The Dr. Josh Axe Show - How to Hydrate Your Brain, Boost Energy & End Brain Fog

Starting point is 00:00:00 If you think hydration is just about drinking water, then think again. In this episode, I'll break down everything you need to know and it's misunderstood in the world of hydration, including why electrolytes matter just as much as water. Also, there's electrolyte packs that many of you are using. Many of them are toxic and unhealthy for your body. I'll also be going through how salt is treasured for healing and for its healing properties. and that perfect ratio you need of sodium of potassium, magnesium and calcium in order to heal, in order to be hydrated, have energy, and experience a health breakthrough.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Also, you'll learn how to assess your own hydration needs and hear my personal story about what happened when I tried to go without salt during a 21-day fast. Welcome to the Dr. Joshak Show. This episode is brought to you by Celtic Seasol. Their salts are one of the highest in the world in terms of mineral content and contains over 80 trace minerals and elements needed by the body for hydration, recovery, and cognition. And they have a really unique type of salt that has gray clay, where it's mine from it,

Starting point is 00:01:25 actually gives it a gray coloring. And we know clay has numerous minerals that can also support detoxification, which is so important. You can hit the link in the description and use the promo code Axe10 at checkout to save 10% on any of their incredible products. Now, here's what you need to know about hydration. Hydration means water is available inside and outside of yourselves. And it's not just about your water intake.

Starting point is 00:01:55 It's about H2O plus electrolytes. And when you're dehydrated, your blood becomes more concentrated and your cell shrink. So imagine kind of like when you're in the water too long and you start to get those, you know, kind of prunes on your, you your fingers start to look like prunes. Basically, your cells also become dehydrated and they shrink. And your body can't regulate your temperature or deliver nutrients or detoxify properly when you're dehydrated. And listen to the stat. 75% of people today are dehydrated.

Starting point is 00:02:32 75. So three out of every four of you is walking around dehydrated. So you're not bringing nutrients into your cell as well. you're not detoxifying as well. You can't regulate your body temperature as well. Maybe you're too hot all the time or too cold all the time. These are some of the side effects of dehydration. And even a 1 to 2% dehydration can impair your memory and focus.

Starting point is 00:02:56 Now, here's another thing to note. 75% of your body is made up of water. Your brain is around 75% water as well, along with cholesterol and fats and some other things there. but generally your body is predominantly water. And dehydration actually shrinks your brain on MRI scans. Even mild dehydration reduces brain volume, which then impacts your focus and your short-term memory. Now, here are some of the biggest warning signs that you are chronically dehydrated. Number one, are headaches.

Starting point is 00:03:30 If you get headaches, if you're, one, have a headache at all or two on a regular basis. It can mean you're dehydrated. Think about it if you've ever had a hangover. you drink too much alcohol or drink too much sugar in the evening, you start to get that headache. Almost all of those symptoms are due to dehydration of headaches. Number two, muscle cramps. That can be potassium most commonly after that magnesium is common, but muscle cramping. Constipation is a warning sign your body is chronically dehydrated.

Starting point is 00:03:58 Brain fog, fatigue in low energy, weakness, irritability, also low blood pressure or dizzyness. By the way, I also want to mention even high blood pressure is a form of overhydration. So that's the thing where if your body gets too much salt and holds too much water, that actually will have some side effects as well. So you don't actually want to be over hydrated either. You want to find that perfect balance. This is a few years ago. I did a 21-day fast.

Starting point is 00:04:29 In fact, a few years ago, this is about 12, 13 years ago. I did a 21-day Daniel fast. and the only thing I ate was vegetables, fruits, and nuts, okay, for 21 days. And I had zero salt, okay? Now, looking back, I don't think it was the right way to do the Daniel fast. I would have done it differently. And again, the reason I did it is I wanted to honor God with my body. I wanted to live and model the prophet Daniel in the Bible.

Starting point is 00:05:03 And again, I just wanted to honor God with my body. And I wanted to see what it was like to, and I was feeling led to do it spiritually. And I ended up or some sort of fast. And so I ended up doing a really long fast. By the way, I lost 20 pounds. 20 pounds I really didn't need to lose. And I put it back on over the course of the next month. It didn't take me too long.

Starting point is 00:05:22 But overall, lost a lot of weight. But I want to say this, I had no salt. And one of the things I noticed was nothing tasted good. I mean, have you ever tried to eat just an almond? or vegetables with no salt, it's not very good. Versus if you add salt to it, I mean, it really enhances all flavors. And when I was doing this fast, I will tell you, I felt weak. I felt lightheaded.

Starting point is 00:05:49 I felt a little bit moody. I also felt, though, during the fast, you know, I experienced spiritual breakthrough, a deeper. Really, the thing I feel like I noticed the most was a dependency on God. Because I didn't have this sustenance of the food, I felt like I had to have a greater dependency on God. By the way, this Daniel Fast, I also did intermittent fasting with it. So I only ate during about a four to eight hour window, didn't eat breakfast. And so this was a really serious 21 day fast. And I think there were some benefits.

Starting point is 00:06:22 But going back, I wouldn't do it with no salt. Okay. I do think that salt has, or I would have been more conscious of the foods I ate, probably doing more celery. and some things that have some natural salt and potassium to make sure I was hydrated. But again, I had these major symptoms just sort of going on because I was dehydrated. Now, once I reintroduced a quality salt, specifically actually at the time, I was using two types of salt, mostly Celtic sea salt. I did a little bit of this pink cave salt as well.

Starting point is 00:06:55 But when I started doing this salt again, my energy and hydration improved drastically. I mean, I really noticed a difference. And it made me realize when it wasn't just food because I was eating food. The salt was one of the things that I was craving the most when I was doing this, Daniel Fast. And so if you are having any of the symptoms we talked about, you really need to make sure that you're getting plenty of sodium. It could be salt, but even more so that you're getting the right electrolytes because too much sodium without not enough potassium leads to high blood pressure. It leads to swelling. It leads to inflammation.

Starting point is 00:07:29 So here's how this works. sodium brings water and fluid and nutrients. It brings things into the cell. And potassium flushes things out of your cell. It's kind of like this sodium potassium pump. One pumps it in, one pumps it out. If you're just doing lots of sodium all the time with no potassium, you end up having, again, you'll just hold water weight, okay?

Starting point is 00:07:52 And you'll feel lethargic, not well. You'll feel somewhat inflamed. If you only do too much potassium, it actually does lead to some dehydrate. Okay, because you're just bodies flushing water out all the time. You have to have both of those, the two most important, along with the other electrolytes to support cellular function for you to be truly hydrated. According to studies, as I mentioned earlier, 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. And that's according to actually a study out of the Institute of Medicine. And most people don't even realize that they're dehydrated. Okay. And dehydration, is common. Not because people don't drink water. Okay. Now, one, people don't drink enough water. Okay. And people think that when they're drinking coffee and soda,

Starting point is 00:08:42 they count that. I mean, there are some people I've had patience when I'm like, what did you drink today? That's like, well, I woke up and I had a coffee, and then I had another coffee, and then I might have had a soda, and then I had another coffee, and maybe I had a glass of water, maybe even two, okay? coffee and soda those are dehydrating caffeine causes you to excrete more water sugar causes you to

Starting point is 00:09:08 get rid of more water so those are actually dehydrating so so many people are not getting enough water but just as much as that people are not getting enough electrolytes and you predominantly get electrolytes from fruits vegetables bone broth that's where you're getting those and then and then the right very very high quality salt like pink salt or Celtic sea salt. Okay, those sort of salts from the salt and from the earth are really hydrating, and we need those. So I'm going to walk you through the 10 main reasons why people are chronically dehydrated, okay? And then I'm going to dive into the top sources of electrolytes in the top 10 most hydrating foods list.

Starting point is 00:09:52 And I'm wondering if you can guess what those top 10 are, or at least the top couplin ranking order. I'll dive into those, though. Okay, number one reason why people are chronically dehydrated is they're drinking water without getting enough electrolytes in their diet. Okay, listen, there are a lot of benefits of drinking water and we need to do that. But again, if you're not eating fruits, if you're not eating vegetables, if you're not eating bone broth and some of these other sources or using salt, not iodized, but actual like sea salt on your food, you're going to be dehydrated. That's the number one reason why most people are chronically dehydrated, is drinking water without getting enough electrolytes in their diet. And I'll share more on that in just a minute. Number two, high caffeine and alcohol intake.

Starting point is 00:10:37 Now, alcohol is the most dehydrating of any drink you could drink. Okay, alcohol is number one, followed by coffee and energy drinks in certain types of tea like a dandelion tea. that's also very dehydrating. Certain herbs cause you to extrete fluids, which can be good, but not if you're not hydrating along with it. And people who drink several caffeinated or alcoholic beverages a day can lose more water than they're taking in very, very easily. Okay.

Starting point is 00:11:10 Number three, number three reason why people are chronically dehydrated is just low salt. Eating a diet where you're not getting quality salt. Ironically, people eating clean, often cut out processed foods, but they're not replacing the salt in their diet. And so sodium helps the body retain water, helps your body regulate blood pressure, support nerve function. And a low salt diet plus sweating equals fat hydration. Listen, you can go pretty low salt if you're not sweating at all.

Starting point is 00:11:40 And if you're in just a completely comfortable environment. But if you're sweating at all or you're in the heat or in the cold, your body actually uses up more electrolytes, so you need more of them. Number four reason why people are chronically dehydrated is sweat loss from activity or heat. Sweating, such as from exercise infrared saunas, hot weather or manual labor increases fluid and electrolyte loss through sweat. Listen, you can lose up to 1.5 liters of fluid per hour of exercise in the heat. Think about that. 1.5 fluid lead. 1.5 liters.

Starting point is 00:12:19 I mean, that that's how much water. Think about like the big member of the two-liter sort of things of like of soda. That's about how much you can lose in an hour and a half. Okay. So we're talking about a lot there. And so you need to make sure you replace at least that amount. Here's another thing I want to mention that might surprise you. Sweat isn't just water.

Starting point is 00:12:41 You lose roughly 400 to 1,200 milligrams of sodium per liter of sweat, depending on how salty your sweat is and how hard you're exercising. According to the Mayo Clinic, because you lose sodium through sweat, drinking too much water during endurance activities, such as marathons and triathlons, can also dilute the sodium content in your blood. Do you know there are cases of people who went out and did marathons or triathlons, and they only drank water and they died? And this condition is actually called hyponetremia.

Starting point is 00:13:16 Natremia is for sodium. and where you don't have enough, and it can actually kill you. So you really want to make sure you're properly hydrated. And that's the thing about that, losing a thousand milligrams of sodium per liter of sweat, okay? I used to be on a triathlon team back in college. And then I all throughout my 20s, really, 19 through 29.

Starting point is 00:13:39 For 10 years, I competed in a lot of triathlons. I did a couple half-ironman triathlons and trained a lot. And looking back, the thing I didn't know at the time that actually hurt me the most was I didn't consume enough sodium. I was a really profuse sweater. And in working out in Kentucky, in Tennessee, in Florida, where I was living at the time, it was a very hot environment, very human environment. And I was sweating a lot. And I would always get cramping in my quads and my calves. And I didn't realize that at the time, but I was not getting enough sodium, not even close.

Starting point is 00:14:15 And so I would cramp at the end of races. And if I knew what I knew now, I probably would have raced a lot better, not cramped at the end. But again, you lose a lot more than you think if you're sweating profusely. All right. Number five, modern indoor lifestyles. Did you know that dry indoor air from air conditioning or heating systems increases water loss through your skin and breath, especially in colder or overly air-conditioned environments? This is why you might wake up thirsty or with a dry, mouth in the middle of the night or dry skin.

Starting point is 00:14:47 Even without sweating, you can lose moisture just by breathing and being in a dry environment. This happens in the winter. So some people get chronically dehydrated in the winter because of the air conditioning and the dry air together or the heat as well can cause it. Number six, reason why people are chronically dehydrated, not eating enough hydrating foods. The average American diet is made up of ultra processed foods with very little water content and electrolytes. But Whole Foods, especially fruits and vegetables and bone broth, can contain up to 90 to 95% water helping meet daily hydration needs. So again, if you want to stay hydrated,

Starting point is 00:15:29 lots of fruits, lots of vegetables, lots of things like bone broth that are high in these electrolyte minerals. Number seven, high stress levels. Stress activates your sympathetic nerve system, putting you in a flight or fight response, which raises stress hormones like cortisol increasing your heart rate, your respiration, and your perspiration leading to fluid loss. Stress hormones also affect your kidney function, altering how your body retains and secretes fluids and electrolytes. So stress causes you to lose more water electrolytes. Number eight reason people are chronically dehydrated is illness.

Starting point is 00:16:08 Fever, vomiting, diarrhea, any type of flu, all cause rapid fluid loss and electrolyte depletion. A fever alone can cause an additional 200 to 500 milliliters of water loss per day due to high body temperatures and increased fluid demands. And a single episode of diarrhea can result in a loss of three plus grams of sodium, which is more than a full teaspoon of salt. That's around 2,300 milligrams of sodium from diarrhea and then vomiting as well. So dehydration from diarrhea is actually a leading cost of death of children, world. worldwide, mostly in third world countries. But dehydration in children is a, is a major risk factor for kids. You know, I remember my wife Chelsea, she was, she got the flu while pregnant. This was, oh, a few years ago. And I had somebody come to the house and get her an IV because,

Starting point is 00:17:06 because, of course, we were concerned for her, concerned for the baby. Baby's fine and healthy and well, but this is our daughter, Aelin, which has actually happened with Arwen as well. And so I took it seriously. I did everything I could to make sure she was very, very hydrated when she got the flu. And that's something we try and do. You know, there's all of these great IV places you can go and get an IV if you're losing fluids. Or, again, if some of these really sick, have them come to your home. They have these mobile IVs.

Starting point is 00:17:34 And it's a great idea if somebody is sick and they're throwing up or have diarrhea, making sure that they stay very, very hydrated. But again, that's the fastest way to become dehydrated outside of exercising in major heat for hours without drinking properly is via diarrhea and vomiting with typically different types of illnesses. Number nine, reason why people are chronically dehydrated is not drinking enough water. I mean, again, electrolytes are important, but you do need to drink enough water. As I mentioned earlier, coffee and more coffee and energy drinks and alcohol, those don't count, okay? Those require you to drink more water. So drinking more clean water and making sure it's clean water, reverse osmosis, spring water, high quality filtered water is important as well.

Starting point is 00:18:34 And a lot of people ignore early signs of thirst, okay? If you're feeling lethargic, if you are sometimes even having hunger and cravings is due to dehydration. And then you just go and eat more food and sometimes don't eat the right food. And that's not helping either. So again, if you're tired, if you're thirsty, if you feel lethargic, if you're feeling dry at all, you need to be drinking more water plus electrolytes. Number 10, older age. This is a reason why people are chronically dehyg. and older adults, the thirst mechanism declines.

Starting point is 00:19:08 This makes dehydration a leading cause of hospitalization for people over 65. Did you hear that? The leading cause, the number one cause of people being hospitalized over 65 years of age is dehydration. Adults 60 and older are at greater risk for dehydration for reasons, including natural drops and thirst levels and higher intake of diuretics, especially medications that can cause fluid loss. Now, when it comes to electrolytes, I've talked about a couple of them that are very important, but I want to cover all of them. When it comes to being hydrated, you need electrolytes, which, by the way, are minerals that carry an electrical charge. That's why they're called electro. Electrolights. They carry an electrical charge. They carry a type of energy. And they include sodium, potassium, calcium, calcium, chloride, and phosphate.

Starting point is 00:20:00 And water needs these minerals to get inside your cells. And without these electrolytes, water cannot get inside your cells. So you'll just pee it out. And your cells won't have what it needs to function properly. Now, here are a few other reasons why your body really needs electrolytes. Okay. We talked about cellular health. Also, regulating nerve impulses.

Starting point is 00:20:22 So messages from your brain to your organs. Muscle function. This is why you can get cramping if you're low. pH levels. and cellular hydration. Potassium is the second most abundant electrolyte in your body. And about 98% of Americans don't get enough. Think about that.

Starting point is 00:20:42 98% of Americans don't get enough potassium, mostly due to low fruit and vegetable intake, plus they consume too much sodium, which imbalances that potassium ratio. So it's important to know that of all the electrolytes you're deficient in, potassium is the one we're most efficient in. But when you consume these electrolytes, they really should be consumed together

Starting point is 00:21:06 because they work together to support the functioning of your body. And it's important to note that when you're taking sodium or salt, that it's not just sodium, that that sodium is balanced out with potassium and the other minerals. Now, I want to walk you through my top sources of electrolytes in each of these categories, okay? If you need more sodium, but a sodium that's balanced with many other minerals, here's some good options. Number one is sea salt, again, like Celtic sea salt and other forms of sea salt and red salt, but you want to do sea salt.

Starting point is 00:21:39 In addition to that, olives, miso, fermented and pickled foods like pickles, pickles, pickles, sourcrowk, kimchi. These are great sources of sodium for you, okay? And even certain vegetables, actually, celery has a good amount of sodium. Okay, so celery is also great. Number two, potassium. The best potassium-rich foods are going to be,

Starting point is 00:22:01 number one, watermelon. Watermelon is like my favorite hydrating food. It's absolutely incredible. After that, coconut water, potatoes, specifically sweet potatoes, bananas and avocados are great options. Number three, magnesium, green leafy vegetables, especially spinach that's steamed, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate. And then from calcium, sardines, sesame tahini, yogurt, leafy greens as well, like spinach and kale are good options.

Starting point is 00:22:31 These are some very, very electrolyte supporting foods. And I would also mention under sodium, I would add bone broth in there, doing a good quality bone broth is a great option. But overall, again, I think for most people, you want to focus. on getting all of these different types of foods to support your body's hydration. It's interesting how God created the earth and how we put certain foods in certain areas of the world that allow people to stay more hydrated. Think about this. If you go to the Caribbean Islands, which my wife and I lived in Puerto Rico for a short time, I've spent a lot of time in Florida, my wife and I did our honeymoon in St. Lucia, we've been to Grand Cayman Islands. We've been to

Starting point is 00:23:11 a lot of places in Caribbean. You know the fruits that grow, they're the most tropical fruits. It's pineapple, it's coconut, it's watermelon, it's mango, bananas, right? These grow in these tropical climates. What do all of those fruits have in common? They're all very, very high in potassium. You know what else too? All of those islands are by the sea. You have natural sea salt washing up on the shores. It's in things like seaweed. It's on the fish they eat. So they've got the, you know, in those environments, there's more sun. There's more sweating, there's more humidity, there's more time outside. And God put very specific foods that are high in potassium, and you have this great source of the ocean, of all of this salt

Starting point is 00:23:57 that they're even breathing in on a regular basis, that creates a more hydrating environment if they're living in tune with nature, what grows from the earth, being around the ocean. And so it's pretty incredible when you think about that, that those fruits tend to be the highest in potassium that are right there in areas like the Caribbean and they grow in those warmer more tropical environments. I just wanted to mention that. I just think it's pretty incredible how these different environments really are tailored towards supporting our own unique genetics and epigenetics. Now, I want to walk you through my top 10 most hydrating foods list, and it's important to note that up to 20% of your daily water intake comes from food,

Starting point is 00:24:42 including fruits and vegetables. And fruits and vegetables have a high water content plus many minerals such as potassium and magnesium. And here are the top hydrating foods. Number one, my favorite watermelon. It contains 92% water plus lycopene, vitamin C, and loads of potassium. Cucumbers are 95% water. Lettuce is 96% water.

Starting point is 00:25:09 Celery is 95% water. percent water plus sodium and potassium strawberries and oranges are 91 percent water zucchini is 94 percent water tomatoes are 94 percent water and again all of these also have electrolytes coconut water is even higher than that it's very very high um this contains electrolytes butasium and magnesium now it doesn't have a lot of sodium uh as as as a lot of these don't so if you need to be create your own natural sports drink you could take coconut water or watermelon water and add just a quarter teaspoon of a salt in there, like a Celtic sea salt or a thin, fine, fine salt of some sort. Here's another one, sweet potatoes, loaded with potassium and electrolytes.

Starting point is 00:25:54 Avocados are one of the richest sources of potassium and magnesium. And then bone broth also is excellent. It has some naturally occurring potassium and some sodium there as well. It's like a mineral, you know, like a mineral fluid there when we're talking about bone broth. So those are the 10 most hydrating foods you can be eating on a regular basis. And again, it's all fruits, vegetables, and bone broth. So you want to eat as many of these hydrating foods as possible to support hydration. Now, I want to mention in addition that some of those foods on that list like watermelon and coconut, bananas, a lot of those fruits, they're also very cooling. So think about this as well. Potassium tends to, electrolytes, tends to be a little bit more cooling to your body or can be. And so in the middle of

Starting point is 00:26:38 winter, you don't want to eat a lot of these foods or you want to eat them. warm. For instance, you don't want to do a lot of coconut water and watermelon in the winter, or if you have IBSD, or your body is cold, has a cold body temperature, hypothyroidism, because they'll bring your body temperature down, or you need to eat them with other things. For instance, celery is great. And if you warm it up and eat it as part of a soup, like a chicken vegetable soup and there's celery in there, then it's absolutely fine doing that way. Or add ginger to it. You know, ginger can be warming to kind of combat some of that cooling for some people there in terms of also balancing out that body temperature. I want to talk about

Starting point is 00:27:15 keeping sodium levels balance. I mean, there's a lot of, here's the whole thing. It all comes down to balance. You want sodium. You want potassium. You want water. You want them in the right doses. And I've seen this happen. By the way, there's a study published on this. It was a 2023 review that found that two little sodium can increase the risk of heart failure in older older adults and those with high activity level. So again, balance is key. Here's what the study said. This is from the American College of Cardiology. It says for people with heart failure, restricting dietary sodium intake to levels below the standard recommended maximum dose of 2.3 grams per day does not bring additional benefits and may increase the risk of death. Researchers have found that patients following a diet

Starting point is 00:27:59 with sodium intake target below 2.5 grams per day were 80% more likely to die than those with a diet that was on target with about 2.5 grams or more per day. So as that study states, and, you know, the Bible talks about this with something like honey, eat it, just not too much, right? Use some sea salt, just not too much, right? So you want to use it. And by the way, I've seen it on social media influencers saying, you know, use table, teaspoon after teaspoon after teaspoon, that's going to be too much likely, okay?

Starting point is 00:28:33 You want to find the balance there. Now, again, if you're a crossfitter and you're working out outside, or you're a marathon runner or you're an endurance athlete like a triathlet and you're sweating a lot of you're going to eat a lot of sodium okay but that's not most of us so you want to find that balance now i want to say this salt is so important for your health that on a historical note salt was once so valuable that roman soldiers were paid in it that's where the word salary comes from did you know that salary comes from the latin word salarium which means salt money Okay. So salt was so valuable that actually it was used financially. Like imagine you have a big bag of gold, right? Or a big bag of coins. Well, what was just as valuable in those days is a big bag of salt. Okay. And so salary actually literally means salt money. Okay. Because it's that valuable. You know, one of my, my best friends and my co-author of the Bibliodia, the book that's all about the healing secrets of the Bible, you know, Jordan Rubin and I discuss in a book, you know,

Starting point is 00:29:37 we wrote called the Biblio Diet. You can see it right there. This is a new book we wrote, and we talk about salt in there. I mean, the Bible is constantly using references like, we are the salt of the earth. And if the salt loses its saltiness, right? It salt was used in those times for preservation. It was used for money. It was used for bringing out flavor. It was used for health, and it had great value. Salt was even used as medicine for wounds and other things. And so salt is very, very important in the Bible. It's referenced many times. And one of the things we get into in our book, The Bibliob Diet, we talk about how to use salt. We talk about salt in the Bible along with honey. We talk about red meat. We talk about bread. We talk about how to eat a biblical

Starting point is 00:30:24 diet in order to heal essential oils, herbs, and all those things. And so it's been incredibly popular. And so if you want to check it out, the book's called The Biblio Diet. You can go to Amazon.com and order the book today. But again, we really dive into in that book the healing benefits of salt and what Jesus and a lot of the prophets in the Bible and what God says

Starting point is 00:30:47 about salt as well. And I'll put a link here into the description where if you want to pre-order now or if you're watching this later, you can order today. The book, we're just getting rave reviews from people. I gave it to Kirk Cameron here recently. He just texted me. He loved it. Craig Groschelle. I'm going on Joyce Myers tomorrow

Starting point is 00:31:02 and going to share some of this with her as well. all love the book. I hope you will too. So here's the thing to note as I talked about. When you're using sodium, use a little bit. Again, just think about this. You just sprinkle it on. Okay, you're just using a few dashes here and there. And if you're doing that with lunch and dinner, for the most part, you're going to be good. Now, if you're exercising strenuously and you're sweating in your hot environment, you do need some extra. And I want to walk you through sort of the amount of salt you lose per day or you need per day based on activity level. And also the ratio if you're using those electrolyte packs. Okay. So sodium needs based on activity level. If you're

Starting point is 00:31:41 sedentary and you're not moving a lot, you need around 1,200 to 200 milligrams of sodium per day, which is about two-thirds to one teaspoon of salt. Now, a lot of that you might already have in the food you're eating. Okay. If you're eating fast food, you're getting all that in one serving, okay, and more. So, but again, if you're sedentary and you're not exercising, you're, you're, only need about a teaspoon a day total of salt for most people. Okay. If you're lightly active, let's say you go to the gym for 30 minutes and you're not sweating, maybe you're just walking on the treadmill doing some light weights, something like that. You need about one to one and a half teaspoons of salt a day. If you're active in sweating, okay, your workouts, you're sweating,

Starting point is 00:32:24 you're jogging, you're working out pretty good. You need to do about one and a half to, you know, two teaspoons a day. Okay. Sometimes a little bit more. but probably one and a half to two teaspoons. And if you're in a high heat environment and you're sweating a lot and you're exercising, you're doing an infrared sauna and sweating a lot. You are, again, working out outside. You need typically two to four teaspoons of salt. And a day around 4,600 milligrams of salt per day in height, heat environments with active sweating.

Starting point is 00:32:59 Okay. So that's typically what you need. Now, if you ever buy those electrolyte packs, by the way, I want to mention those as well. Some of them are not ideal. The most popular brand, it has like four letters in it. It's a five to one ratio. The sodium is synthetic, by the way. It's not a whole food based natural sodium from a natural source.

Starting point is 00:33:19 And it's not something I recommend. Now, if you have no other option and you're taking that electrolyte powder, you should only take a ratio of a five to one if you are sweating profusely buckets. okay but I don't recommend that electrolyte drink it's probably the most popular brand and are many of the most popular brands they're very high ratios of like five sodium to one potassium remember what I said earlier 98% of people are potassium deficient and if you're consuming too much sodium then then that's going to cause an imbalance as well you're going to hold water and not feel as well so so here's what I would say you could do a five to one ratio one of those really high dose packs if you are training for marathons or triathons or doing two hour, three hour crossfit today or you're outside.

Starting point is 00:34:05 And you're just sweating a lot. Okay. If that's not you, you're probably better off with a two to one or a one to one ratio of sodium. Okay. What I personally take most of the time is a one to one ratio. Now, in my hard days, I might just add some more sea salt onto my food. Okay.

Starting point is 00:34:21 But I do a one to one packet because when I work out, I sweat some, but I'm not typically sweating profusely except for maybe, one day a week. Okay. And with that, I just take my one electrolyte pack, which is a one-to-one ratio. And by the way, the electrolyte that I take, it has celery juice in it. It has watermelon juice. It has coconut water. It has pomegranate. It has all of these naturally occurring electrolytes and even Celtic. It has like these natural sea salts in it. And it's all natural. It's all food based. Most of the electrolyte powders you're taking today have art of official sweeteners, they have dyes, they have fillers, they have this high synthetic amounts

Starting point is 00:35:05 of sodium. That's not what you want. So look for a food-based electrolyte powder if you're going to take one. Now, if you are sedentary and you are not exercising really at all, or you're just doing some walking, okay, but you're not sweating at all during the day. You might even want to do less than a one-to-one. You might want to do something closer to a more potassium, actually, in an electrolyte powder. So there are many different brands out there. I'm not promoting any one brand at all. Just going through the ones with different ratios, I personally do a one-to-one the most. It's what I recommend the most to people. But there are some brands that are higher sodium intake that, again, I just don't recommend, and they're not as natural either.

Starting point is 00:35:43 So you want to look for one that has a lot of potassium, a lot of magnesium as well, and that's around that one-to-one or two-to-one ratio or in either direction for most people. And then just add a little bit, sprinkle a little bit of sea salt onto your food on a regular basis. Now, one other thing I like to do, if you don't use those electrolyte packs, is to make your own electrolyte drink at home. Here's a couple recipe options. Take one glass of water, about eight ounces of water, squeeze one lemon, put in about two teaspoons of local honey, and then add in about a fourth of a teaspoon of gray Celtic sea salt. Okay? That is a natural electrolyte drink I love. Now, you can do this in a very similar way as well with just coconut water and adding in a little bit of sea salt or one of my favorites.

Starting point is 00:36:35 I love doing watermelon or watermelon juice. You can actually buy that in a bottle and adding about an eighth of a teaspoon of Celtic sea salt in there as well in drinking it like that. But watermelon, coconut water, just water with honey, adding some Celtic sea salt in there, something like that. That's a great way to make an electrolyte drink at home. And it's important to note, as I mentioned, you want to stay away from table salt. Table salt is refined. It's bleached. It's stripped of minerals.

Starting point is 00:37:03 They add an anti-caking agent. Sometimes even sugar. They add an iodine. You don't want those in your table salt. Okay? You want to buy either a pink salt like a Himaland or a cave salt or my favorite salt, a sea salt in the brand that I've used the most as a Celtic sea salt. But generally, you need a high-quality sea salt that's harvested from salt.

Starting point is 00:37:25 sea water from seaweed that's and did you know that most of these types of salt especially those high quality sea salts some of them have upwards of 80 different minerals in them so they don't just have sodium or potassium they also have magnesium and calcium and so them have silver in them i mean loads and loads of these beneficial uh compounds in them so over 80 trace minerals okay and again And the ones I just personally that I've used the most over the years is a Celtic sea salt and a red salt. Those are the ones I've personally used the most over the years for the past. And I can say I've been using those salts since I was 23. So 20 years now.

Starting point is 00:38:11 I've been using these salts and all the research I've done. They're some of the absolute best. And remember, if you do want to buy some high quality salt, you can buy the brand that I personally use. It's Celtic Seasol. And you can check out their products at the link in the description and use the code X10 for a special discount only for my listeners. So remember this. Hydration isn't just about drinking water all day long, especially if you're not thirsty

Starting point is 00:38:37 or not very active. It's about H2O. It's about water plus electrolytes. You need both. And you also need that right sodium to potassium ratio. You're going to get a lot of this from both drinking good water, getting a lot of vegetables, getting some fruit, drinking some bone broth, okay, doing those things and sprinkling a little bit of sea salt on your food. And if you do that, you're going to stay hydrated.

Starting point is 00:39:00 Also just being aware, if it's a lot hotter out, if you're doing an infrared sauna, if you're doing a really intense workout session where you're sweating a lot, well, then you need to increase your electrolyte intake a little bit more with doing that as well. I want to say, thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe show. where each and every week we explore the science and principles of how you can heal physically, mentally, spiritually, and take your health and your life to the next level. Hey, make sure to subscribe, like, and share. By the way, the number one thing you can do to support the show is subscribe and share the episode. This is how I bring on high-profile guests, everyone from Kerry Underwood we've had in the past,

Starting point is 00:39:38 to people upcoming like Dr. Mark Hyman, Vonie Hary, you know, got Jordan Rubin on here, just some amazing, amazing people. So make sure to subscribe and share. And I'll see you on the next episode.

The Dr. Josh Axe Show - How to Hydrate Your Brain, Boost Energy & End Brain Fog

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