Well, this has been a rough summer, hasn’t it? The temperatures have been insane across the country. I recently read that Dallas has had over 30 days straight of temperatures in the triple digits!! Talk about a difficult summer for those with dysautonomia. I’ve been pretty much jailed inside my house for the summer due to the heat. I hope that you all are hanging in there and keeping as cool as possible.
Last summer I listed some Summer Tips for POTSies, and I thought I’d mention a few of those again for some ideas for how to stay cool for the rest of this summer (but check out last year’s post for a more complete list):
Frogg Toggs Chilly Dana: This bandana absorbs sweat and can keep you cool. Just keep it wet and its moisture will evaporate and continue cooling for hours.
Cooling scarves: These wraps contain crystals that hydrate after being soaked in water. They then have evaporative cooling action that works from hours to several days.
Personal Fans: Handheld fans with or without water sprays can be life savers once you really get overheated or to prevent that from happening.
Head Scarves: I find that sometimes I just need to get my hair all the way off of my neck, and wearing a scarf or bandana around your hair can be a great solution.
Sun hats: It always helps to keep the sun off of your face and neck as much as possible, so wear a hat if you can!
And, as always, HYDRATE! Whether it's water, or gatorade, or Kombucha (a new favorite), or Coconut Water, enjoy lots of it! Good luck staying cool and healthy everyone.
As most of you know, those of us with dysautonomia are prescribed a very high sodium diet by our doctors (5000-10000mg a day usually) to increase our blood volume and prevent drops in blood pressure. This can be a daunting task for those of us not used to such a huge amount of salt.
After my POTS diagnosis, I realized that salt was going to be a huge part of my life and, well, I wasn’t a big fan at that point (gasp!). So…I decided to search around and find as many different kinds of salts as I could to add some extra excitement to my meals. Once I started looking, I was amazed at how many different kinds of salts exist out there. And not only do they exist, they taste amazingly different! I had no idea that different salts added unique flavors to your meals. I had been a sea salt and kosher salt user, but that was the full extent of my knowledge. Now I know that the specific minerals from the area that the salt is mined add a different flavor to each type. For example, the red coloration of Alaea (Hawaiian sea salt) comes from the clay in that area. I know, it sounds gross, but it’s actually delicious. One of my favorites in fact.
Over the years, I have accumulated quite the unique and beautiful salt collection (in my opinion). Such a collection, in fact, that we installed a shelf in our kitchen that is dedicated only to my salts, and it is overflowing! I think it is quite lovely as well.
I encourage all of you POTSies out there to explore the different kinds of salts that the world has to offer. It definitely made my crazy salt consumption a little more exciting. Although I love many of the salts, I think my favorites are Alaea, Maldon, and Fleur de sel. And have you ever tried adding salts to the tops of different desserts? It can be quite lovely depending on the dessert (chocolate loves salt!). Have fun exploring the wide world of salt!
Some details about the salts that I have:
Many of these salts are hand harvested, which is part of the reason they are so expensive.
Maldon: a finishing salt that is best applied to a dish after it has been plated; b/c it is flake salt, it dissolves quickly and evenly and has a lovely flavor
Fleur de sel: means "Flower of salt" in French; has a lovely, delicate taste that is great to add as a finishing salt. I’ve even had it on chocolate…yum!
Alaea: Hawaiian sea salt contains a small amount of harvested Hawaiian clay that enriches the salt with Iron-Oxide (which makes it red). It has a great flavor, and I use it on all kinds of things, especially when I'm roasting vegetables/meats.
Grey Salt: a natural, unrefined sea salt that is supposed to retain many of the minerals from the clay where it was mined; many believe it to be one of the best salts available
Himalayan salt: this salt is harvested from deep in the Himalayan Mountains, and has a high mineral content that is often sought after for health benefits (there are a myriad of articles on the web about it)
Kosher salt: Great for using as an everyday salt, I add it to almost every recipe. It has a mild taste and doesn’t overpower your dishes.
And it doesn’t stop there: there are black salts with charcoal, salts mixed with every herb out there, even salt with vanilla. Try them out…It will definitely perk up the flavor of the dishes that you have to flood in salt every day!
It’s a record (for me). 24 vials of blood in one sitting! My husband was with me, and insisted on taking a picture of all the vials after we were done (which now I’m happy he did b/c I can share it). Fairly ridiculous, huh? Even the phlebotomist was surprised by how many vials they needed, so I feel proud. I bet I’m even more pale than usual now!
Anyone else have any exciting blood draw adventures? I’m SURE you do. Ahh, the things we POTSies get excited about…
