The Importance of Water and Why Drinking Water is So Important For our Health
Every now and then we need to be reminded about the importance of water and why we need to make sure we meet the daily water requirements for maintaining good health.
The Human Body Needs Water for Good Health so Drink Your Way to Better Health – Become a Water Warrior!
What makes up 75% of the earth and about 60% of humans? Right, water! The benefits of water are always sung from the highest rooftops, yet many people don’t enjoy drinking it.
When we start to embrace the movement of getting healthy and putting the right things into our bodies, changing our drink of choice to water should be the first thing we do!
Your body needs a pretty steady supply of (water) liquids to carry out its normal daily functions. Yes, even breathing! When you lose more water than you are drinking, your body then starts to become dehydrated. Think a grape turning into a rasin.
So go grab your water glass or bottle and read on!
Lose Weight and Feel Better by Drinking More Water
You probably already know that drinking more water can help you shed extra weight. Increased water intake and weight loss go hand-in-hand. But did you know drinking more water can also help you feel better physically?
There are numerous ways that drinking more water benefits your body. Consider the following five truths if you need further convincing of water’s amazing benefits and why it’s so important.
– Drinking more water can help you fight fatigue. Are you tired of feeling tired? It might be time to up your intake of good, old H2O. The enzymes in your body don’t work at full capacity if you are running low on water. Drink more each hour and watch your energy level pick up significantly.
– If your blood pressure tends to run on the high side, try increasing your water intake and measure your results. Keep a blood pressure monitor at home and track your results throughout the day. You just might see your blood pressure dip slightly when you make sure your body is fully hydrated at all times.
– If you deal with constipation on a regular basis, upping your daily water intake can reduce that yucky stopped-up feeling. You can’t have a day filled with energy and enthusiasm when you have that persistent feeling of needing to empty your bowels. Make a point of drinking a glass of water each hour throughout your day and watch your bowels magically empty the next morning.
– Dehydration can lead to dry skin. If you are plagued by flaky skin, try to get more H2O into your body each day. Who knows, you just might be able to ditch the skin creams and lotions once your body is fully hydrated.
– Ensuring you remain hydrated can help reduce the signs of aging. Plump, hydrated skin doesn’t wrinkle as easily as dehydrated skin. If you want to keep looking younger longer, it is time to make a commitment to drinking more water.
Flushing your system with water helps eliminate toxins and sends those pesky fat cells down the drain. You can lose weight quickly by drinking more water and improve your overall health too. Are you now completely convinced of the multiple benefits of H2O?
Drinking water is one of the best things you can do for your body. Not a fan of plain water? Try some of our homemade flavored water ideas!
Homemade Flavored Water Ideas To Help You Drink More Water
If you are trying to be a bigger fan of drinking water, perhaps you would enjoy infused waters. Different combinations of fruits in your water help your body in different ways.
- For example, cucumber, strawberry, and kiwi have been shown to support blood sugar health and aid in digestion.
- Watermelon can help your body flush out toxins.
- Lime, lemon, and orange help build immunities and help with digestion and easing heartburn.
- Strawberry, pineapple and sage water helps you relax. Apple cinnamon stick water can help raise your metabolism.
- Ginger is believed to have numerous healing qualities not to mention the power to ease a bad tummy. The list goes on and on. The trick is finding what flavors you enjoy and will help you consume more water.
Not a big fan of water? Perhaps easing into water drinking mode is the way to go. Like any other habit, drinking water may take some getting used to. Start with one glass of lemon water in the morning – experts say you should drink it within 15 minutes of waking up to get your metabolism going.
When you place fruit, herbs and, yes, even vegetables in your water, you are infusing the water not only with those oh-so-good natural tastes, you are also adding essential vitamins and nutrients to a normally nutritiously bland beverage. This not only gives you the power that only water can provide for your body, but several disease-fighting, fat-busting, energy-promoting agents to help your body be at its best.
Experiment with different fruits – all are good for you in different ways. Swap a cola for a glass of infused water at lunch…it’s much cheaper than a sugary drink! Drink a glass full of infused water before eating to help fill your stomach so you don’t eat as much.
Once you find a water you enjoy, you will start to crave it instead of your usual sugary drink. You will notice that you feel better, your hair and nails will be stronger, and your skin will be clearer.
Hydrating with water smoothes wrinkles!!!
Stick with it for 2 or 3 weeks – you will start to see benefits and will begin to form a new, zero-calorie, good-for-you habit. And isn’t that what we are all striving for?
Water Can Help you to Eat Fewer Calories
Water can help you eat fewer calories than you would if you didn’t drink water before meals. Livestrong notes a study where participants consumed 75-90 fewer calories with 2 8-oz glasses before dinner per meal. Now consuming 90 fewer calories per meal may not seem like a whole lot. However, if you did this every meal you could lose up to 28 pounds a year. How?
If you save 90 calories a meal, three times a day, that’s 270 calories every day that you’re not eating. If you do this every day for a week, you’ve not consumed 1890 calories.
Continue saving that 90 calories a meal every week for a year, and you’ve saved 98,280 calories. 3500 calories make up a pound. In weight loss, the theory is that a deficit of 3500 calories means 1 pound of weight loss. By saving 98,280 cals you’ve created a pretty big gap, meaning 28 pounds!
On the flipside, if you were to continue eating as normal that 90 calories could be in excess. Therefore, instead of saving yourself you’ve actually gained 28 pounds in a year. All of this weight loss or weight gain is changed by only drinking two 8-ounce glasses of water before each meal.
Hunger And Thirst Cues Are the Same
You may be reaching for a snack when what you should be reaching for is a tall glass of water. Did you know that your body sends out the exact same signal for hunger that it does for thirst.
Many people don’t know how to tell the difference between hunger and thirst, and because we so rarely think about dehydration, we assume that we are hungry. Next time you’re getting hungry signals from your brain try reaching for a glass of water instead. You may find out that you were just thirsty.
Now you know four surprising ways that water can help you control how much and what you eat. Helping you stop cravings and eat less water is a fantastic one-stop shop for your diet solutions. What are some ways that you have noticed water help you with your diet?
Here are a few of our Water Favorites to Help You Drink More Water:
WaterMelon Cucumber Infused Water
½ gallon of spring water
3 cups of watermelon, sliced into chunks
½ cup of sliced cucumber
½ of the juice of one lemon
couple of mint leaves
Place the fruit in the bottom of a large water pitcher and fill with spring water. Squeeze in the lemon and add a few mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Enjoy over a large glass filled with ice.
You can leave the rind and skins on the fruit but scrub the fruit well to remove any residue.
Ginger Lemon Water
64 (oz) of spring water, or 8 cups
2 slices of lemon
a “knob” of ginger (about a 1 inch piece.)
2 slices of cucumber
Add lemon and fresh ginger to the bottom of a small glass pitcher. Add 8 cups of spring water. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Place 2 slices of cucumber in each glass with ice. Pour ginger water into each glass.
Ginger Lemonade
Skip the cucumber above and add a ½ tablespoon of pure honey to the water pitcher.
(Fresh ginger can last a long time if left in the freezer. If left unpeeled can last about 3 weeks in the refrigerator.)
WaterMelon Strawberry Infused Water
½ gallon of spring water
2-3 cups of sliced watermelon
1 cup of sliced strawberries
2 slices of lemon
Place the fruit in the bottom of a large water pitcher and fill with spring water. Enjoy water over a glass of ice.
The Fat Buster
½ Cucumber
1 Grapefruit, skinned and sliced into wedges
5 Chopped peppermint or spearmint leaves
1 Tangerine, skinned and sliced into wedges
Fill a 32 oz. to 64 oz. mason jar to about a third of the way with ice, add all ingredients. Then, using a wooden spoon, lightly press your ingredients to get the juices flowing, but do not mash. Once you have done that, you may fill the rest of the jar with water, cover with the lid, and set in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes to allow the flavor and essential nutrients to properly infuse with the water. Serve cold either right out of the jar or in your favorite tall glass and enjoy! Note: removing the skins and the seeds will provide a less bitter flavor
Immune Buster
1 or 2 Lemon(s), skinned and sliced
1 Lime, skinned and sliced
1 Orange, skinned and sliced
Fill a 32 oz. to 64 oz. mason jar to about a third of the way with ice, add the lemon(s), lime and orange. Then, using a wooden spoon, lightly press your ingredients to get the juices flowing, but do not mash. Once you have done that, you may fill the rest of the jar with water, cover with the lid, and set in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes to an hour to allow the flavor and essential nutrients to properly infuse with the water. Serve cold either right out of the jar or in your favorite tall glass and enjoy!
Appetite Buster
1/2 Cucumber, skinned and sliced
1 Lime, skinned and sliced
1 Lemon, skinned and sliced
Fill a 32 oz. to 64 oz. mason jar to about a third of the way with ice, add the cucumber, lime and lemon. Then, using a wooden spoon, lightly press your ingredients to get the juices flowing, but do not mash. Once you have done that, you may fill the rest of the jar with water, cover with the lid, and set in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes (I usually go with an hour) to allow the flavor and essential nutrients to properly infuse with the water. Serve cold either right out of the jar or in your favorite tall glass and enjoy!
Note: removing the skins and the seeds will provide a less bitter flavor.
Health Infuser
3 to 4 Sage leaves
1 cup Blackberries
Fill a 32 oz. to 64 oz. mason jar to about a third of the way with ice, add the sage leaves and blackberries. Then, using a wooden spoon, lightly press your ingredients to get the juices flowing, but do not mash. Once you have done that, you may fill the rest of the jar with water, cover with the lid, and set in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes (I usually go with an hour) to allow the flavor and essential nutrients to properly infuse with the water. Serve cold either right out of the jar or in your favorite tall glass and enjoy!
Drink more Healthy Tea!
Next to water, tea is the most commonly consumed drink in the world. And tea is just as nutritious as water!
As it turns out, five of the tastiest teas also boast fantastic health benefits that can influence everything from weight loss to disease prevention. Here’s what you need to know about how these teas can boost your health.
Five Delicious Teas With Surprising Health Benefits
1) Chai tea
Originating in India, chai tea contains a deliciously fragrant mix of cinnamon, cloves, fennel and cardamom. In addition, each of these ingredients is linked to a significant health benefit, making chai tea a useful addition to your diet. Firstly, studies on cinnamon show that it can help to keep your blood sugar levels under control, making it a useful weapon in the diabetic’s arsenal. Meanwhile, cloves improve the scent of your breath, counteracting the side effects of certain medications and diseases. Fennel is equally useful, treating trapped wind and soothing the painful cramps associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Finally, cardamom is an anti-emetic, which means that it helps to counteract nausea if you’re ill, feeling motion sick or suffering from a bad hangover.
2) Oolong tea
A traditional Chinese tea, Oolong is a particularly good choice if you want to improve your cardiovascular health. The particular antioxidants found in oolong tea have been repeatedly proven to lower the levels of LDL (i.e. ‘bad’) cholesterol, thereby cutting your risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart disease.
3) Green tea
Although you have probably heard that green tea is good for you, few people know just how many health benefits are associated with this tea.
Firstly, those who drink the most green tea reduce their risk of developing a wide range of cancers, including malignancies of the colon, lung, bladder and breast. Secondly, a large Japanese study has proven that drinking just a few cups of green tea each day substantially reduces your risk of developing a fatal case of heart disease. Green tea is also a godsend for dieters, as it contains catechins that can help you to lose weight by ensuring that you burn more calories at a faster rate. Finally, green tea could even help you to maintain cognitive function in older age, as people who consume more green tea appear to be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
4) White tea
The delicate flavor of white tea results from using only the buds of the tea plant, and the health benefits of white teas are amongst the most interesting. Specifically, their extremely high antioxidant content means that they may help to reduce your overall cancer risk by protecting your body from damage caused by free radicals. As a bonus, white tea can keep you looking younger for longer, as scientists in England have recently shown that the chemicals in white tea promote elastic, healthy looking skin.
5) Black tea
Finally, black tea is a source of powerful polyphenols that appear to reduce the risk of developing cancers of the skin, stomach and esophagus. In addition, black teas contain more caffeine than any other tea, so they can be a useful alternative to coffee if you are in need of some extra energy. Finally, smokers (or those who spend a lot of time around smokers) should definite increase their intake of black tea, as studies show that all types of this tea can help to protect your body from the damage caused by cigarette smoke.
ALSO READ 10 Quick Ways to Eat Your Water! and Best Tea to Drink for Good Health
