It’s not just about staying hydrated. Here are the top reasons you should drink more water on a daily basis!
Water is so important for many different bodily functions. In fact, water is essential for ALL bodily functions.
Drinking water isn’t just about staying hydrated, as important as that is, but it’s also essential for metabolism, preventing fatigue, supporting liver detoxification and overall cellular health.
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Water makes up more than two-thirds of our body weight, which is why it’s essential to stay hydrated. Let’s take a deeper look at why you need to drink more water.
7 Reasons to Drink More Water
1. Fires Up Your Metabolism
Cold water stimulates thermogenesis, meaning you burn more calories!
2. Improves Muscle Tone
If you’re dehydrated you won’t see the beautiful tone in your muscles from all the hard work you put in at the gym.
3. Improves Digestion
We need lots of fluids for our digestive system to function well. Lack of water means a big bloated tummy!
4. Supports Detoxification
Water will help detoxify and flush those toxins from your liver and kidneys.
5. Relieves Constipation
Without water, we couldn’t eliminate waste and other toxins in our bowels.
6. Prevents Fatigue
If you’re tired, drink a large glass of water. It will turn on those brain cells by allowing more oxygen to get to your brain.
7. Improves Joint Health
Water helps to lubricate your joints.
8 Signs You’re Not Drinking Enough Water
Clearly, water serves many important functions that go beyond hydration. In fact, dehydration is probably one of the most common problems I tend to see with my clients.
It’s one thing to experience acute signs of dehydration, but chronic signs of dehydration could lead to kidney problems, constipation, joint pain, back pain, heartburn, digestive issues and colitis.
Additionally, if you have hunger pangs, it’s a good chance you’re not only hungry, but thirsty too!
How do you know if you’re dehydrated? Let’s find out by learning the top signals you should be aware of:
1. Fatigue
An overwhelming sense of sleepiness, dizziness, headaches, and muscle weakness could be your body’s way of telling you to fill up and rehydrate with some necessary H20.
2. Premature Aging
When your body goes into dehydration mode, it begins to affect your body in a number of ways including baggy eyes, dry skin, and redness of the nose.
3. Anxiety
The inability to focus, catch your breath, or dryness in the mouth are just a few of the symptoms attached to anxiety. A solid way to relieve these symptoms begins with replacing your caffeinated drink (like coffee) for ice cold water instead.
4. Constant Headaches
If you’ve ever experienced a hangover before, you’re probably very aware of how painful your head hurts the next morning. That excruciating headache is your brain responding to minimal hydration. There are a number of ways to naturally rid your headache, but a good place to start is by drinking more water.
5. Dizziness
Along with headaches and weakness, you may experience short bouts of dizziness when you’re not drinking enough water. It’s important to refuel with healthy foods and water to balance out your blood sugar levels and keep them in check.
6. Watery Eyes
Allergies can be the worst! Especially when you have an onset of watery eyes, brain fog, and a runny nose to boot. The best way to combat hay fever is to drink more water and find a natural remedy to help give you instant relief.
7. Concentrated Urine
We’ve all been there — it’s that feeling you get when you get a glimpse of your urine and notice it’s a tad darker than it should be. Sometimes when we consume too much sugar or alcohol, we tend to dehydrate our system unknowingly. The best way to keep hydrated is to create a daily routine by consuming at least one liter each day.
8. Dry Lips
The feeling of having dry or chapped lips can be a common signifier your body is in need of some water. In addition to amping up your water game, you can also use a chemical-free lip balm made with castor oil or beeswax.
So What Happens When We Forget to Drink Water?
Well, it all starts with the hypothalamus, the amazing little gland in our brain that is responsible for triggering the process that balances the fluid in our bodies.
When there is little fluid in our body, the hypothalamus will detect dehydration and release certain hormones to control the kidneys from releasing more water. This means you urinate less, which signals your brain to crave more water so your hydration levels return to normal.
Additionally, diuretics like coffee tend to increase blood flow to the kidneys, which forces you to lose more water. [tweet_quote]For every cup of coffee you enjoy, try drinking two cups of water to prevent dehydration.[/tweet_quote]
If you don’t tune into your body’s signals for more water, you can end up with chronic dehydration and potential health issues, as noted above.
Furthermore, dehydration can also result from diarrhea, vomiting, sweating and exercise. It’s important to stay hydrated throughout these less-than-pleasurable experiences since too much water loss can lead to fatigue, muscle cramps, and dizziness.
Ensure you stay hydrated throughout the day and pay attention to any acute signs of dehydration. Staying hydrated will not only fire up your metabolism and decrease inflammation, it will help support overall cellular health, which is vital for longevity.
Water Quality
When it comes to water quality, this can be a touchy subject for some. I personally recommend spring water as it comes straight from the earth, deep within the aquifers that help to naturally cleanse and mineralize the water.
On the other hand, reverse osmosis is also a good choice as long as it has been remineralized. You can simply add in your own minerals, which you can find at a health food store.
As for tap water, I personally don’t recommend it. It’s loaded with fluoride and chlorine, two chemicals that cause serious detriment to our health. [tweet_quote]Chlorine helps to kill waterborne bacteria, but you don’t want to be drinking it![/tweet_quote]
It needs to be filtered out. Chlorine is a known hormone-disruptor, particularly mimicking estrogen in our body. Overexposure to chlorine and other estrogen-mimicking compounds like plastics, can lead to estrogen dominance, creating symptoms such as PMS, weight gain in the hips and thighs, heavy periods, breast tenderness, fibroids and other menstrual irregularities.
As for fluoride, it has been determined to be a toxic poison! Many countries have removed it from their drinking water because of this. In fact, fluoride in toothpaste damages the gums and disrupts collagen production. (1)
Imagine what it’s doing to our teeth and health just by drinking it?
Invest in a quality water filter than can filter out both fluoride and chlorine, or visit Find A Spring to locate a local spring near you.
Ways to Sneak More Water Into Your Daily Routine
Once you’ve gotten yourself the best quality water and your own fancy bottle, try sprucing up your water with some fruity infusions or one of these herbal blends:
- Cucumber and lemon
- Frozen raspberries and mint
- Lime and pineapple
- Mint, lime and watermelon
- Orange, lemon and basil
As an alternative, you can also opt for some naturally hydrating coconut water, which contains plenty of potassium and natural sodium sources. All of these ingredients are great for post-workout recovery.
Additionally, too many sports drinks (like Gatorade) can cause dehydration because it’s high in sugar, draws water from surrounding tissues, and deprives us of water and minerals. Although drinks like these claim to quench your thirst, they actually make us much thirstier and causes mineral deficiencies. If you’re looking for a natural thirst quencher, try making a natural homemade version instead.
(Read This Next: 5 Signs You’re Dehydrated)
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