How to Hydrate

Water hydrates dehydrated skin and tissues, oil moistens or lubricates dry skin and tissues. Depending on what your body, skin and tissues need at that time, oil or water could be indicated.

Without a protective oil barrier on your skin, dehydration could take place quickly and the lost water, though easily replaced, will again flee quickly from your dry tissues.

Dry exterior tissues are helped by the ingestion of water and oils, surely, yet for acute situations a topical hydration or moisturising protocol is used in order to speed up the process. Ingested water and oil must go through the myriad other internal processes before reaching the skin.

The key is balance, or homeostasis.

We all know that we should drink water, quite a lot, during the day. It hydrates our tissues, cleans out toxins, enables our body to function well and increases our brain function.

According to Psychology Today:

“Our brains depend on proper hydration to function optimally. Brain cells require a delicate balance between water and various elements to operate, and when you lose too much water, that balance is disrupted. Your brain cells lose efficiency.

Years of research have found that when we’re parched, we have more difficulty keeping our attention focused. Dehydration can impair short-term memory function and the recall of long-term memory. The ability to perform mental arithmetic, like calculating whether or not you’ll be late for work if you hit snooze for another 15 minutes, is compromised when your fluids are low.”

(Different body sizes require different volumes of water. One good rule is to divide your weight by 20. This will be the number of glasses of water that you should drink every day.)

Tissue states in the body are dependent on more than just water, or staying hydrated. Creaky, achy joints, cracking, tight skin, muscle soreness, fuzzy eyesight, mental fatigue, as well as other more serious mental issues, could stem from a lack of moisturised tissues, or being in a dry tissue state.

According to True Skin care Center:

“Have you ever felt like your skin needs a drink of water? This may be true! With the vast variety of skincare products on the market today, as a consumer, it can be difficult to figure out what each one contains and why it works. Specifically, one of the most confusing topics is the difference between hydration and moisture.  Dehydrated skin lacks water and therefore needs to be hydrated.  Dry skin lacks oil and needs to be moisturized.  It is important to distinguish between these two skin conditions because they can often be treated incorrectly.

Think of it like this:

While hydration is what makes our skin soft, it won’t stay that way if there is no oil protecting that hydration from evaporating and abandoning the skin, which would leave it dry and flaky.  Conversely, to put oil on top of already dehydrated skin may smooth it, but it will still lack the hydration that makes it feel soft and elastic.

Dehydrated skin that is moisturized without receiving the amount of hydration will still look dull and feel uncomfortably tight.  Dry skin that is hydrated but not moisturized will still flake and have a rough texture.”

 

Think about adding oil to your diet, whether on a salad or a tablespoon daily of hemp seed oil, olive oil, flaxseed oil or sea buckthorn, as well as the water regimen you already have.

Think about water for your skin, a re-hydrating bath with hydrating herbs, a cup of tea with herbs that help you hold fluids or an oil massage to combat dry skin from the outside.

Thank you Kiva Rose for this list:

Adaptogens & Sweet Tonics (Builds Fluids): Withania somniferum, Panax spp, Aralia spp., Glycyrrhiza glabra and allied spp. Codonopsis pilosula, Avena spp., Polygonatum spp.

Demulcents (Contributes Fluids): Althaea, Malva spp and other Malvaceae, Ulmus rubra, Ulmus pumila (and other mucilaginous U. species), Linum spp.

Oily Tonics (Contributes Oils): aromatic Salvia spp., Ligusticum spp., Angelica spp., Aralia spp., Arctium lappa, Linum spp.

Astringents (Holds Fluids): aromatic Salvia spp., Rhus spp.

 

 

Oils to think about:

Argan oil: ingested and topically

Flaxseed oil: ingested and topically

Coconut oil: ingested and topically

Sesame oil: ingested and topically

Jojoba oil: topically

Hemp seed oil: ingested and topically

Poppy seed oil: ingested and topically

Sea Buckthorn oil: ingested and topically

Olive oil: ingested and topically