How to stay hydrated
Just drink more water.
We’ve all heard this phrase over and over from various sources. Sometimes trying to “just drink” more water isn’t as simple as it sounds. Busy lives lead us to rely on coffee, tea, and energy drinks to stay awake and ultimately leave us forgetting to stay hydrated throughout the day.
Here are a few reasons to help motivate you to drink water:
1. Water helps prevent a dry mouth.
- Water helps to keeps your throat and lips moist to prevent you from having that dry mouth feeling. A dry mouth can be the cause of bad breath and/or an unpleasant taste. It can even lead to cavities.
2. Water promotes cardiovascular health.
- Dehydration tends to lower your blood volume, which causes your heart to have to work harder to pump blood through your body. This in turn makes every day activities, such as walking up the stairs, more difficult.
3. Water keeps your body cool.
- The body releases heat by way of expanding blood vessels that are close to the surface of the skin. Since your body does this, as you drink there is more blood that will flow through your body and more heat released. In opposition, if you are dehydrated your body has a harder time expanding its blood vessels, thus you stay hotter.
4. Water helps muscles and joints work better.
- When you are hydrated, the water both inside and outside of the cells in your contracting muscles gives sufficient nutrients and helps to remove waste from the tissue to help you perform better. Staying hydrated is also important for your joints as water helps them to stay lubricated. This in turn helps them move smoothly.
5. Water keeps skin supple.
- When you are severely dehydrated, your skin becomes less elastic. This is quite different from having dry skin, which is more closely related to soap use, hot water and exposure to dry air.
6. Water helps cleanse your body — inside and out.
- The kidneys need water in order to filter waste from the blood and excrete it in urine. So, evidently water is very important for your kidneys. Staying hydrated may also help prevent urinary tract infections as well as kidney stones. Severe dehydration may cause the kidneys to shut down and stop working. In turn, this will cause the toxins to build up within the body which can be quite harmful.
Here’s a few ways to help you to drink more water:
1. Drink a glass of water after every bathroom break
2. Take a sip before every meal
3. Use an app on your smartphone to help you track how much water you consume
4. Or, get fancy and buy a high-tech water bottle that tracks it for you! (roughly $60)
5. Dilute sugary drinks with water and ice
6. Keep a gallon jug nearby (in your car?)
7. Invest in a filter
8. Choose sparkling or mineral water over pop
9. Eat water-rich foods
10. Add flavour to your water
Stay Hydrated!
#MovementIsEverything
Photo by Alan Carrillo on Unsplash