Drink Up!
TLDR: Whether it’s summertime or winter, you’re working out or staying in, we all need to be hydrated! The benefits of being fully hydrated extend far beyond just quenching our thirst and replacing sweat. Water is truly the life force of our bodies and minds!
Hello again, friends!
I have a question for you… Do you think you drink enough water during the day? Maybe you’re thinking “Yeah, I drink a little when I’m feeling thirsty and then I’m good.” But the truth is, we should be staying hydrated enough to rarely feel thirsty. In fact, when we’re feeling thirsty, we’re already dehydrated! And using thirst as a guide for when to drink water can be skewed – especially in seniors and those on certain medications.
This is an area in my own health that I feel I am constantly working on improving. Life gets busy! It’s easy to get moving through my day and forget to drink anything for a good while… It isn’t until the symptoms of mild dehydration creep up that I realize I need to rehydrate!
Did you know that being even just 1% dehydrated cause your brain cells to shrink?
Did you know that studies have shown that being even slightly dehydrated causes the brain to react stronger physical pain?
For years, it has been recommended that everyone should drink 8 glasses of water a day. However, this isn’t exactly accurate for most of the population. In fact, a ton of factors go into determining how much water you should be drinking every day. In general, it is recommended to drink 1/3 of your body weight in ounces of water. For instance, a person weighing 150lb should drink 50 ounces of water. But again, this is still dependent on whether you’ve been sweating, the humidity of the weather, if you’ve eaten too much sodium, if you are on certain medications, etc. All-in-all, 1/3 body weight in ounces is a good place to start and then adjust your needs from there.
Let’s Eat for Hydration
As we all know, we need to drink enough water, or liquid in general, to stay fully hydrated and feeling and functioning our best. BUT, foods can also help keep us hydrated.
In fact, about 20 percent of our hydration comes from the foods we eat. We can maximize this by eating foods with high water content as much as possible. A lot of fruits and vegetables contain a good deal of water and can be a great addition to your meals to help with H2O intake.
Brothy soups and stews are also a tasty way to get extra liquid in your diet. Plus, most are made with lots of vegetables so there's another added bonus! Just keep an eye on the salt content of store-bought and restaurant soups.
Side note: this is also a good way to fill up on foods that are typically low in calorie but filling - because of how much water they contain. So, if weight loss is a goal of yours, perhaps try some of these for a low calorie but filling snack.
Let’s Move for Hydration
Did you know... being dehydrated by only 2% can decrease your exercise and workout performance by 10%-20%? I don't know about y'all, but when I hit the gym, I hope to get my best workout in. Knowing being even slightly dehydrated can have such a huge effect on that, I want to do everything I can to prevent it!
On top of that, being dehydrated can cause a host of other problems during your workout. Your body temperature will be higher than normal, your heart rate with increase more than it should, you will become more easily tired/fatigued. Also, dehydration can actually cause nausea and dizziness which will really put a damper on your gains.
Wellness for Hydration
I just wanted to throw a few more good reasons out there as to why we should all be staying fully hydrated. We tend to think about the obvious things, like not being thirsty or replacing sweat we've lost - but water is crucial for every single part of our body - AND our minds!
Did you know staying hydrated can actually help you sleep better? It also helps with brain function and memory. It's good for your heart health and helps with weight loss. It helps with joint pain and preventing infections... Is there anything good ol' H2O can't do???
Stay hydrated, my friends! Your body – and mind – will thank you!
Have a healthy, happy, and hydrated weekend!
