Making healthier choices doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it can be as easy as drinking water.
Your body needs water to function properly. Water’s a vital part of your blood (which carries oxygen to your body), lymph (which fights off sickness), and cells. Water helps keep your ears, nose and throat moist. It flushes toxins from your organs. Water helps with weight loss. You sweat it out, pee it out, poop it out, and breathe it out. More than half your body weight is water.
Not getting enough water
Water is free of calories and promotes good health – yet many people do not consume enough water each day. In 2007, the National Cancer Institute offered the Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey and revealed that out of 3,397 American adults, 7 percent reported no daily consumption of drinking water. And 36 percent reported drinking 1 to 3 cups. Hopefully those numbers don’t reflect the American population as a whole – but the low water intake was found to be associated with age, unhealthy behaviors, and location.
Without enough water, the human body simply can’t carry out normal functions. Even mild cases of dehydration can lead to dizziness, fatigue, headaches, tiredness, an inability to focus, muscle cramps, and decreased energy and strength. Surprisingly, a dry mouth and thirst are not early signs of dehydration.
An easy check
Checking if you’re getting enough water is as simple as going to the bathroom. After you urinate, look in your toilet bowl before flushing – if your urine is clear, you’re getting enough water. If you notice a color, start sipping some water. Yellow and orange urine shouldn’t be normal colors – and brown urine is the sign of medical problems. (See your doctor ASAP.)
There are cases when people may drink too much water, so use your good judgment to find a balance that’s right for you. If you know you don’t drink much water, drink more. But don’t guzzle excessive amounts.
Drinking enough water
Most people have heard of drinking eight 8-ounce glasses a day. It’s an ambitious goal, but it’s not exactly a one-size-fits-all guideline. More water is needed if you exercise, if you breastfeed, if you’re sick, or if you live in certain climates. (The Institute of Medicine recommends 13 cups of total beverages a day for men and 9 cups of total beverages a day for women. Note that this is not strictly water.)
While some people love to guzzle water, others can hardly stand the thought of bringing a glass of water to their lips. Based on my own personal experiences, I know that the more I drink water, the more water I want to drink. (Funny, huh?) I’ve figured out my preferences – if I have icy cold water or water flavored with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, I’ll drink glass after glass. But lukewarm, plain old water? No thank you.
(Lemon water is particularly great because it helps to stimulate your liver and aid your body’s digestive process.)
Figure out what makes water enticing to you … and drink up! Opt for a glass of water with each meal. You’ll save yourself plenty of unnecessary calories with this choice.
If you prefer the flavor of soda pops or fruit juices, experiment with flavors in your water – NOT in the flavored waters available at stores, but by flavoring your own plain old water with fruit or veggie slices. Simply adding a slice of lemon, lime, orange, or cucumber can make a tremendous flavorful difference.
Try to drink a glass of water between each meal. If you exercise, drink water before, during and after you do it.
And if you have children, give them water to drink so become accustomed to the taste – their little bodies don’t need the extra sugars and ingredients found in fruit juices, fruit drinks or soda pop.
Talk back
How do you add water into your daily drinking habits?
Sources
Water: How much should you drink every day?
Behaviors and Attitudes Associated With Low Drinking Water Intake Among US Adults, Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey, 2007
The Truth About How Much Water You Should Really Drink
Why Drinking Water Is the Way to Go
Image courtesy of nixxphotography/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Really confused on the water issue. One of the blogs I follow in the Real Food World mentioned a post that discussed that too much water effected cell function. It claimed that you drank too much water if your urine was clear. I always heard what you are saying her but am confused which way to go. I am going to have to research this more but wondered if you had ever heard this idea.
I don.t know about the the color of urine and if there is scientific evidence on either position, my bet is that both are indicating good hydration. But there are problems with too much water consumption as excess water flushes out minerals of the body. It seems to me however that she some people in the paleo movement make it a bigger problem than it is. Most people don.t drink enough water and have too high a sodium intake, so the chances that one drinks too much water that will endanger us are minor, but dehydration is a real issue. I know a bunch of people who were in hospital because of dehydration, but no one who had to go to the ER because of excess water consumption.
I agree with Lydia – I think that people tend to drink far less water than they should. There is definitely a problem with drinking too much water: hyponatremia, or dilution of the blood caused by drinking too much water. You can read more about it here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill/.
The main point of my post was to encourage people who are starting a healthier lifestyle to choose water over other beverages. It’s been my experience that unless I know someone is trying to be healthy, most people prefer juices, soda pop, or coffee — and most children I’ve come in contact turn their noses up at plain old water.
I agree, most people aren’t walking around overly hydrated. I made the mistake, like so many parents, by thinking toddlers should drink juice. Ever. I even watered it down, but I wish I had never purchased it. My kids are 11 and 12 now and 90% of the time you will only find milk or water in our house.
It sounds like my house, Evie! All we ever drink is milk or water, and I never think twice about it … until we have unexpected company and I don’t have much selection to offer.