How To Hydrate Skin In Winter… Inside-Out

"Baby, it's cold outside.... Are you sweating too?"

By increasing your daily gulps of coconut water, you can reduce the chances of getting dried-out skin and dehydration in fall and winter.  Coconut water is not just for hot summer days.

 

Drinking even more coconut water in winter is a skin care secret for great looking skin all year around.

 Dehydrating Winter Conditions

• Increased sweating while wearing extra clothing like sweaters and coats,

• Irritating low humidity in fall and winter that's a major cause of winter skin itching,

• Indoor forced air heating that literally bakes skin.

• Icy winds that swipe moisture from  hands and face.  



Bundled-up like a baby

A massage with coconut oil goes a long way towards keeping my skin supple and moisturized in winter.

 

But I swig more coconut water, however, to insure that my  skin and the rest of my body never suffer from dehydration, even when it’s cold outside.

Coco Water Now In Rural Schools' Vending Machines



Wade Bergner at a Wis. High School (Photo courtesy Fresh Healthy Vending)



Coconut water is now available to fitness conscious teen-agers at Chippewa Falls High School in rural northwest Wisconsin.  One Coconut Water brand is stocked in the school’s vending machines, thanks to Principal Becki Davis who accepted an offer from Fresh Healthy Vending to place machines in her school.

Protein shakes and other healthy snack and beverages  are also stocked in the machines.

There are no health food stores in the small town of Chippewa. Davis said the students were excited to have healthy snacks and beverages available.

 Wade Bergner, a local triathlete made it  his mission to supply healthful snacks to Wisconsin school students via the vending machines.

When Fresh Healthy Vending contacted Davis, she said she thought to herself ‘there’s no good reasons NOT to try this’.  She found that many of her students were already familiar with the health benefits of coconut water.

Jewel Expands Selection of Coconut Products

Happy about something new in the beverage section

Chicagoland’s Jewel-Osco grocery store company now sells 2 major brands of coconut water in the beverage section. The brands were on shelves in May 2013, down the aisle from bottles of mineral water in my local store. 

Previously, Jewel only sold coconut juice in the ethnic section.

Several years ago, Jewel was one of the first mainstream grocery stores to sell coconut milk.  The stores also have a large selection of cooking oils, but still do not sell any coconut oil brands at my neighborhood store.

But now, millions more people in the metro area will have ready access to popular coconut water brands.

Hurry! Get Points On Coconut Water At Walgreens

Walgreens has an offer of 1,000 "Balance Rewards" points for one 16.9 oz container of Vita Coco coconut water.  A coupon is required from the store's "SCORE POINTS WITH MOTHER EARTH" brochure. The offer expires soon.

How To Get Gleaming Pearly Teeth With Coconut

There are a lot of videos and blogs on the internet that claim that coconut oil works as a teeth whitener. There are also claims that “oil pulling”  with coconut oil  keeps teeth and gums healthy. 

I figure that it can’t hurt to use coconut oil on my teeth.

But here’s another coconut product that I use on my teeth that makes them look incredible:  It’s Coconut water.  Here’s how I do it.

Coconut Water Teeth Wipe Down

 

I pour a little coconut water on a paper towel.  Next I wipe my teeth, inside and out with the coconut water. Lastly, I swish my mouth with plain water from the faucet to remove any coconut sugar from the surface of my teeth.

And, my teeth look incredibly youthful!

They gleam like they did when I was younger.  No, they aren't much whiter they  just are shinier and pearlier.

Now I do this procedure after brushing with regular toothpaste in the morning. Then I usually drink a glass of plain water, a cup of coffee and a glass of coconut water.  Then I eat breakfast or drink a smoothie.

Then I use the coconut water on my teeth.

This make more sense to me than using a fluoride rinse on top of the fluoridated toothpaste I use.

Too Much Coffee and Tea

 

They get that shiny, glistening, reflective glow that young people’s teeth look like when they haven’t started drinking too much coffee or smoking cigarettes.

But alas, the pretty shiny gleaming teeth effect is only temporary.  It lasts until I drink my afternoon tea.

HOME EMERGENCY: 17 HYDRATION TIPS FOR THE ELDERLY

Did you know that individuals with dementia and those who are simply dehydrated many times look, think and act just alike? Did you know that dry, flaky, wrinkled and sagging skin is often due to dehydration and not just aging? Regularly drinking Coconut Water and other beverages can enhance the picture of a person’s mental and physical condition.

For the elderly, dehydration often hides in “plain sight”, going unnoticed until a doctor, nurse or other healthcare provider closely examines him or her.  Their ability to actually feel thirsty may be diminished or even absent seemingly.

An elderly person can spend years going about their business at home and elsewhere being insidiously dragged down by dehydration-the lack of enough fluids for the body to optimally function.

 Dehydration can be an emergency for a senior. Here are my home care tips. Hopefully my personal experience can make a difference. 

Make Sure They Can See The Water

1. Present plain water in a clear pitcher-the water looks much more inviting. Make sure that your senior can always see water in the pitcher.
2. Avoid the pretty pink hospital pitchers that are opaque-you never know how much water has been consumed. The water is just not visible, and it's not coyly begging to be sipped.
3. Keep a half-full glass of faucet water in a clear crystal glass, with a straw, always in view and within reach of your senior-this also looks inviting.

Push Water and Beverages

1. Offer plain or coconut water after each trip to the bathroom-after urination. Be firm, insistent and do not accept "no".  It's critical to replace the fluid loss.
2. Try to get a formal agreement with your senior to drink fluids before and after all meals, and any other time you offer water to them before 3pm.
3. Offer water, milk or other beverages to the elderly person anytime you, yourself get a drink.

Encourage Drinking and Not Just Sipping

1. Use 2 straws instead one.
2. Room temperature water may be welcomed more than iced water but some times not.  Ask to be sure.
3. Switch between plain water, mineral water and coconut water throughout the day: Three or 4 glasses of plain water, then offer shot glasses of mineral water  and coconut water, then repeat the cycle. This way your senior can look forward to changes in flavor or taste sensations.
4. Water glasses filled with fruit slices and infusions, perhaps lemons, other fruits or even with herbs like mint can be very tempting.

Develop Workarounds To Stubbornness

1. Serve watery fruits and vegetables like cantaloupes, watermelon and peaches after 6pm if your senior refuses to drink plain water after that time.
2. Do provide coffee, tea, milk and sugary drinks as requested as a matter of respect.
3. Try to make drinking beverages a formal occasion-heck I even thought about placing one of those tiny colorful umbrellas in a glass.

Get Medical Help

1. Ask visiting nurses and aides to closely examine your senior for dehydration signs that you may not notice.
2. Ask doctors and nurses to occasionally remind a hesitant senior that they can be hooked-up to a medical device that will pump fluid in them if they don’t drink enough water.
3. Stay informed on senior hydration issues and solutions by reading health articles online or asking healthcare providers.

Add Coconut Water To Your Plan

 

First, be serious about giving your senior more fluids. Then remember, for hydration purposes, water and fluids are two different things: Electrolytes like potassium are vital for human life.  Regularly offering a senior  plain drinking water plus nutritious coconut water can make-up much of that difference.  Sometimes this is all we can do.



Give Orchids Coconut Water For Lush Blooms



Orchid potted  in an organic coconut shell

 

Just 6 or 7 years ago, if I wanted a cup or so of coconut water there were only 2 ways to get it: 1) Fly out to Jamaica or 2) Find a local grocery store that sold brown coconuts. Back then, I didn’t drink the coconut water:  I fed it to my orchids and successfully bloomed and re-bloomed plants!

Lot’s of times I wondered if the Jamaican option would be easier because the grocery store coconuts would often be almost dried-up.


Bottled or packaged coconut water was unheard of in most of  America just a decade ago.

Cloned orchid seedlings



The potassium in the coconut water made a huge different during the initial root growth spurt of my miniature Cattleyas. I used coconut water and banana peel organic supplements to successfully bloom my orchids.

I used traditional fertilizers as well but I wanted to wean my plants off of the stronger inorganic fertilizers as much as possible.

I no longer grow orchids because I do not have the proper light conditions.  I always used some supplemental light in the past. But in my current location I would have had to raise them 100% under grow lights. That would have been just too time-consuming, too costly and not esthetic-looking at all.

My Tips For Starting A Successful Orchid Program

• Buy blooming plants only from dedicated orchid growers.  I have had success with plants from Orchids by Hausermann and Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Avoid plants from florists, big box stores and grocery stores.
• Respect the light, water and food requirements of the specific orchid you purchase:  Do some research or ask your grower. If you cannot provide the correct types and amounts of light, food and water, you will not get any blooms and you will condemn the plant to a slow death.
• Use organic fertilizer supplementation along with traditional fertilizers to save money and to avoid excessive growth which insects love to munch on.



Beautiful bicolor miniature Cattleya

 The best organic supplements for any plant, not just orchids, are banana peel, fish emulsion and coconut water. Add these supplements to your orchid program and you will get strong plants with lush blooms.

Relax! Get Loose With Coconut Water?




Is Coconut Water Also Relaxing

 

I woke-up the other morning with worrying thoughts about a family medical emergency.  I trudged through the kitchen, got a glass and poured my regular morning drink of coconut water for energy.

 I drank the coconut water and immediately felt my worries float away.

The absence of the worries was very noticeable.  I stopped moving so I could languish in the freedom from the sad thoughts. 

Then it hit me ‘the coconut water did this’.

‘Say Whattttt…Pat’

Yes!

 I didn’t feel anything physical happening to me.  I just felt the thoughts of disappointment being literally moved aside. I was standing in front of the sink when it happened. Then I went on with my day: I was back in the moment  and not what could have been in the past. 

Is Coconut Water Really Mood Altering?

So where  is the research to prove that I experienced what I know I experienced?

I haven’t found any academic research results yet, just tons of testimonials like mine all over the internet. 

Some writers say that it’s the B vitamins in coconut water that relaxes partakers.  Some say that a heightened mood is a natural benefit of being hydrated with coconut water.

It could be the magnesium, calcium or some of the other minerals in coconut water. Perhaps it’s the sugar or the tiny bit of fat.

Yes, there is fat in coconut water, just a little bit according to the USDA, less that 1 gram per cup.  Here the link for the USDA’s Coconut Water Nutrient Data Table.

Trust Coconut Water, Verify Later

To all that I say: “Maybe or maybe not”. The relaxed feeling JUST IS. So just enjoy coconut water instead of a glass of wine or beer for a change of pace sometimes.

Why You Should Start Going Bananas Over Coconut Water



Good Things for Potassium:  Bananas and Coconut



Ever have a taste for a banana but only have lime green bananas or mushy black ones in your fruit bowl, like me? I just stare at them and wish that they were yellow... and ripe... and creamy-tasting.

Mmmm...bananas are so tasty and so full of energizing potassium. But bottled coconut water is becoming the handiest way  for me to get a daily dose of nutrients like potassium.

Keeping a bottle of coconut water stashed in my office desk or gym bag is just very handy for me.

According to  the USDA nutrient database, 1 cup of coconut water has about 600 mg of potassium versus 422 mg in 1 ripe banana.

Losing Potassium Big Time

You may want to start drinking coconut water if eating a banana regularly is getting harder and especially if you are losing vital potassium from your body because of  any of the following reasons:

• You are a big time coffee drinker, downing 3 or more 8 oz. cups of java every morning;
• You drink caffeinated soda pops throughout the day;
• Your prescription medication makes you go to the bathroom more often;
• You strictly follow the rule to drink 8 or more glasses of plain, H20 water a day; or,
• You work-out and work-up a real sweat.

How Bananas Can Be Annoying

Perhaps you are not eating as many bananas because of one or more of the following reasons:

• Bananas give you indigestion and/or gas;
• You can’t eat-up fresh yellow ripe bananas fast enough before they get over ripened;
• Bananas cost too much at your office’s kiosk or at the gym’s café;
• You just don’t like the fishy or “bad water” taste that many bananas seem to have these days; or,
• Your body cannot handle the blood sugar changes when you eat a banana.

Don’t get me wrong: Drinking coconut water will never replace eating a tasty banana or other potassium-rich foods like yogurt, watermelon or salad tomatoes. 

 All I am saying is that a quick gulp of  the natural refreshment  that's in  a bottle of coconut water is indeed a quick and easy "good thing".  I like to think of coconut water as the original convenience food.

QUICK MORNING SHOT OF COCONUT WATER FOR FITNESS AND ENERGY

A small glass of coconut water for big energy

Here’s one of my recipes for a quick boost of energy on late winter mornings when it’s really hard to get going.   I whip-up this really easy coconut water beverage recipe:

COCONUT WATER AND SWEET CREAM

1. Put 1 ice cube in a shot glass
2. Add 1 drop of lime juice
3. Add 1 dollop or squirt of whipped cream
4. Add enough coconut water to cover the ice cube and whipped cream.

Drink immediately as the ice cube melts in the coconut water.



Coconut and fruit

This shot of coconut water touches the right spot in my stomach when I’m not in the mood to prepare a fruit smoothie (which seems to be often these days). The sweet milk taste of the cream makes all the difference.

This slightly sweetened coconut water is really filling and a timesaver for me on dreary winter days.

DISCOVER CHILLED COCONUT WATER WHEN IT’S COLD IN YOUR CITY

Here’s the best place to drink chilled coconut water when it's snowing outside and the temperature's sub-zero:



Try drinking coconut water while rafting on a Jamaican river

 

One of my best winter vacations was flying out of Chicago to Jamaica leaving the cold weather behind at home.  The wind chill factor was minus 25 at the time.

I took off my yellow down jacket on the airplane and stuffed it into my backpack.

It was sunny and 80 degrees in Jamaica when the plane landed. Next thing I knew, I was sipping coconut water from a hacked open green coconut on a Jamaican roadside. It  never tasted better. Ahhh...



COCONUT WATER FOR AUTUMN

Fall's temperatures may be cooler but you can still get overheated and sweaty. Coconut water is for year-round refreshment and hydration.

You can work-up a real sweat raking leaves, performing garden clean-up, and doing outside home maintenance.  Add-in blustery winds, and it’s easy to get dehydrated.

Coconut water is not just for surviving the heat during summer days in northern latitudes or while performing aerobic activities in the gym. Coconut water benefits can keep you hydrated, in-shape and energized for everyday activities, throughout the seasons.

Performing everyday activities in the cooler weather can leave you very dry and thirsty.  For example, my car’s heater dries-out my skin and hair so I usually chug more water while driving in autumn.

Searching through a pumpkin patch with the family is big fun, but it can be exhaustive.  So have some coconut water ready in the car for the ride home.

Pat Thomas for THE COCONUT LOVERS MOJO until next time…