Want to maximize your weight loss? Support your immune system? Help your body function at it's best? Prevent disease?
What is one thing you could do to help achieve all these goals? The best part being - it's free and readily available.
Making sure you're hydrated.
Water accounts for somewhere between 60-70 percent of the human body and is critical for reaching your best health. In fact, even mild dehydration can impair important bodily functions.
When you're mildly dehydrated you can experience headaches, muscle cramps, dry mouth and/or fatigue. Without enough water, your body won't be able to focus on detoxification and keep things running smoothly.
When we are losing weight, getting enough water becomes even more critical. Our body stores away toxins in fat stores. When we begin to empty those fat stores - these toxins are released into the blood stream. Increasing our water intake is a way to help support our bodies detoxification processes.
How Much Water Should You Drink?
Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces. For a 150 pound woman, that would come to 75 ounces per day. In other words, 7.5 ten ounce glasses of water per day.
However, there are situations where you may need to drink more water than this.
Keto Diet
Your body will require more water while on a keto diet, especially when you're losing weight. You'll also want to add in an electrolyte formula to your drinking water. This can be something as simple as lemon juice or a specially formulated electrolyte blend for the keto diet.
Exercise
If you exercise at a level that makes you sweat, you need to increase the amount of water you drink to replace the lost fluids. The amount depends on the duration and intensity of the exercise. Listen to your body and make sure to adequately hydrate.
Hot or Humid Weather or Sauna Use
There’s nothing like a hot and humid summer day in Iowa where you walk outside and are instantly covered with a sheen of sweat. Spend a day outside in this weather and you’ll find your body crying out for fluids as it tries to regulate your body temperature and perform daily functions. Make sure you are drinking a lot of water and avoiding caffeine when spending time outdoors in these conditions.
Illness/Fever
When your body temperature is elevated or you are experiencing vomiting or diarrhea your body is losing valuable fluids. Consider drinking a natural re-hydration fluid such as Coconut Water or using an electrolyte formula to help your body replenish lost electrolytes.
Pregnancy or Breastfeeding
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, large amounts of fluids are being used by your body and you will want to increase the amount of fluids you are consuming to stay hydrated.
In all of these situations, you should increase your level of hydration. However, sometimes plain water gets pretty boring.
How Can I Dress Up My Water?
We like to use Young Living Vitality Essential Oils in our water to add flavor and therapeutic benefits. My favorite combination is 1 drop each of Lime, Orange and Lemon Vitality Essential Oils in a 20 ounce glass water bottle.
Remember that citrus oils will digest petrochemicals in plastics and you should never put citrus oils in a plastic or Styrofoam container. Only use a glass water bottle. Stainless steel is ok if there is no internal lining.
Warning; We only would ever ingest Young Living Vitality Essential Oils because we trust their purity and know there are no fillers or additives in the oils. Never ingest just any brand of Essential Oil as you could be ingesting chemicals that are only meant for aroma purposes.
Another of our favorite tricks is adding some organic lemon juice to our water. Lemon juice is an electrolyte and helps improve hydration. It also covers the salty taste of the electrolyte formula we use because we eat a keto diet.
Reference:
Nutrition and healthy eating
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256?pg=2
9 Signs You Might Not Be Drinking Enough Water
http://dailyhealthremedies.com/9-signs-you-might-not-be-drinking-enough-water/2/
14 Signs You’re Not Drinking Enough Water
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/14-signs-youre-not-drinking-enough-water.html
How Drinking Enough Water Improves Your Health
https://www.emedihealth.com/drinking-water-benefits.html
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