When you think of your health, what is the first thing that you think of? A healthy diet, daily exercise, water – all of these things may be the key to a long, healthy life. If you choose only one of these things, however, let it be water.
Our bodies are made up of approximately fifty-five to sixty percent water. You excrete water each day in your sweat, urine, stool and breath. Replenishing that water is extremely important to sustain a healthy body and a healthy lifestyle.
What does water do for you?
Water helps to regulate your body temperature, lubricate your joints, dissolve minerals and nutrients so your body can use them, flushes toxins from your body to optimize kidney and liver function, prevents constipation, aids in digestion of foods, protects your organs and tissues, moistens the tissues in your mouth, nose, and eyes and much more. It’s fairly obvious that nearly every major system in a person’s body must have water in order to function to the best of its ability.
Water and weight loss go hand in hand
Along with helping your body to function to its prime, water can also help in managing a healthy weight. The effectiveness of water for weight loss is simple: drinking a glass of water before a meal fills your stomach with a zero calorie substance. As a result, you’ll feel full more quickly thus limiting the amount of calorie-dense and oftentimes unhealthy foods you’ll eat at that meal. In short, it’s a pretty simple way to help you cut down the number of calories you consume without forcing you into a life of tummy rumbling hunger while you diet.
While drinking water cannot even come close to ensuring a rate of health leveling at one hundred percent, it is definitely the first step to take and also one of the most important.
What will happen if you don’t get enough water?
Now that you know what water can do to help you, you may be wondering what will happen if you don’t drink enough water. As we’ve already said, our bodies excrete water every day in normal functioning. If you do not replenish that water supply, you could easily become dehydrated. Most of us also know that dehydration can be serious and sometimes even fatal, but there’s actually more to dehydration than just that.
Did you know that a person who experiences daily headaches and/or migraines, sluggish and tired afternoons, inability to focus, lack of brainpower, poor memory retention and more may simply be dehydrated? Increasing your water intake could actually begin to resolve a lot of these issues as well. Issues that you may have once thought were just part of who you are and not something that you could fix, may have one simple fix: drink more water.
While you may not be feeling as well as you could, you probably didn’t think that you were dehydrated. Increasing your water intake can boost your energy, brain function and clarity, reduce intensity and number of headaches, reduce the number muscle cramps you have and even allow your heart to function in a more normal fashion.
Making sure you’re getting the water you need
There are many ways that you can increase your water intake including adding certain foods to your diet, but the most effective way is to simply drink more. Just start with a simple guideline of sixty-four ounces or a half gallon per day. You can do this by purchasing a water bottle that holds that amount of water or adding it to your daily planning calendar so you can mark off each glass you drink. Any way that works for you, do it. Just as long as you’re drinking water.
Many people dislike the taste of plain water. If you’re one of those people, try adding to your water to alter the taste: crushed berries, chunks of frozen fruit, mint ice cubes, or a cinnamon stick. You can purchase infuser bottles for this purpose if you’re looking for an on-the-go solution, but a glass in your own kitchen can work just as well.
Try to avoid water flavorings that add extra sodium, sweeteners and sometimes calories to your water since those things can turn your healthy drink into an unhealthy drink. If it’s the only way that you like water, then you can judge for yourself, but I’d say, ‘drink up’. The important part is that you’re still replenishing your water!