With the hottest days of the archaeology season now behind us (and some particularly tough sites in my personal experience with no available shade even during work breaks)  it's worth taking a quick look at what did and didn't work over the summer months in terms of nutrition and hydration.  While the physical workload and environmental conditions can vary, we may occasionally be subjected to the kind of conditions that keep even elite athletes indoors - and some of the same tactics employed by endurance athletes make particularly effective crossovers for those of us staying active with a shovel in the sun. 

I can't imagine anyone being surprised to hear that the foremost concern should be hydration - although the tendency is to be concerned with dehydration, when the possibility of over-hydration can be equally crippling.  It's worth taking a look at the symptoms of dehydration as well as hyponatremia to ensure that you and your team are safe.  That said, dehydration is the more common condition at a light to moderate workload in the field, and drinking an appropriate amount of water is key.  I say water because of the amount of less-than-helpful ingredients in some sport drinks are better left for conditions where a prolonged moderate-to-high workload is maintained - the extra calories, for example, can cause a surprising weight gain if a balancing deficit isn't created with work.  For a lower calorie option that is very high in the same electrolytes that the sports drinks boast, try Coconut water.

Short of weighing yourself, sweating it out for a period of time and weighing yourself again to get an idea of how much weight in water you're losing during a given period of time, it's a decent rule of thumb to drink early and often - and in small increments.  Waiting until you're desperate and then gulping fluids to quench your thirst is hard on your body and morale.  I found that for me, I was most balanced physically and mentally (dehydration and heat exhaustion cause irritability) when I was consuming 2 or more litres of water per day from a bladder (see example of a bladder in photo above, left) I carried to the site in a backpack.  Drinking water, however, isn't the only method to maintain good hydration - on average, roughly 20 percent of a person's water intake comes from food.  Some things to look for in particular are:

1. Cantaloupe, Peaches and Strawberries   

These three fruits consist mostly of water and are also high in potassium, an electrolyte that is lost through sweating. You can use these fruits and make a smoothie, a fruit salad or even a 
cold soup.

2. Watermelon, Kiwi and Citrus  

All these fruits contain at least a third of your daily needs per serving in Vitamin C. This helps 
your joint flexibility and protects your skin from the negative influences of the day, such 
as pollution and constant sweat.

3. Tomatoes and Broccoli  

Rich in lycopene, tomatoes have been linked to reduce the risk of several cancers. Broccoli may 
not seem to be all that watery and juicy as all the others mentioned above, but it is 90 percent
 water and contains a compound called isothiocyanates, which is also linked to help fight  cancer.

4. Pineapple and Cherries  

Both of these fruits will help rehydrate you after a long day in the sun. One of the enzymes found 
in Pineapple - called bromelain – will also reduce inflammation and speed up muscle repair after 
a hard day of digging.

5. Yogurt and Kefir  

Those two will help you build a better immune system, as they contain probiotics - now found
 in almost all yogurts - as well as protein.

Another strategy that endurance athletes use that can be very effective is a pre-cooling of the body's core temperature before work or exercise.  The somewhat impractical method of using a cooling vest seems the most effective, but an alternative (and a better tasting one, at that) is to consume frozen treats like Slurpees before heading into the field and on breaks (once again, try to find a healthy option).  The cooling effect these frozen drinks can have on your core temperature will allow your body to regulate itself longer and help avoid negative effects from the heat.

In short, be smart about hydration in the heat, but don't forget that some of these rules will continue to apply throughout the cooling temperatures this fall as well.

 Cover Photo, Top Left:  A hydration pack bladder. Wikimedia Commons