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How to Drink More Water: 7 Easy Ways to Increase Your Water Intake
It’s fairly common knowledge that drinking water is good for you. A lot of water. Just to refresh (pun intended but not intended), the benefits of drinking water include, but are not limited to:
- Helping maintain balance of bodily fluids – The 60% of your body that is water serves to aid in digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of normal body temperature. Lacking water will hinder your body’s ability to do all of these tasks.
- Helping energize muscles – Drinking water helps replace fluids lost through perspiration during exercise, helping to maintain performance. Muscles lacking a fluid balance will fatigue more easily than those with appropriately balanced levels.
- Keeping skin looking good – Dehydration can cause skin to look dry and wrinkled, whereas proper hydration can help improve that. In addition, use of a moisturizer can help lock in moisture and keep skin looking healthy.
- Helping Kidneys Function – Your kidneys serve to transport waste and toxins out of your body but they’re unable to do so if you don’t get enough fluids. In addition, low fluid consumption puts you at higher risk for painful kidney stones.
- Maintaining Normal Bowel Function – Everyone’s favorite topic! When you’re adequately hydrated, things flow normally along your gastrointestinal tract and you have regular bowel movements. When you’re dehydrated, the colon has to take water from the stools to stay hydrated, which leaves you constipated!
Hopefully you’re convinced now of the importance of staying hydrated, but this may not change the fact that drinking lots of water can be boring. Below are some ways to add a little zest to your water and make sure you’re keeping your body hydrated and fully functioning:
How to Drink More Water: 7 Easy Ways to Increase Your Water Intake
1) Add a few cucumber slices to your glass for a light, refreshing, summery spin.
2) Try carbonated water instead of normal. Be careful of ones with artificial sweeteners and opt for adding a lemon or lime wedge to a plain variety.
3) Add some fresh herbs to the mix. Mint is especially delicious, especially on a hot day, but you could also try ginger, lemongrass, lavender, or rose hips.
4) If you’re tired of the more traditional lemon water, try adding sliced berries, instead. You can use whatever is in season, such as watermelon, cherries, pineapple, and more.
5) Try freezing a little fruit juice into ice cubes to add a little bit of flavor that will get released slowly into your water. Berries or sliced grapes are great to freeze in, but you can always drop some frozen berries in straight, as if they were ice cubes. As they melt, you’ll get a hint of flavor.
6) Try combining a bunch of the options above, such as in a ginger, cucumber, lemon, mint combination that’s sure to leave you delighted.
7) Lastly, my personal favorite: stick a few slices of watermelon in your blender until you have a puree. Serve it over ice and thank me later.
These tips should help you stay hydrated not only through the hot summer months, but throughout the entire year.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-reasons-to-drink-water
http://www.fitbie.com/slideshow/12-ways-make-water-less-boring
