Water Intake: 12 Killer Months to a Healthier, Beautiful You

Drink Water

Water Intake 

The topic for this month is water intake. Such a simple topic, but so very important! Many do not realize just how crucial it is that their bodies get adequate water.

Did you know that most people are permanently dehydrated and don’t know it?

How Much?

How much water should you be drinking you ask? Half your body weight is an appropriate amount.  For instance, if you weigh 200 pounds, your goal should be to drink 100 ounces of water each day.

Benefits of Drinking Fresh Water First Thing in the Morning

Water balances your lymphatic system: These glands help you perform your daily functions, balance your body fluids, and fight infection. Increase your water intake to help boost your lymphatic system.

• Glowing skin: Water helps to purge toxins from the blood which helps in keeping your skin youthful and clear
• Helps with weight loss: Drinking just 16 oz. of water first thing in the morning helps boost your metabolism
• Increases the production of new blood and muscle cells
• Drinking water on an empty stomach purifies the colon helping it to easily absorb nutrients
• You should drink a glass of room temperature water as soon as you wake up.

Signs of Dehydration

Some signs of dehydration include fatigue, constipation, muscle cramps, hunger, increased heart rate, and dark urine, increased thirst, dry mouth and throat, bad breath, dry skin, headache, fever

Do not wait until you feel thirsty to drink water. By then you are already dehydrated. Thirst can send confusing signals to the body and brain. A good example of this is when you think you’re hungry when really you’re just thirsty.

Causes of Dehydration

There are various reasons for dehydration like intense physical activity, which makes you lose so much water. So proper hydration is necessary.

Other causes of dehydration:

• Diarrhea: It prevents your intestinal tract from absorbing water from the foods that you eat.
• Vomiting
• Sweating
• Diabetes. Aside from having high blood sugar levels, some medications for diabetes like diuretics may cause diabetics to frequently urinate.
• Frequent urination. It can be caused by alcohol and certain drugs like antihistamines, blood pressure medications, and antipsychotics.

Ways to Get More Water

• Eat hydrating veggies and fruit
• Keep a water bottle handy
• Jazz up plain water to help with boredom
• Try different teas

High-Water Content Fruits

Eating fruit and vegetables with high water content is a great way to assists in getting your water intake each day. Watermelon and strawberries contain about 90 percent of water per volume.

Other fruits with high water content include grapefruit, cantaloupe, and peaches, pineapple, cranberries, orange, raspberries, blueberries, plums, apricots, apples, pears, cherries, grapes, and bananas.

High-Water Content Vegetables

Vegetables with high water content include cucumber, lettuce, zucchini, radish, celery, tomatoes, spinach, red cabbage, broccoli, carrots, and peppers.

What To Do

I advise to not drink tap water ever. It contains fluoride, heavy metals, and disinfection byproducts that may have ill effects on your health. Install a water filter in your home if you can.

You have to think holistically when it comes to your health. Think about it.

You want to remove toxins from all the water in your house, not just your drinking water. That means when you take a shower, wash your hair, use water for cooking, etc. you want to utilize non-toxic water as well.

Ideally, a good home water filter for everything is best. If you can’t afford one, or you prefer taking baby steps on your health journey, most definitely start with a good water filter for your drinking water.

The Best Water

The best water to drink is water from a spring. However, most of us aren’t fortunate enough to live close to a spring and fill up their bottles with water all the time. The alternative is to buy spring water from the store.

Coconut water is a great replacement for commercially sold sports drinks. It provides optimal health benefits due to its anti-inflammatory, amino acids, and antioxidants.

Lemon water is great to have in the morning. It naturally cleanses you and hydrates upon waking and is energizing as well. It’s also rich in vitamins and minerals and is a wonderful tonic to detoxify your entire system.

If you’re anything like me though you can get a bit lazy when it comes to cutting and squeezing lemon juice in your water. I solved that problem by buying this great little water bottle that infuses fruit into your water.

You just place whatever fruit you want in a component at the bottom of the water bottle, and it does all the work for you!  It has really saved me time and helps me to get my lemon water intake regularly.

Be happy. Be healthy. Be OrganicallYou!