eNews

I want to open this month's newsletter by speaking to two important subjects.

Many of us have college kids who have recently arrived home for the summer. Many of them have fallen prey to the Freshmen 15 and have put on weight . . . or more weight. While there are many factors that can attribute to this circumstance, the biggest one is that college freshmen are away from home for the first time, away from the usual structure of home meal times, and with all the freedom to choose what they want to eat (or if they want to eat). Combine that with vigorous course work, less sleep and a more unstructured school day (vs the usual high school arrival and departure times), and it's no wonder these kids gain weight.

Here's a well written article by my daughter, Sabrina, a freshman at Dickinson College: 10 Ways To Undo The Freshman 15: A guide to undoing a year's worth of beer-chugging, late-night cramming, and an unholy diet which has been published on the Odyssey, an electronic platform for college students and millenials to make their voices heard on topics that matter most to them. Please give it a read, and share your thoughts there if inclined. Most especially, please . . . if you have a college student at home, share it with them.  They'll certainly relate to it, and they can also Follow Sabrina at Odyssey as she will be publishing weekly.

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As all our clients know, we constantly stress the need to drink water all day long, as well as a couple cups extra when working out or exercising. I don't want to get into all the detailed reasons why water is so important.  You can read my article Why Water? Because You Are What You Drink! for that.  However, as we are just a couple weeks away from the official first day of summer and the hot, sometimes scorching, weather that comes with it, I do want to remind everyone of one very, very important function of water in your body: It regulates your body temperature!

Too many people don't drink enough water when they are at the beach or the park or the pool during the summer. Why is this a problem? Because heat stroke (when the body can no longer sweat to cool itself while the body temperature is rising) results from prolonged exposure to high temperatures, usually in combination with dehydration . . . which leads to failure of the body's temperature control system.  The medical definition of heat stroke is a core body temperature greater than 105 degrees. Sounds high, right? But, it's very easy for that to happen when summer temperatures are in the high 90's and low 100's.

Fainting may be the first sign of heat stroke. If you're standing up when you happen to faint and fall, well obviously people will see that and come to your assistance quickly. But, if you were dehydrated before falling asleep on your beach chair or towel, and becoming more so while sleeping, your body temperature may become too high, and you'll faint or suffer heat stroke while you're asleep. Who'll notice? People won't realize how long you've been asleep until you're already in trouble: Some of the signs are uncontrolled muscle contractions, and muscle breakdown leading to the release of toxins in the blood which may cause cardiac arrhythmia and death. Believe it: People do die every year. Plus, if you initially fell asleep exposed to the sun, instead of under an umbrella for example, you will also suffer the consequences of a really terrible, excruciating painful sun burn.

So, please folks, make sure your drink of choice at the beach or pool is water.  Lots of it.  If you decide to take a nap, ask someone to poke you in an hour to wake you, and then drink water . . . and do the same for whoever you're with on those occasions, especially younger kids and older adults. And although it might seem weird or make you feel a little funny, if you happen to see someone lying still in the sun (especially if they're alone) for hours without moving, bring it to a lifeguard's attention and have them wake that person. Or do it yourself. They'll be grateful for your concern, as I know you would be if someone did that for you.

~ Lori Boxer

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Photos for (and links to) recipes at our site:
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