Every summer, one product becomes more visible in Japanese drugstores.
OS-1, an oral rehydration solution.
During a small workplace training session, a representative from the manufacturer said something interesting.
“Most people don’t find it very tasty when they’re healthy.”
Everyone nodded.
I understood exactly what he meant.
Compared with a sweet sports drink, OS-1 tastes noticeably salty.
“But some people say it tastes surprisingly good when they’re dehydrated.”
According to him, the body naturally seeks what it needs.
I wondered if that was really true.
Oral rehydration solutions serve a different purpose from sports drinks.
Sports drinks are designed to provide fluids and energy during exercise.
Oral rehydration solutions, on the other hand, are formulated to replace water and electrolytes efficiently during dehydration caused by fever, diarrhea, vomiting, or heatstroke.
Similar products exist around the world.
Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS) are widely used internationally to prevent and treat dehydration.
Still, they feel particularly familiar in Japan.
They are sold in drugstores, featured on television, and discussed every summer as part of heatstroke prevention.
They are not medicines.
Yet they bring medical knowledge into everyday life.
Perhaps that is a uniquely Japanese scene.
This reminded me of my pilgrimage walk in Shikoku.
It was midsummer.
I was sweating heavily and probably becoming dehydrated.
I ate a salty candy.
Surely my body needed the salt.
…
Honestly?
It didn’t taste especially good.
Was my body being honest?
Or was I simply not paying attention?
I still don’t know.
But perhaps we only realize the importance of water and salt when we begin to lose them.
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