Guest Blog - Natasha - The Nourishing Road

Here's a very welcome addition to my Guest Blogs.  Anyone taking part in sport knows hydration is important and that applies before, during and after your exercise.  Myself, I feel a little ignorant on these matters and I hope to enlighten myself during the summer months and so here's a helpful first instalment.  It's written by our good family friend and fellow blogger Natasha.  click here  for her excellent blog.  You'll see it's all about  nutrition....

Exercise is fun.

Yeah, I love Footie Mama!

OK, so Charlie (my son) doesn't speak yet...but we totally know he LOVES football!

hummm...that's a lot of running about! Boy am I tired.

This way Dad...I need a drink.

Even a 12 month old knows dehydration isn't fun. When Doug asked me to write him a blog post, I thought I'd do a little research into hydration drinks.

Water. Lucozade. Milk. Juice. What should we be drinking?

Recently - although it's already starting to seem like a distant memory - we had some good weather. We relaxed in the garden, went to the beach and soaked up some serious vitamin D. Sun makes for a happy time, but almost from nowhere dehydration strikes. Ever had it? Feeling sick, faint, headaches, dry skin, dizziness... Well put it this way, it's not nice and actually very unnecessary with the right tonic.

Here's what I fixed for my family (all expect Charlie, who gets the benefit of natures perfect food): 

1 glass of a liquid. Now in the ideal word this would be a naturally fermented beverage. But we just had water, raw milk or even some freshly pressed juice.

1 teaspoon honey. Only add this if using water.

1 pinch of Real Salt (I buy Celtic salt or Himalayan rock salt, which contain electrolytes and all the wonderful minerals)

To get even more technically. Here is a homeopathic drink from the website: .http://homeopathyworks.wordpress.com/

• 16 pills of Bioplasma (from your health food store)

• 16 pills of Nat sulph 6x (from your health food store)

• ¼ cup acidophilus bifidus yogurt or kefir

•1/4-1/2 cup fresh lemon or lime juice

• Maple syrup or raw honey, to taste (not too sweet)

• 1 teaspoon Celtic salt

• ½ cup coconut milk (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a gallon container and fill to the top with ice water.  Shake well.

Mildly sour, with a hint of sweetness.  Remember to shake before each drink.

When we work hard, sunbathe or exercise we are using up sugars, electrolytes and liquids through perspiration. Therefore the drinks mentioned above, will be absorbs faster and remain in our systems much longer than plain water. Of course we might turn to Lucozade. But, made from synthetic and manufactured particles, Lucozade causes the body to work hard to restore hydration. This in turn will deplete the bodies reserves.[1]

I hope this is of some use (especially if the sun comes out to play again). Let me know if you have ever made your own sports drinks, and how you found them?

Source: 

1] Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon page 585