Drink More Water

Water. Comprising 71% of the earth and 60% of an adult human’s entire physical makeup. Surprisingly enough, in my experience with clients, most people don’t consume nearly enough. When you drink more water, it allows your entire body and mind to function at it’s peak capabilities. While the human body can take weeks , months or sometimes even years to build deficiencies of Macronutrients, a person can only survive a few days without water. The worst part is, the body isn’t good at judging it’s own hydration levels, so one cannot simply rely on thirst alone as an indicator.

Benefits of Adequate Water Intake

Importance of proper hydration is paramount for optimal wellness/performance. Without enough water in your system, it can impair virtually every single physiologic function of the human body. Drinking enough water daily can provide the following benefits:

• Improved function of the endocrine glands (your bodies chemical messaging system)
• Alleviation of fluid retention (especially important in females)
• Improved liver function and increase in fat used as energy
• Improved Metabolic functions
• Better distribution of nutrients throughout the body
• Increased body temperature regulation
• Maintained blood volume

How Much Water Should a Person Drink Daily?

Water intake will vary greatly, but at the BARE MINIMUM, a person a should be consuming (10) 8 oz glasses each and every day (for a total of 80 oz). Bare minimum would be the recommendation for someone that sits at home on the couch all day and doesn’t sweat. Some of the other factors to consider when trying to figure out how much you should be drinking include:

• Daily physical activity level (more for those that play sports, workout, or work physically demanding jobs)
• Sex (men tend to have more muscle mass, which would require more water to maintain)
• Your frame size (the bigger you are, the more you need)
•  Environment. Is it hot and you sweat a lot?
• Age

While there are certain scientific formulas one can follow to really dial in their intake recommendations (more on that here), one can easily judge their own hydration simply by the color of their pee. You can see a cool visual chart on that here.

Simply the act of drinking more water could be one of the best things you can do for your body and the results are almost instantaneous. Who knows, not drinking enough in the first place could quite be what is causing major stresses in your body!

Tips to help you drink more water

I fully understand that drinking water might not be the greatest thing in your life. After all, it is an acquired taste, even though it is tasteless (pun intended). Here are a few tips to help you drink more:

• Carry around a water bottle and know how many times you have to fill it to reach your goal.(while also doing your part to reduce single use plastic bottles)
• Flavored water. Soaking in fruit, herbs or even powdered, natural flavors can really help it become more attractive to your taste buds. (more ideas here)
• Drink at least 16 oz of water within the first hour of waking up.
• Carbonated water.

Try and drink more and your body will reward you for it! 

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