hot

[Rob Weaver]

At least for me, heat really diminishes my appetite. I have to make myself eat. But not only do we get a significant amount of water from our food, a full stomache aids in water absorbsion and retention. Even though I don't feel like eating it, those high fat and high salt foods like fatback and bacon and sardines stay with you. If you find yourself not feeling well in the heat, it may not simply be an issue of not taking in enough liquid, but of taking in enough solid food, too.

[11thVACoG]

the tough thing for me, I cut meat for a living, in 35 degree meat room. It is a shock to the body, to come out of work in the middle of summer. The good thing for me, is I do not drink many sodas at all. No dark sodas, ever. I drink lots of water throughout the day. A lot of good advice in this thread!

[Pvt Schnapps]

No alcohol, no soda, no cloying fruit juices, no heavy food unless you've made heavy exertions. Focus on the carbs for energy and drink whatever is easily processed.

Switchel: Equal parts molasses and cider vinegar. Mix with water to taste. Doesn't have to be cold to work. If the recipe leaves you thinking you'd rather die of heat stroke than take another swallow, grate a bunch of fresh ginger into it. It's a traditional alternative form. Try it at home before mixing a batch for the field, but you get the idea: Sweet molasses, tangy vinegar, ginger flavor and a little wake-up-the-tastebuds from the ginger. Other posters who looked into the subject note that it has more electrolytes than some popular commercial hot-weather athlete drinks.

There's an alternative recipe for "molasses water" in Thomas Wentworth Higginson's "Army Life in a Black Regiment": to a barrel of water (about 31 gallons), three gallons of molasses, one QUART of vinegar, and a half pound of ginger.

I stress the amount of vinegar because it's one-twelfth of the equal mix, which can be important. First, the restorative properties of the drink lie mainly in the carbs and potassium of the molasses anyway. Second, the higher amount of vinegar has been known to have a quick, severe laxative effect, which is not only unpleasant, but pretty dehydrating. I guess not everyone's affected that way, but it's one reason I avoid switchel at events. I prefer coffee, which also has potassium, was recommended at the time for troops on the march, and apparently is not dehydrating, despite what we may have been told in the past: http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp