This week, the focus is on something a lot of you are probably feeling right now: that flattened, foggy tiredness that extreme heat brings on, and that water alone doesn’t seem to fix. With heatwaves settling over large parts of the world, from Europe to the US to Asia, it felt like the right moment to look at what’s actually happening in your body when the heat hits, and why hydration alone isn’t the full answer.
What You’re Actually Losing
When you sweat, you’re not just losing water. You’re losing electrolytes – sodium, potassium, magnesium and a handful of other minerals your body relies on to keep muscles, nerves and hydration levels working properly. Replace only the water and leave the minerals behind, and you can end up feeling just as depleted, tired or foggy as before, sometimes worse, because the fluid balance inside your cells is still off.
This is why plain water sometimes doesn’t cut it for the fatigue of a genuinely hot day, and why sports drinks, for all their marketing, aren’t necessarily the answer either. Most are built around sugar and a couple of basic electrolytes, not the fuller range your body is actually losing.
I’ve actually had quite a few of you get in touch recently about muscle cramps, particularly at night or after being out in the heat during the day. That tracks with what’s happening physiologically: cramping is closely linked to electrolyte imbalances, especially low magnesium, sodium, and potassium, and it tends to spike whenever there’s a stretch of really hot weather. If that’s something you’ve been noticing too, it’s very much not just you.
For the cramps themselves, a topical magnesium option is worth having on hand. I’ve been using Ancient Magnesium Cool Relief with menthol through this heat, and there’s something genuinely nice about the cooling effect on top of the magnesium itself. It’s a small thing but it helps in the moment as well as after.
On the hottest days, it’s also worth thinking about mineral support alongside fluid intake. A broad-spectrum trace mineral supplement (the kind derived from natural mineral-rich sources, often in liquid or ionic form) is a sensible daily habit to have on hand through the duration of the heat. This works as a general top-up alongside your usual water and food, rather than a direct replacement for what’s lost through heavy sweating.
If you want to see the kind of formula I mean, Pure Concentrated Organic Minerals is one I’d point you towards.
Some people, particularly if you’re spending long hours outdoors or sweating heavily, may find a dedicated electrolyte product helpful too. For most of us, though, staying hydrated and eating well through the hot spell is enough, so don’t feel you need to go out and buy anything extra unless you’re genuinely struggling to keep up. And remember good pinch of sea or rock salt in your food or water is also a simple, low-cost way to help replace the sodium you lose through sweat.
Quick Bite: Foods That Help, Foods That Work Against You
A few adjustments to what’s on your plate can help too. Watermelon, cucumber and celery are all water-rich, which helps with fluid intake and are easy to digest. Digesting a heavy meal generates heat on its own, so lighter food are often better.
If you want a food source that’s genuinely doing double duty on the electrolyte side, potatoes (yes, really) and leafy greens carry meaningfully more potassium than most people expect. Cooked and cooled, potatoes also make a great base for a cold salad, and the cooling process boosts their resistant starch, which feeds your gut bacteria and helps produce butyrate, a compound your gut lining relies on.
Caffeine and alcohol are also worth limiting, both of which have a mild diuretic effect and work against everything above.
If salads are on the menu for the duration (and they should be), we’ve got 10 easy ways to make them more interesting than a sad bowl of iceberg lettuce, from grilled fruit to homemade dressings, in this week’s featured article. 10 Summer Salad Ideas to Elevate Your Greens
Whatever the temperature is where you are this week, a bit of extra attention to what’s going in alongside the water can make a real difference to how you feel by the end of the day.
