By the time I walked back from the farmers market at Pyrmont last Saturday, my basil had wilted in the bag and so, honestly, had I. Thirty-four degrees before ten in the morning. Sydney summer is not messing around this year.
Hydration is one of those things that sounds simple until you realise you have been quietly under-doing it for weeks. Not dangerously — just that low-grade, slightly foggy, vaguely headachy feeling that you keep attributing to screen time or a bad night’s sleep. Often it is just water. Or rather, the lack of it.
What I want to share here is less about hitting some magic litre count and more about the small, pleasurable habits and foods that make staying hydrated through summer genuinely easy. Because the prescriptive approach — drink eight glasses a day, set phone reminders — tends to fall apart around week two.
Why summer in Australia is a different hydration challenge
Most of us lose more fluid through sweat than we register. Dietitians often suggest that thirst alone is not a reliable cue in hot weather because by the time you feel thirsty, you are already behind. The Healthdirect Australia guidance on dehydration puts it plainly: pale, straw-coloured urine is a better guide than thirst. That is not glamorous advice, but it works.
Add to this that Australian summers often mean outdoor entertaining, long beach days, and the kind of heat that makes you want to eat less — which means you lose the water you would normally get from food. Humidity in coastal cities like Sydney keeps the sweat on your skin rather than evaporating it, so the cooling effect is reduced and you may not even realise how much fluid you are losing.
Eat your water: the case for high-water foods
This is where my pastry-school training tilts me in an unexpected direction. I spent years measuring moisture in doughs and batters — understanding that water content changes texture, flavour, everything. Food as a hydration source is underrated.
Cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes, celery, strawberries — all sitting above 90 per cent water content. A big bowl of sliced watermelon with a pinch of flaky salt and a few torn mint leaves from my balcony pots is genuinely hydrating and also, right now, one of the most satisfying things I can put on a table. Citrus, too. I keep a bowl of cut oranges in the fridge through January and reach for them constantly in the way I never reach for a glass of plain water mid-morning.
For a more structured meal approach, the Green Papaya and Chicken Salad we have on the site is almost embarrassingly good for this time of year — green papaya has a high water content and the dressing keeps it light. And if you want something that doubles as hydration and a quick breakfast, the Summer Cleansing Juice is a sensible place to start.
Infused waters that you will actually drink
Plain water is fine. I drink it. But I also know that when I make a jug of something slightly more interesting and leave it on the kitchen bench, I drink far more across the day without thinking about it.
A few combinations I come back to every summer. Sliced cucumber, a few stalks of fresh lemongrass from the balcony, and cold water — left overnight in the fridge. The pale green colour alone makes me want to drink it. Or: watermelon chunks, a handful of fresh mint, the juice of half a lime. Stir, leave for an hour, strain or leave it unstrained depending on your mood.
What I love about these is that they require no recipe, no quantities, no fuss. You are essentially steeping flavour the way you would a cold tea. The fragrance when you open the fridge is half the pleasure.
One thing I would gently push back on: the elaborate five-ingredient electrolyte concoctions all over social media right now. Unless you are doing serious endurance exercise in extreme heat, most people do not need a specialised electrolyte drink. A pinch of good salt in your water and eating normally will do it. I reckon the supplement industry has done a solid job of convincing us otherwise.
The herb garden angle (and what is actually easy to grow)
I grow mint, basil, Vietnamese mint, and two varieties of chilli on my Surry Hills balcony. The mint nearly maintains itself — which is lucky because it goes into almost everything cold I make from November through February. Fresh herbs in drinks and food do more than add flavour; they make the whole act of preparing and drinking something feel intentional. That matters. Drinking two litres of plain water out of habit is one thing; sitting down with a glass of something you made, that smells of fresh mint and lime, is another experience entirely.
Vietnamese mint — rau răm — is worth growing if you can find it at an Asian grocery. It has a slightly peppery, almost coriander-adjacent flavour that works brilliantly with cold cucumber water or a simple herb salad alongside grilled fish. It is more drought-tolerant than regular mint too, which matters in a Sydney summer on a west-facing balcony.
Staying hydrated when you are moving
If you are exercising through summer — which I would encourage, just adjusted for the heat — fluid needs go up. Nutrition Australia recommends drinking before, during and after exercise rather than waiting until you are thirsty. Their hydration resource has practical guidance for different activity levels.
For lighter movement — morning walks, yoga, a swim — the adjustment does not need to be dramatic. A glass of water before you go out and something with electrolytes when you return (coconut water, or just a small snack with a bit of salt) tends to be enough. For more intense sessions, it is worth being more deliberate. Our article on Fuel For Movement goes into the broader picture of eating and drinking around exercise.
Small habits that compound through the season
The most useful shift I made a few summers ago was keeping a large glass on my kitchen bench rather than in the cupboard. It sounds trivial. It is not. I fill it every morning when I make coffee, and because it is sitting there I pick it up constantly without deciding to.
A few other things that genuinely work, in my experience. Eating something watery and cooling at lunch — a salad, a cold soup, something like the Poached Salmon with Fennel, Orange and Chilli which has so much citrus and fresh herb brightness it almost feels like drinking something. Starting dinner preparation with a tall glass of sparkling water while you cook, which replaces the low-level snacking I would otherwise do and gives you a head start on the evening.
And genuinely: eat more fruit. Not as a supplement or a strategy but because mangoes are extraordinary right now and a bowl of them in the fridge is the easiest, most delicious hydration habit available to anyone in Australia between December and February. Buy them slightly underripe from the market, let them sit on the bench for a day. The smell when one is perfectly ready — that sweet, almost floral warmth — is summer in a piece of fruit.
The basics do not need to be complicated. A bit of attention to what you eat and drink through the day, some fresh herbs if you can manage them, and a jug of something cold and interesting in the fridge. That is most of it, honestly. The rest tends to take care of itself.
— Mei Lin, Golden Door Living kitchen
