Summer

Adding fresh fruit, protein powder and even salt to your water glass or bottle may help you stay hydrated longer.

Adding fresh fruit, protein powder and even salt to your water glass or bottle may help you stay hydrated longer.

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Adding fresh fruit, protein powder and even salt to your water glass or bottle may help you stay hydrated longer.

With warmer temperatures returning to Greater Cincinnati, people, including yourself, may be reaching for that water bottle more often to help stay hydrated.

But there's more to hydration than just drinking water: The amount of liquid you need in your body and the ways you can help liquid retain inside in a positive manner and help you stay hydrated longer.

WLWT spoke with Registered Dietitian Preeti Bansal Kshirsagar. She operates Integrative Nutrition and Healing in Hyde Park to help people better understand and implement specific healthier nutritional habits.

When it comes to hydration, Bansal Kshirsagar says both adults and children need to drink a minimum of half their body weight in ounces. For example, if someone weighs 120 pounds, they need to drink 60 ounces at the minimum. If someone is active, they need to drink even more.

Bansal Kshirsagar stressed the reality that if someone is feeling thirsty, then that person is already dehydrated.

"Your body's already telling you 'I am running low on hydration,'" Bansal Kshirsagar said on the facts of being thirsty. "Work proactively on it. Fill up your water bottles, fill up your Mason jars. I love using Mason jars and adding vegetables to them like cucumbers or berries."

Bansal Kshirsagar said people can also add protein powder, salt, fruit juice and maple syrup to their water to help people absorb nutrients and electrolytes and stay hydrated longer. People can also seek out certain seltzers and fruit drinks, but Bansal Kshirsagar stresses people need to watch sugar levels.

"So people think that hydration just means how much water we are putting into our body. Right. But there is a big second piece on retaining that hydration in our system and not just losing it," Bansal Kshirsagar said.

To learn more about staying hydrated or other nutritional questions, people can call Bansal Kshirsagar at 513-506-2868.