How To Hydrate Your Plate!

Think chugging H2O is the only way to stay hydrated this summer? Think again!

- Victoria Clayton

Jennifer Brown starts each morning by downing a 16-ounce glass of water mixed with a squeeze of lemon. Although this morning ritual is an Ayurvedic practice that promises to rev the digestion system, Brown says it’s also hydration insurance—something that anyone who lives near Phoenix, as she does, shouldn’t take lightly. “In the summer, our temperatures top 11o° pretty often. Even at 9 p.m., they're still up around 1oo°,” says Brown, a registered dietitian who also teaches yoga at the Wellness Center in Goodyear, Arizona.

Aside from her morning practice, Brown doesn’t keep track of how much water she consumes each day. Instead, she’s proactive about keeping a quick swig within reach. “I usually carry a water bottle—and I have a glass of water by my bed at night—so I’m hydrating all the time,” she says. And Brown tells her clients that the “eight glasses of water a day” rule isn’t really a rule at all. “There isn’t much science behind that old recommendation,” she says. Instead, she urges clients to think more broadly about hydration: “Water is great, but hydration is the key—and that can come from fluid-rich foods, too.”