rule, try to avoid hydrating beverages that have added sugar. In addition to having fewer calories, it’s important to choose hydrating beverages that don’t have sugar in order to prevent spikes in insulin levels. Going into a sugar crash compounded with the already-unpleasant sensation of dehydration is not the way to go. Plus, if you happen to be sick with diarrhoea during a hot summer day, sugary beverages can actually worsen your symptoms.
2. Snack on the right foods.
Fresh veggies and fruits are good snacks this time of year, and not just for dieters. Fresh produce has a very high water content, so it’s a great way to hydrate without having to drink a ton of water. For example, an apple is up to 85% of water by volume.
Pickles (and pickle juice) are higher in electrolytes than beverages like Liquid Power or Powerade, and have been shown to reduce cramping cause by exertion in high temperatures. The acetic acid in pickles and pickle juice are considered superior to the citric acid found in commercial sports drinks, at least when it comes to rehydration properties.
Another food you should add into your diet when staying properly hydrated is a concern are chia seeds. In addition to being high in protein, the seeds themselves help you to retain water by absorbing many times their own weight in water. If you can’t find the actual seeds, you may be able to find a chia seed gel at runner’s/sporting goods or health food shops.
3. Drink constantly, not occasionally.
You should be constantly drinking fluids, rather than guzzling multiple litres of water all at once.
Another way to explain this (in a rather radical comparison) is when you go to the hospital and get an IV drip, it’s a DRIP … meaning that you get a slow but steady introduction of fluids. You never see anyone getting an IV drip at the speed of a gushing fire hose.
It is better to have frequent, small amounts of fluid … especially if the dehydration is severe. Too many fluids at once can induce stomach upset or vomiting.
The amount of water you need in a given day depends on the environment, your activity level, and what other food and drink you have consumed.
Break up that amount of water into a cup or so every hour, and you’ll have a good, healthy intake of water. Drinking too much water in a very short period of time can put too much strain on your eliminatory processes, so finding the right balance is important.
4. Avoid diuretic behaviours.
Don’t do anything that you know will dehydrate you. In addition to exercise, also watch out for alcohol and caffeine. You might feel groggy when you get to the office … avoid your usual The Hulk sized mugs of coffee and go for a large glass of water. You might be surprised at how much more effectively the water perks you up.
5. Make it easy on yourself.
It’s hard to stay hydrated when you don’t have water nearby. At the office it should be easier – and practically impossible to avoid if you have a water cooler on the premises.
If you don’t, speak to the powers-that-be and ask them to drop AquAid a line, so that you get your water cooler tout suite.
Chia!
by Fern Shaw | Jun 7, 2013 | Charity
As you may have gathered by now, I like to think of myself as a bit of a card carrying clown-arounder, not taking ‘stuff’ too seriously and always looking for the pun, the sarckie (that’s sarcasm to you) the silly, but ….. there are some days when all the malarking around is just supressed in an instant.
That would be today.
Here’s why:
I have always been rather shine-my-lapels to work with a company that not only has a work ethic but it sticks to it and even more so that AquAid has an ethic towards sustainable charities and sticks to that and, and, and … but, when I read something like this, honestly, I put paid to a week of good hydration habits in 10 minutes flat. Leaking eyes, super attractive puffy eye surrounds, weird keening noises, you know the drill.
Now before I short circuit my keyboard from all the blubbing, let me elaborate about this magical water producing letter:
- It is written by a 10 year pupil who attends a school in a rural region of Zimbabwe.
- The Elephant Pump was built by a team and people in the local community.
- The team will have been trained by The Africa Trust.
- The Africa Trust is one of the charities that AquAid supports.
- AquAid founded The Africa Trust together with Ian Thorpe, CEO of The Africa Trust and inventor of The Elephant Pump.
- Ian Thorpe developed the pump after having worked as a teacher in remote African rural areas and seeing how communities had to walk for many miles each day just to get drinking water.
So, all of this eventually led to this rather remarkable letter and I’m c for seriously delighted to say that there are more letters like this because there are more wells that that have been built.
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