Do you get dehydrated during long fasts like Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur? To alleviate the potential for dehydration, skip the sports drinks before the fast begins. Instead, prepare a homemade electrolyte beverage made with coconut water and other common ingredients.💧

If you are looking for some good pre-fast meal ideas that will keep you feeling satiated well into the fast, check out these pre-fast recipes for Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av.

Watch Out for Dehydration During Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av

Dehydration is a very real problem during the 25-hour Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av fasts that fall during the hottest parts of the summer (at least in Los Angeles). Dehydration is much more uncomfortable than feeling hungry and can also become dangerous to your health and wellbeing.

I know from personal experience: every year, for years, I would become weak and a bit delirious by 3pm, barely able to complete the fast. All the water that I drank the evening before, prior to the fast, did not help, as I had already peed it out by the end of Kol Nidre!

How To Avoid Dehydration When Fasting?

After doing a bunch of research, I learned that there are some very reliable and accessible methods of staying hydrated. Since that point, my fasts have become super-easy again.

In the days leading up to the fast, and again right before the fast begins, you will want to follow two simple hacks:

Electrolytes

Drink something that contains electrolytes. Resist the urge to consume sodas, fruit juices and sports drinks like Gatorade, Powerade. Sports drinks in particular are full of chemicals and sugar that you don’t want or need before a fast (or any other time). Gatorade and Powerade each contain 36g of sugar in a 20-ounce container, not to mention other potentially harmful chemicals like artificial colorings, including Yellow 5, Red 40 and Blue 5.

Chia Seeds

Drink something that contains fiber. Chia seeds soaked in water are your best bet. There is no better way to retain water than to have it bound up in tons of super-absorbent soluble fiber.

Coconut Water Prevents Dehydration

Rather than buying Gatorade, purchase a bottle of coconut water 💦, which is naturally low in calories and sugar, while containing tons of electrolytes. (Look for brand that have as little added sugar as possible, because many commercial brands add sugar and other flavors). You could even add some fresh-squeezed citrus to the coconut water, to dial up the vitamin and mineral content.

What are Electrolytes?

Electrolytes are really just minerals that are needed by your blood to to perform a variety of critical functions. These minerals include sodium and potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride and phosphate. They are used to balance fluid levels in your body; balance your body's pH levels; move nutrients into cells and waste out of them; and regulate the function of your nerves, muscles, heart and brain.

Make Your Own Homemade Sports Drink

You can easily make your own sports drink at home in about 5 minutes. All you need are the following ingredients:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange, lemon and/or lime juice (with the pulp strained out)

• 1/8 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt (not table salt)

• 1/2 Tbsp raw honey (it has to be raw)

• 1 cup coconut water (no sugar added)

• 1 cup cold water 

Directions

Combine all the ingredients except for the waters, then stir in the waters. If you need to avoid sodium, then you can substitute the salt with baking soda.

Chia Seeds and Water: Another Option

A second, highly effective option to stave off dehydration is to soak chia seeds in water and drink prior to the fast. Chia seeds are like sponges: they absorb up to 20X their volume in water. Then they release it slowly throughout the day as your body digests the fiber in them. They do not provide quite the electrolyte punch as the coconut water does, so you might want to practice both methods of staying hydrated.

Try It Out!

Test out this coconut water-based sports drink before the fast to see how you feel! And also don’t forget to soak chia seeds in a glass of water. Let us know how it went in the comments below. And have an easy fast!

Source: https://medlineplus.gov/fluidandelectrolytebalance.html