Is eating popsicles a good way to hydrate?

When the mercury rises, we tend to crave sugary drinks. These aren’t the best options for quenching thirst. In fact, they’re often very sweet and provide empty calories (that is to say calories that don’t provide nutrients and have little impact on satiety). Here’s an overview of some lesser-known tips for optimal hydration. 

What should you drink?

You’ve no doubt often heard the popular belief that you should drink eight glasses of water a day. In fact, the amount of fluids you need varies depending on your age, gender, and level of physical activity. For women, it’s recommended to drink eight glasses of fluids per day and for men, this number increases to twelve. As you may have noticed, we’re said “fluids” and not just water, as this is in fact a myth. Water, milk, vegetable drinks, juices, tea, coffee, etc. all add up. Water should still meet most of your fluid needs, and other fluids can supplement it. 

Swap sugary drinks for their home-made equivalents

Lemonade, iced tea and smoothies are popular thirst-quenchers. If you consume them, make your own to control the sugar content. For lemonade, use water, lemon juice, a drizzle of maple syrup and plenty of ice cubes. For iced tea, steep your favourite tea in a higher strength and add it to a pitcher of water filled with ice cubes. You can also freeze your tea infusion directly in ice cube trays. 

What could be better than hydrating with popsicles?

Frozen ice treats like popsicles are fun, delicious, and inexpensive. Are you a fan (or one in the making) of flavoured water that can be prepared simply by combining your favourite fruits and herbs with water? My winning combinations are mango + mint or even  pineapple + orange + ginger. Turn this into popsicles! Infuse your water the day before, then pour it into small individual moulds for guaranteed refreshment! To add a little more flavour, add ½ cup of fruit purée made from frozen fruit to 1 liter of flavoured water.

So are you drinking enough? 

The colour of your urine is the best indicator of whether you are drinking enough. In fact, its colour should be pale yellow, resembling that of lemonade. If it’s a brighter yellow, it means that you’ve not had enough drink. 

In conclusion, hydration is not something to be neglected, particularly during a heat wave. If you feel thirsty, it’s already a sign that you’re slightly dehydrated. Fatigue, irritability and headaches are other signs. Always have a bottle of water on hand so you can drink throughout your day and prevent dehydration. We hope that these original ideas will delight your taste buds!

Familiprix in collaboration with Hubert Cormier