My Stanley

Spotlight on COVL

Say hello to COVL—a Miami-native and multidisciplinary artist.

4 Simple Car Camping Cocktail Recipes
4 Simple Car Camping Cocktail Recipes
Let’s start this whole story by just saying, I’m a beer guy. But, sometimes when I’m in the woods, especially traveling by foot or bicycle, cocktails are definitely the way to go. Lugging cans in and out of the woods is taxing and often times messy. When you bring a little hooch along, it’s a much different story.     Secondly, I like drinking whiskey neat, it’s about the only hard alcohol that I can tolerate/enjoy without anything else. So naturally my go-to is whiskey but I can get down with a little gin from time to time as well. Third, while car camping is a lot of fun, there’s a lot of things you have to haul with you. If you’re limited on space and/or on budget, you may want to opt for simple car camping cocktails. Don’t let the name fool you. Simple cocktails don’t to be a bore. You can make easy and affordable cocktails that are delicious to down, without taking up too much room in the cooler or breaking the bank. If you need a little adult beverage after a long day of mountain biking or trekking through the forest, here are 4 of my favorite “cocktails” to drink while camping. CHEAP CAR CAMPING COCKTAIL RECIPES The Good Ole Kentucky Mule. (Fancy Name For Whiskey Ginger IMO) Ingredients Ginger Beer Lime Whiskey (or bourbon) Ice In a traditional Kentucky Mule recipe, the copper mug will be the first ingredient. In my opinion, it seems a little bougie to reserve this drink for one vessel, especially since it doesn’t even keep the drink cold. I like to bring along the Stanley Adventure Happy Hour Cocktail Shaker Set for all my camping adventures. My favorite feature about this cocktail shaker is the removable reamer to juice your lime. I start by juicing, then add the ginger beer, and lastly the whiskey/bourbon to taste. No need to shake this one, I add ice to the cup or go sans ice. (I’m a fan of pre-chilling the shaker in the cooler) I find the pouring the drink back through the lid with the reamer still in the shaker helps by adding even more lime flavor and strains out the extra pulp. Voila, a fancy cocktail in the woods. The Gimlet Ingredients Simple Syrup Lime Gin Gimlets are simple and to the point. No need to beat around the bush late at night around the fire, just pour up a little gin mixed with simple syrup (in my case I just use sugar and a stick/knife to mix) and garnish with a lime. These are usually my go-to later in the evening, quick and easy. Whiskey & Skratch Ingredients Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix Whiskey This one might throw some of you for a loop but I dare you to try it. When you’re out in the wilderness it's tough to carry much. I discovered my “love” for this when I was on a 4-day bike-packing trip through remote Idaho. We had whiskey and we’d stopped for a few beers whenever refueling but in the middle of BFE between Stanley and McCall, there’s not much. That said, who in their right mind sits in a hot spring after 100 miles in the saddle without a bevy. So we opened up the whiskey. As it got colder that evening, a nice hot drink sounded right. Experimentation began. Whiskey and hot water? Meh. Whiskey and hot Skratch Labs? We were on to something. This trip we had apple cinnamon Skratch and sadly they seem to have done away with that flavor. Since then I’ve moved on to the orange flavor. It hits the spot just the same but if anyone reading this has a bulk stash of apple cinnamon, please call me. Next time you’re planning to be really out there, bring along some Skratch and Whiskey, you won't regret it. “Black Butte Amuse” Coffee And Black Butte Porter Ingredients Porter beer Coffee I told you at the beginning that I’m a beer guy. I’ve been known to have a little beer with breakfast when camping and this drink makes the perfect excuse to. Not only is it bomb, but it’ll help you get rid of those last few dark beers in the cooler/fridge that no one seems to pick first. I usually do 2 parts black butte and 1 part coffee. Deschutes recipe will call for cold brew but I enjoy this hot. If you bring along a Stein (the Go Stein with Ceramivac is my personal favorite) then you can fit a whole black butte and top it off with coffee. Try it your next morning in the woods, you’ll thank me later. These are my favorite simple car camping cocktail recipes. You can definitely get a whole lot fancier but these should facilitate good conversation by the fire for hours! Need more cocktail ideas, try one of our 3 refreshing whiskey cocktails for summer.  ABOUT GRAFTON I'm a #raddad, bicycle mechanic, photographer and lover of everything the Western US has to offer. You can find me on two wheels, skiing, or knee deep wading in the river. My hands are always greasy and I'll do whatever it takes to keep on playing in the dirt.
4 Simple Car Camping Cocktail Recipes
4 Simple Car Camping Cocktail Recipes
Let’s start this whole story by just saying, I’m a beer guy. But, sometimes when I’m in the woods, especially traveling by foot or bicycle, cocktails are definitely the way to go. Lugging cans in and out of the woods is taxing and often times messy. When you bring a little hooch along, it’s a much different story.     Secondly, I like drinking whiskey neat, it’s about the only hard alcohol that I can tolerate/enjoy without anything else. So naturally my go-to is whiskey but I can get down with a little gin from time to time as well. Third, while car camping is a lot of fun, there’s a lot of things you have to haul with you. If you’re limited on space and/or on budget, you may want to opt for simple car camping cocktails. Don’t let the name fool you. Simple cocktails don’t to be a bore. You can make easy and affordable cocktails that are delicious to down, without taking up too much room in the cooler or breaking the bank. If you need a little adult beverage after a long day of mountain biking or trekking through the forest, here are 4 of my favorite “cocktails” to drink while camping. CHEAP CAR CAMPING COCKTAIL RECIPES The Good Ole Kentucky Mule. (Fancy Name For Whiskey Ginger IMO) Ingredients Ginger Beer Lime Whiskey (or bourbon) Ice In a traditional Kentucky Mule recipe, the copper mug will be the first ingredient. In my opinion, it seems a little bougie to reserve this drink for one vessel, especially since it doesn’t even keep the drink cold. I like to bring along the Stanley Adventure Happy Hour Cocktail Shaker Set for all my camping adventures. My favorite feature about this cocktail shaker is the removable reamer to juice your lime. I start by juicing, then add the ginger beer, and lastly the whiskey/bourbon to taste. No need to shake this one, I add ice to the cup or go sans ice. (I’m a fan of pre-chilling the shaker in the cooler) I find the pouring the drink back through the lid with the reamer still in the shaker helps by adding even more lime flavor and strains out the extra pulp. Voila, a fancy cocktail in the woods. The Gimlet Ingredients Simple Syrup Lime Gin Gimlets are simple and to the point. No need to beat around the bush late at night around the fire, just pour up a little gin mixed with simple syrup (in my case I just use sugar and a stick/knife to mix) and garnish with a lime. These are usually my go-to later in the evening, quick and easy. Whiskey & Skratch Ingredients Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix Whiskey This one might throw some of you for a loop but I dare you to try it. When you’re out in the wilderness it's tough to carry much. I discovered my “love” for this when I was on a 4-day bike-packing trip through remote Idaho. We had whiskey and we’d stopped for a few beers whenever refueling but in the middle of BFE between Stanley and McCall, there’s not much. That said, who in their right mind sits in a hot spring after 100 miles in the saddle without a bevy. So we opened up the whiskey. As it got colder that evening, a nice hot drink sounded right. Experimentation began. Whiskey and hot water? Meh. Whiskey and hot Skratch Labs? We were on to something. This trip we had apple cinnamon Skratch and sadly they seem to have done away with that flavor. Since then I’ve moved on to the orange flavor. It hits the spot just the same but if anyone reading this has a bulk stash of apple cinnamon, please call me. Next time you’re planning to be really out there, bring along some Skratch and Whiskey, you won't regret it. “Black Butte Amuse” Coffee And Black Butte Porter Ingredients Porter beer Coffee I told you at the beginning that I’m a beer guy. I’ve been known to have a little beer with breakfast when camping and this drink makes the perfect excuse to. Not only is it bomb, but it’ll help you get rid of those last few dark beers in the cooler/fridge that no one seems to pick first. I usually do 2 parts black butte and 1 part coffee. Deschutes recipe will call for cold brew but I enjoy this hot. If you bring along a Stein (the Go Stein with Ceramivac is my personal favorite) then you can fit a whole black butte and top it off with coffee. Try it your next morning in the woods, you’ll thank me later. These are my favorite simple car camping cocktail recipes. You can definitely get a whole lot fancier but these should facilitate good conversation by the fire for hours! Need more cocktail ideas, try one of our 3 refreshing whiskey cocktails for summer.  ABOUT GRAFTON I'm a #raddad, bicycle mechanic, photographer and lover of everything the Western US has to offer. You can find me on two wheels, skiing, or knee deep wading in the river. My hands are always greasy and I'll do whatever it takes to keep on playing in the dirt.
EXPLORE RECIPES
8 Of The Best Drinks To Stay Hydrated (And 3 Of The Worst!)
8 Of The Best Drinks To Stay Hydrated (And 3 Of The Worst!)
12.22.22 Staying hydrated throughout the day should be one of the most important items on your everyday to-do list. And although you’re probably aware that water is the best choice of beverage, you might be wondering what else can you fill your water bottle with that will have the same effect. We get it, water can sometimes become pretty boring and plain, and that’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best (and some of the worst) drinks you can intake to quench your thirst. Water Obviously, plain water still needs to be on this list as it is the number one beverage that will keep you hydrated without adding any other ingredients to the table. Now, that being said, not every water is “created” equally and some might be better than others. Water is a natural resource coming from our incredible planet, but depending on where you bottle it, it can contain more or less health-boosting minerals. When bottled at the source, your water contains a plethora of trace minerals that naturally occur in the soil and rocks the water flows through. The further from the source, the fewer the number of minerals. Trace minerals found in water are important for your overall health and well-being as they help optimize your body systems, helping strengthen your immune function, balance out your hormones, maintain healthy pH levels, and even increase your energy production. Trace minerals like magnesium, zinc, phosphate, potassium and iron are involved in almost all processes in the human body and they’re incredibly important for the optimal function of all of your organs, muscles, and tissue. Many water brands artificially add minerals to their water to increase the overall levels of micronutrients, but since they’re synthetic and not natural, they are known to cause digestive issues in some people who are sensitive. So, when you can, choose naturally mineral-rich water that’s been bottled at the source. Tea Tea has been one of the most popular beverages for thousands of years. Eastern cultures have been using different forms of tea for a large variety of reasons, from spiritual and holistic to ceremonial. Some of these unique and rare teas are still considered to be extremely valuable and special, with prices climbing up to $600 000 per pound.  Whether you choose green, black, white, or herbal, drinking a cup of tea will definitely help keep you hydrated while adding a variety of powerful antioxidants to the mix. Tea is rich in a variety of different polyphenols which are known to help lower inflammation and fight free radicals and their oxidative damage. This is especially important when your immune system is not working in its optimal way and you need help to prevent infections and diseases. Lemonade (Pure) If all you need is a little bit of a change in taste, squeeze some lemon into your water or make yourself a proper lemonade. Just keep the sugar out of it. Lemons are rich in vitamin C and a variety of antioxidants, they help flush out toxins from your system and prevent kidney stones, and they even help increase your body’s iron absorption. You might have heard of the “morning lemon water” trend that’s become popular in recent years, and it’s due to its ability to jump start your metabolism and aid in digestion that more and more people seem to get on board with it every single day. Fruit-Infused Water Adding sliced fruit to your water bottle is a great way of keeping your tastebuds surprised and excited about maintaining your daily hydration levels. And by switching up your fruit choices, you can enrich your water with plenty of different vitamins and powerful fruit micronutrients that can further support your health. Oranges will add more vitamin C, berries will bring a bunch of different antioxidants, and watermelon will enrich your water with citrulline, an important amino acid that may help lower your blood pressure. The best way to infuse your water is literally by slicing whole fruit and letting it steep in your water bottle. Avoid buying artificially-made extracts and sugary syrups as they’re only adding to overall inflammation and even making you more dehydrated. Electrolytes Sometimes your body is in need of deeper hydration due to excessive sweating that’s causing precious minerals, specifically salt, to leave your body. That’s why electrolyte-rich drinks were created to help maintain a healthy electrolyte balance within your body. Unfortunately, plenty of these drinks also contain large amounts of sugars and other artificial additives, so even though they’re a good choice when you’re dehydrated, choose brands that are sugar-free and as natural as possible. Rehydration with  healthy electrolytes helps prevent muscle cramps, reduce headaches, improve your overall energy levels and mood, help increase oxygen transportation, and so much more. Coconut Water Naturally rich in electrolytes, coconut water is an excellent beverage of choice to keep you hydrated during the day. It’s also low in sugar and overall calories, as well as free of fats and cholesterol. Just make sure you’re getting the all-natural kind as there are plenty of coconut waters on the market that contains added sugars, artificial additives, and even high-fructose corn syrup. An extra bonus: if you can simply crack open a real coconut and drink straight from the source, that would be ideal. Smoothies Smoothies are another popular trend that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, and for good reason. Depending on the ingredients you use to make it, you can turn your smoothie into a real hydration powerhouse with superfoods that will do wonders for your immune system and overall health. On the other hand, you can also make a smoothie that will hinder your hydration goals, so don’t just choose the first smoothie recipe that you find on social media. Be smart about the ingredients you’re putting in your smoothie and choose only whole foods that will naturally help hydrate you. These include fruits like oranges, lemons, and watermelon, and vegetables like cucumber, celery, and zucchini. Avoid high-sugar fruits and added sugars, as well as any pre-made fruit extracts. Bone Broth Drinking bone broth might sound slightly weird and although some people really do drink it straight from their bottle, others ensure to cook with it and add to their daily hydration goals by sipping on a healthy soup. Whatever way you choose to add bone broth into your diet, you’re doing something extremely beneficial for the health of your digestive system and your gut microbiome. Bone broth is rich in collagen that promotes the health of your skin, joints, cartilage, and even eyesight. It’s also rich in a variety of nutrients and salts, helping you keep electrolytes and your pH at a healthy level. You can make your own by simply cooking animal bones for a long time (about 24 hours) or you can get the store-bought bone broth. Just make sure the formula is as clean as possible and avoid any artificial ingredients, additives, fillers, and added sugars. What Not To Drink When Thirsty In addition to talking about the best possible drink choices to count towards your everyday hydration goals for the day, it’s important to touch on those drinks that you’re best without. These include all artificial sodas and juices, sugary drinks, and of course, fast food milkshakes. Here are three popular beverages many people take daily which can really be harmful to your health, especially if taken in hopes they will quench your thirst. Coca-Cola (And Other Sodas) Plenty of people cannot imagine their day without a cup of this brown, sparkly drink, and although it may be delicious in taste, it’s completely made out of artificial ingredients and chemicals, not to mention way too much sugar. Coca-cola and other similar sodas are known for their potentially harmful effects on your body, from inflammation and digestive disruptions to increasing the risk of obesity. It’s also caffeinated, which furthermore doesn’t help with adequate hydration. And it seems like the sugar-free versions aren’t any better. Store Bought Juices Almost all store-bought fruit juices are full of added sugars, mostly due to increasing their shelf life. Have you ever looked at the expiration date of a store-bought juice and seen two years behind the date of production? The sugar and other added preservatives are mostly why. Stay away from these processed juices and rather invest in a good juicer, get real fruit and vegetables, and simply make your own! Milkshakes Unless you’re making your own milkshake at home, you’re adding way too many sugar-filled calories to your body. All fast-food places with milkshakes on their menu count hundreds of calories per serving and instead of counting towards your hydration, they’re depleting your body of precious minerals and vitamins by causing inflammation and increasing your blood sugar levels. If you’re a big fan of milkshakes, simply blend your milk (or plant-based “mylk”) of choice with fruit, cacao powder, vanilla, or any other real ingredient, and sweeten it with a healthy alternative to cane sugar like yacon syrup, monk fruit sweetener, stevia, or coconut sugar. That way you can enjoy your hydrating beverage with all the health benefits of its powerful ingredients. Final Thoughts Staying adequately hydrated throughout the day is crucial for your overall health and well-being, and choosing which drinks to include in your daily routine and which to stay away from is even more important. Choose smarter and enhance your health instead of putting it at risk of dehydration and inflammation.
A Guide To Drinking Water Before Bed
A Guide To Drinking Water Before Bed
12.22.22 Staying hydrated throughout the day is a must, but what about drinking water before bed? Are you one of those people who finds that they wake up super dehydrated and keeps a water bottle near their bedside table or are you better off with having your last sip for dinner? And is one better than the other? Let’s find out! Your Body During Sleep During sleep, your body performs all the most important repairing, recovering, and rebalancing processes that help you conserve and restore energy, improve muscle recovery, promote brain function and cognition, and even help strengthen your immune system. That’s why focusing on improving your sleeping quality is one of the most important aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Sleep deprivation can cause a plethora of negative effects in your body, from activating inflammation and making you more prone to infections and diseases, to causing anxiety, lack of energy, and inability to focus. What Drinking Water Before Bed Does to Your Body? While you sleep and your body undergoes all of these processes, it works in hibernation mode which still requires adequate hydration levels in your body in order to allow the optimal function of all organs and tissues. And during the night, you can’t replenish those lost fluids, which leads you to believe you need to hydrate right before bed. Research shows how your body seems to be a bit smarter than you think and actually kicks in your circadian rhythm for you to retain water if you’re actually so dehydrated that it struggles to perform all of its important tasks. This is why you sometimes might wake up puffier than you would want, especially after a late, sodium-rich dinner that absorbed all the water from your system. So, does that mean that you need to drink up before bed to ensure that doesn’t happen? And is dehydration during sleep that bad? Dehydration During Sleep Even though your body knows how to regulate its water levels during the night through water retention, going to sleep already dehydrated might cause a variety of sleep disruptions. You might wake up more often, experience muscle spasms and migraines, and overall be more restless, causing poor quality sleep and reduced REM phase. REM is an important sleep phase that helps with memory consolidation, emotional processing, and brain development. It also causes dreaming and the less time you spend in it per night, the lower the chances of quality recovery. And studies show how inadequate sleep might have a direct correlation to dehydration as your body might work harder during the day as it functions in overdrive. Over-Hydration During Sleep On the other hand, drinking too much water before bed might cause a more frequent need to urinate which again makes you wake up more often during the night. This biological need might sometimes be ignored if your body is extremely tired, but most of the time it will wake you up and cause you to get out of bed and take a trip to your bathroom. And while some people have no trouble falling back asleep, others struggle with nocturia, sometimes staying up for hours before finally dozing off. This contributes to sleep deprivation and overall poor sleep quality which has a detrimental effect on your overall health over time. Late Night Meals and Drinking Water So, if drinking too much before bed causes you to wake up more often and potentially disrupts your sleep, what happens if you’re used to late-night meals? Should you be drinking water after your dinner? Late-night meals are generally not recommended as they’re known to cause digestive discomfort that can further affect your sleep quality, and adding fluids to the table only makes your body work harder to digest your food before you’re off to dreamland. On the other hand, going hungry to bed might also cause sleep disruptions and negatively affect your sleep. So, what are you to do? How to Prevent Dehydration Before Bed Without Disrupting Your Sleep? The goal is to find that sweet spot of staying hydrated before you go to sleep, but avoiding drinking a whole bottle of water right before you get under the covers. How this looks for you and your daily schedule will depend on a variety of factors, from how you deal with hydration throughout the day to what type of foods you’ve included in your meal plan. Some of the best tips to prevent sleep disruptions either by muscle cramps caused by dehydration or frequent urination caused by drinking too much include: Stay hydrated throughout the day - probably the best tip you can follow to avoid going to sleep dehydrated is to drink plenty of water during the day. If you’re tracking your water intake, don’t leave the majority of your daily goal for after dinner. Rather space it out throughout the day so you’re always working with adequate water levels. Avoid late meals - if possible, try to schedule an earlier dinner and avoid late meals that will make you feel thirsty. Avoid late workouts - again, if possible, try to avoid working out before bed as it will undoubtedly make you intake more fluids than you normally would, causing you to wake up during the night. Improve your sleep quality - and not just for the sake of avoiding dehydration. Implementing good sleeping habits will help improve your overall health and longevity, help strengthen your immune system, and lower your risk of infections. Keep your bedroom temperature moderate - a hot sleeping environment may cause you to sweat and lose precious fluid and electrolytes. Avoid caffeine and alcohol before bed - since both are known to have a diuretic effect, they might cause you to wake up and run to the bathroom. Additionally, caffeine is a stimulant and might make it harder for you to fall asleep. Avoid sugar-filled drinks and food in the late part of your day - sugar is known to cause dehydration so it’s best if you stay away from it in the evening and especially right before bedtime. Hydrate in the morning - no matter how well-hydrated you were yesterday, start your day with a glass of water. Not only will it help mitigate any potential dehydration stages during the night, but it will also stimulate your digestive system, jumpstart your metabolism, and help you start your day on the right note. So, When To Drink Water Before Bed? Experts recommend reducing your water intake in the hour or two before you go to bed and slowly weaning out during the day. So, say you’re going to sleep at 10 pm. The ideal time to have your last meal would be around 7 pm, with the latest glass of water shortly after that. If you feel thirsty during the time between your dinner and sleep, it’s absolutely fine to sip some water and prevent dehydration. Just don’t chug a whole water bottle at once. So, When To Drink Water Before Bed? Experts recommend reducing your water intake in the hour or two before you go to bed and slowly weaning out during the day. So, say you’re going to sleep at 10 pm. The ideal time to have your last meal would be around 7 pm, with the latest glass of water shortly after that. If you feel thirsty during the time between your dinner and sleep, it’s absolutely fine to sip some water and prevent dehydration. Just don’t chug a whole water bottle at once. Final Thoughts Dehydration is a serious condition that shouldn’t be taken lightly, so whenever you experience even one of the above mentioned symptoms, take it as a sign to drink up!
8 Of The Best Drinks To Stay Hydrated (And 3 Of The Worst!)
8 Of The Best Drinks To Stay Hydrated (And 3 Of The Worst!)
12.22.22 Staying hydrated throughout the day should be one of the most important items on your everyday to-do list. And although you’re probably aware that water is the best choice of beverage, you might be wondering what else can you fill your water bottle with that will have the same effect. We get it, water can sometimes become pretty boring and plain, and that’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best (and some of the worst) drinks you can intake to quench your thirst. Water Obviously, plain water still needs to be on this list as it is the number one beverage that will keep you hydrated without adding any other ingredients to the table. Now, that being said, not every water is “created” equally and some might be better than others. Water is a natural resource coming from our incredible planet, but depending on where you bottle it, it can contain more or less health-boosting minerals. When bottled at the source, your water contains a plethora of trace minerals that naturally occur in the soil and rocks the water flows through. The further from the source, the fewer the number of minerals. Trace minerals found in water are important for your overall health and well-being as they help optimize your body systems, helping strengthen your immune function, balance out your hormones, maintain healthy pH levels, and even increase your energy production. Trace minerals like magnesium, zinc, phosphate, potassium and iron are involved in almost all processes in the human body and they’re incredibly important for the optimal function of all of your organs, muscles, and tissue. Many water brands artificially add minerals to their water to increase the overall levels of micronutrients, but since they’re synthetic and not natural, they are known to cause digestive issues in some people who are sensitive. So, when you can, choose naturally mineral-rich water that’s been bottled at the source. Tea Tea has been one of the most popular beverages for thousands of years. Eastern cultures have been using different forms of tea for a large variety of reasons, from spiritual and holistic to ceremonial. Some of these unique and rare teas are still considered to be extremely valuable and special, with prices climbing up to $600 000 per pound.  Whether you choose green, black, white, or herbal, drinking a cup of tea will definitely help keep you hydrated while adding a variety of powerful antioxidants to the mix. Tea is rich in a variety of different polyphenols which are known to help lower inflammation and fight free radicals and their oxidative damage. This is especially important when your immune system is not working in its optimal way and you need help to prevent infections and diseases. Lemonade (Pure) If all you need is a little bit of a change in taste, squeeze some lemon into your water or make yourself a proper lemonade. Just keep the sugar out of it. Lemons are rich in vitamin C and a variety of antioxidants, they help flush out toxins from your system and prevent kidney stones, and they even help increase your body’s iron absorption. You might have heard of the “morning lemon water” trend that’s become popular in recent years, and it’s due to its ability to jump start your metabolism and aid in digestion that more and more people seem to get on board with it every single day. Fruit-Infused Water Adding sliced fruit to your water bottle is a great way of keeping your tastebuds surprised and excited about maintaining your daily hydration levels. And by switching up your fruit choices, you can enrich your water with plenty of different vitamins and powerful fruit micronutrients that can further support your health. Oranges will add more vitamin C, berries will bring a bunch of different antioxidants, and watermelon will enrich your water with citrulline, an important amino acid that may help lower your blood pressure. The best way to infuse your water is literally by slicing whole fruit and letting it steep in your water bottle. Avoid buying artificially-made extracts and sugary syrups as they’re only adding to overall inflammation and even making you more dehydrated. Electrolytes Sometimes your body is in need of deeper hydration due to excessive sweating that’s causing precious minerals, specifically salt, to leave your body. That’s why electrolyte-rich drinks were created to help maintain a healthy electrolyte balance within your body. Unfortunately, plenty of these drinks also contain large amounts of sugars and other artificial additives, so even though they’re a good choice when you’re dehydrated, choose brands that are sugar-free and as natural as possible. Rehydration with  healthy electrolytes helps prevent muscle cramps, reduce headaches, improve your overall energy levels and mood, help increase oxygen transportation, and so much more. Coconut Water Naturally rich in electrolytes, coconut water is an excellent beverage of choice to keep you hydrated during the day. It’s also low in sugar and overall calories, as well as free of fats and cholesterol. Just make sure you’re getting the all-natural kind as there are plenty of coconut waters on the market that contains added sugars, artificial additives, and even high-fructose corn syrup. An extra bonus: if you can simply crack open a real coconut and drink straight from the source, that would be ideal. Smoothies Smoothies are another popular trend that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, and for good reason. Depending on the ingredients you use to make it, you can turn your smoothie into a real hydration powerhouse with superfoods that will do wonders for your immune system and overall health. On the other hand, you can also make a smoothie that will hinder your hydration goals, so don’t just choose the first smoothie recipe that you find on social media. Be smart about the ingredients you’re putting in your smoothie and choose only whole foods that will naturally help hydrate you. These include fruits like oranges, lemons, and watermelon, and vegetables like cucumber, celery, and zucchini. Avoid high-sugar fruits and added sugars, as well as any pre-made fruit extracts. Bone Broth Drinking bone broth might sound slightly weird and although some people really do drink it straight from their bottle, others ensure to cook with it and add to their daily hydration goals by sipping on a healthy soup. Whatever way you choose to add bone broth into your diet, you’re doing something extremely beneficial for the health of your digestive system and your gut microbiome. Bone broth is rich in collagen that promotes the health of your skin, joints, cartilage, and even eyesight. It’s also rich in a variety of nutrients and salts, helping you keep electrolytes and your pH at a healthy level. You can make your own by simply cooking animal bones for a long time (about 24 hours) or you can get the store-bought bone broth. Just make sure the formula is as clean as possible and avoid any artificial ingredients, additives, fillers, and added sugars. What Not To Drink When Thirsty In addition to talking about the best possible drink choices to count towards your everyday hydration goals for the day, it’s important to touch on those drinks that you’re best without. These include all artificial sodas and juices, sugary drinks, and of course, fast food milkshakes. Here are three popular beverages many people take daily which can really be harmful to your health, especially if taken in hopes they will quench your thirst. Coca-Cola (And Other Sodas) Plenty of people cannot imagine their day without a cup of this brown, sparkly drink, and although it may be delicious in taste, it’s completely made out of artificial ingredients and chemicals, not to mention way too much sugar. Coca-cola and other similar sodas are known for their potentially harmful effects on your body, from inflammation and digestive disruptions to increasing the risk of obesity. It’s also caffeinated, which furthermore doesn’t help with adequate hydration. And it seems like the sugar-free versions aren’t any better. Store Bought Juices Almost all store-bought fruit juices are full of added sugars, mostly due to increasing their shelf life. Have you ever looked at the expiration date of a store-bought juice and seen two years behind the date of production? The sugar and other added preservatives are mostly why. Stay away from these processed juices and rather invest in a good juicer, get real fruit and vegetables, and simply make your own! Milkshakes Unless you’re making your own milkshake at home, you’re adding way too many sugar-filled calories to your body. All fast-food places with milkshakes on their menu count hundreds of calories per serving and instead of counting towards your hydration, they’re depleting your body of precious minerals and vitamins by causing inflammation and increasing your blood sugar levels. If you’re a big fan of milkshakes, simply blend your milk (or plant-based “mylk”) of choice with fruit, cacao powder, vanilla, or any other real ingredient, and sweeten it with a healthy alternative to cane sugar like yacon syrup, monk fruit sweetener, stevia, or coconut sugar. That way you can enjoy your hydrating beverage with all the health benefits of its powerful ingredients. Final Thoughts Staying adequately hydrated throughout the day is crucial for your overall health and well-being, and choosing which drinks to include in your daily routine and which to stay away from is even more important. Choose smarter and enhance your health instead of putting it at risk of dehydration and inflammation.
A Guide To Drinking Water Before Bed
A Guide To Drinking Water Before Bed
12.22.22 Staying hydrated throughout the day is a must, but what about drinking water before bed? Are you one of those people who finds that they wake up super dehydrated and keeps a water bottle near their bedside table or are you better off with having your last sip for dinner? And is one better than the other? Let’s find out! Your Body During Sleep During sleep, your body performs all the most important repairing, recovering, and rebalancing processes that help you conserve and restore energy, improve muscle recovery, promote brain function and cognition, and even help strengthen your immune system. That’s why focusing on improving your sleeping quality is one of the most important aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Sleep deprivation can cause a plethora of negative effects in your body, from activating inflammation and making you more prone to infections and diseases, to causing anxiety, lack of energy, and inability to focus. What Drinking Water Before Bed Does to Your Body? While you sleep and your body undergoes all of these processes, it works in hibernation mode which still requires adequate hydration levels in your body in order to allow the optimal function of all organs and tissues. And during the night, you can’t replenish those lost fluids, which leads you to believe you need to hydrate right before bed. Research shows how your body seems to be a bit smarter than you think and actually kicks in your circadian rhythm for you to retain water if you’re actually so dehydrated that it struggles to perform all of its important tasks. This is why you sometimes might wake up puffier than you would want, especially after a late, sodium-rich dinner that absorbed all the water from your system. So, does that mean that you need to drink up before bed to ensure that doesn’t happen? And is dehydration during sleep that bad? Dehydration During Sleep Even though your body knows how to regulate its water levels during the night through water retention, going to sleep already dehydrated might cause a variety of sleep disruptions. You might wake up more often, experience muscle spasms and migraines, and overall be more restless, causing poor quality sleep and reduced REM phase. REM is an important sleep phase that helps with memory consolidation, emotional processing, and brain development. It also causes dreaming and the less time you spend in it per night, the lower the chances of quality recovery. And studies show how inadequate sleep might have a direct correlation to dehydration as your body might work harder during the day as it functions in overdrive. Over-Hydration During Sleep On the other hand, drinking too much water before bed might cause a more frequent need to urinate which again makes you wake up more often during the night. This biological need might sometimes be ignored if your body is extremely tired, but most of the time it will wake you up and cause you to get out of bed and take a trip to your bathroom. And while some people have no trouble falling back asleep, others struggle with nocturia, sometimes staying up for hours before finally dozing off. This contributes to sleep deprivation and overall poor sleep quality which has a detrimental effect on your overall health over time. Late Night Meals and Drinking Water So, if drinking too much before bed causes you to wake up more often and potentially disrupts your sleep, what happens if you’re used to late-night meals? Should you be drinking water after your dinner? Late-night meals are generally not recommended as they’re known to cause digestive discomfort that can further affect your sleep quality, and adding fluids to the table only makes your body work harder to digest your food before you’re off to dreamland. On the other hand, going hungry to bed might also cause sleep disruptions and negatively affect your sleep. So, what are you to do? How to Prevent Dehydration Before Bed Without Disrupting Your Sleep? The goal is to find that sweet spot of staying hydrated before you go to sleep, but avoiding drinking a whole bottle of water right before you get under the covers. How this looks for you and your daily schedule will depend on a variety of factors, from how you deal with hydration throughout the day to what type of foods you’ve included in your meal plan. Some of the best tips to prevent sleep disruptions either by muscle cramps caused by dehydration or frequent urination caused by drinking too much include: Stay hydrated throughout the day - probably the best tip you can follow to avoid going to sleep dehydrated is to drink plenty of water during the day. If you’re tracking your water intake, don’t leave the majority of your daily goal for after dinner. Rather space it out throughout the day so you’re always working with adequate water levels. Avoid late meals - if possible, try to schedule an earlier dinner and avoid late meals that will make you feel thirsty. Avoid late workouts - again, if possible, try to avoid working out before bed as it will undoubtedly make you intake more fluids than you normally would, causing you to wake up during the night. Improve your sleep quality - and not just for the sake of avoiding dehydration. Implementing good sleeping habits will help improve your overall health and longevity, help strengthen your immune system, and lower your risk of infections. Keep your bedroom temperature moderate - a hot sleeping environment may cause you to sweat and lose precious fluid and electrolytes. Avoid caffeine and alcohol before bed - since both are known to have a diuretic effect, they might cause you to wake up and run to the bathroom. Additionally, caffeine is a stimulant and might make it harder for you to fall asleep. Avoid sugar-filled drinks and food in the late part of your day - sugar is known to cause dehydration so it’s best if you stay away from it in the evening and especially right before bedtime. Hydrate in the morning - no matter how well-hydrated you were yesterday, start your day with a glass of water. Not only will it help mitigate any potential dehydration stages during the night, but it will also stimulate your digestive system, jumpstart your metabolism, and help you start your day on the right note. So, When To Drink Water Before Bed? Experts recommend reducing your water intake in the hour or two before you go to bed and slowly weaning out during the day. So, say you’re going to sleep at 10 pm. The ideal time to have your last meal would be around 7 pm, with the latest glass of water shortly after that. If you feel thirsty during the time between your dinner and sleep, it’s absolutely fine to sip some water and prevent dehydration. Just don’t chug a whole water bottle at once. So, When To Drink Water Before Bed? Experts recommend reducing your water intake in the hour or two before you go to bed and slowly weaning out during the day. So, say you’re going to sleep at 10 pm. The ideal time to have your last meal would be around 7 pm, with the latest glass of water shortly after that. If you feel thirsty during the time between your dinner and sleep, it’s absolutely fine to sip some water and prevent dehydration. Just don’t chug a whole water bottle at once. Final Thoughts Dehydration is a serious condition that shouldn’t be taken lightly, so whenever you experience even one of the above mentioned symptoms, take it as a sign to drink up!
EXPLORE HOW-TO