Drink More Water
Drink More Water
We are always hearing about drinking water. “Make sure you drink enough water.” “Make sure you drink at least 8 oz of water every day.” We know! We get it! But do we really? Most of us walk around daily dehydrated and don’t even know it. Without enough water and electrolytes, we can feel sluggish and achy. You may not know that without proper intake of water, our body might make us feel like we’re hungry, when really, we’re just really thirsty. We can even get headaches and migraines from not having enough water.
Water is essential and should be the mainstay in anyone’s diet, no matter the age. We know that our bodies are made up of cells. These cells are actually filled with, you’ve guessed it, water. Water will always be absorbed easily by the body and should be the first drink we reach for. Staying hydrated keeps us healthy.
Here are some helpful tips on some ways to hydrate fully.
· Sipping on water more often is better than chugging a big glass of water at one time. This is always better for continual hydration throughout your day. Water is very portable so keep your favorite reusable water bottle at your desk, on your side table or near your bag for when you leave the house. Having a container of water always near to you will make it easy to keep sipping all day long.
· When we perspire, we also deplete electrolytes. So, replace those lost electrolytes. Most people think of grabbing a Gatorade or Vitamin water. One of the side effects of drinking too much sports drinks is gaining those extra pounds. I choose to make my own version of this. (See the water add-ins.) The fact is these drinks usually contain so much sugar and so many chemicals that you’re almost better off just drinking a soda. (Almost.) Even the zero sugar kinds are made with chemical sugars that aren’t good for us. There’s a rule of thumb in using sports drinks. It’s called the over/under rule. It goes like this. If your workout or activity is over an hour, choose a (healthy) sports drink that will provide a good source of carbohydrate, salt and potassium to stay hydrated. If it’s under an hour, go ahead and choose water.
· Prehydrate when you know you’re going to be doing some big activity. This prepares the body for what you’re about to put it through, from a hydration perspective.
· Re-hydrate often, especially when you wake up in the morning. After not drinking water all night long, we’re naturally a little dehydrated and it’s best to re-hydrate your body before the day starts. Then you can begin to prehydrate for your planned activities for the day.
· Wear healthy sunscreen and protective clothing. Preventing a sunburn not only protects us from cancer, it also protects us from dehydrating. Sunburns can speed up the dehydration process as the body tries to right itself from the dehydration process to begin with. Use only organic or chemical-free sunblock lotions, as many of these are showing to be cancerous themselves.
Water Add-Ins and Tasty Options
Are you one that doesn’t like the taste of water? Here are some options for you. I use water add-ins, as I like to call them. These are anything that can be added to the water to help us drink enough of the water. I don’t mind the taste of water, but sometimes, I just plain get tired of drinking so much water. It gets tasteless after a while! I also don’t like prepared juices and drinks like Gatorade, Vitamin water, etc. So, I use healthier alternatives.
Make your own sports drink. I simply use one add-in drink mix like the single serve option probiotic or collagen drink mixes, and a couple of shakes of Himalayan Pink sea salt or plain white sea salt. Redmonds Real Salt is another perfect option for this. Redmonds also carries water add-ins called Re-Lyte. These drink mixes are sweetened with Stevia, so you won’t have all that sugar to worry about. (Stevia does not spike our insulin levels.) Sea salt provides most of, or all of the 84 trace minerals (aka electrolytes) we need for our healthy bodies. So, essentially your very own homemade Gatorade without all the chemicals, dyes, and sugar!
I also love real lemonade. Lemons are a good source of vitamin C. I start a large mason jar. I squeeze one half of a lemon into the jar. Fill the jar with filtered water. I take the other half of the lemon and cut them into slices. Drop them into the jar. You can add one or two shakes of your sea salt if you want. I like my lemonade a little sweet (because, for real) so I add in one packet of stevia. My husband likes it plain so his jar will have no stevia. Throw in some ice and drink right away or set in the fridge and enjoy when chilled. This one is great for summer parties! Other fruits and greens can be added to water as well.
Finally, another option my husband and I love is green tea. Green tea has so many amazing hydrating and detoxing benefits for us! Here’s what we do to make cold tea. Again, we start with the large mason jar. I use three organic green tea bags and drop them into the jar. Fill with filtered water. Set in the fridge until the tea has had enough time to steep. We love this unsweetened, but you can add in some stevia to make a nice, sweet tea. Pour into a glass over some ice or just drink it from the mason jar. You’re good to go!
Lastly, the most important take-away here that I want you to know, is that your body may need electrolytes more than it is actually needing water. This can be because if you’re working out heavily, if you’re a blue collar worker and sweat profusely during your work day (could be worse in the summertime), or even some medications, such as like the epileptic medicines my sons are on. Listen to your body. Balance is key.
There you have it. So many ways in which to hydrate, re-hydrate and stay hydrated! Water is, after all, life. Do your body good and drink more water. Dare I say it? Stay thirsty my friends.