Help yourself stay hydrated in extremely hot weather
Sqwincher is an electrolyte supplement with sodium, potassium, and Vitamin C in a packet to add to 16-20 ounces of water. I first discovered it years ago because I work as a national park volunteer in Death Valley in the summer, and it was supplied to take out in the field to add to our drinking water. I always found it effective. You can tell when you are starting to lag due to electrolyte imbalance; no matter how much water you drink, if you don't replace the minerals lost from sweating, your brain function will deteriorate and you can get disoriented, fatigued, and eventually suffer loss of muscle control. A few sips of Sqwincher water would quickly perk me up. We are out and about the park in temperatures that can reach 125°, and there are rules about the time we can do light, moderate, or heavy work, time we must then be indoors or in an a/c vehicle, self- or buddy-monitoring for heat illness, and staying hydrated. But you can't stay hydrated on water alone, and it isn't healthy to just eat salt or stuff yourself with potato chips. This summer when I went back, there was no Sqwincher, so I ordered some from Amazon for myself and three other park volunteers. I'd like to have been able to afford it for everyone in my division. I ordered it on a Saturday and think it was shipped from Mississippi, and it was in my post office box in Death Valley, a very remote location, five days later. I didn't get reviews from everyone, but one colleague said he thought it really worked. He joked that it might be a placebo effect, but he felt it energized him when he was lagging. No, it isn't a placebo, but a quick shot of nutrients, just enough to keep you functioning. If it works for us in Death Valley, it will probably work wherever people have to exert themselves and lose a lot of essential minerals through their pores
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