Is Water Good For You? Easy Ways To Up Your H2O Game

Are you staying hydrated? If you’re thinking about the cappuccino you had for breakfast and the diet soda you drank with your lunch, you may want to rethink your beverage choices today! Even though it may not look like much, water is one of the most beneficial beverages that you can consume. So the next time you wonder, “Is water good for you?”, the answer is, absolutely yes!

You’ve seen good hydration and name brand water bottles become a trend in recent years, but you may be feeling anxious about the fact that you don’t have the time in your schedule to get to a healthy hydration level. You may even be hesitant because you just don’t like the taste of water that much. We also cannot ignore the fact that, being highly addictive, giving up caffeine and high-sugar drinks may seem impossible. But we’re here to tell you that you can!

It takes a person an average of 66 days to make a new behavior into an automatic habit, and you can make today day one by filling up your water bottle instead of your coffee cup. These water benefits will convince you to add more water into your diet and show you the best ways for beginners to do so!

Benefits of Drinking Water

Our bodies are made of around 60% water, so it only makes sense that consuming water is extra important for us to function properly. Organs need many of the nutrients provided by water in order to work correctly. According to Dr. Kristen S. Montgomery, water “must be taken in throughout the day because the body cannot produce enough on its own,” since “adults lose between 1450 to 2800 ml each day” through everyday occurrences such as exhaling or urinating.” Montgomery writes that the average person eating a 2,000 calorie diet each day should consume around 2000–3000 ml of fluid each day, or 8 ½ – 12 cups.

Water is just as essential for good health as it is for good cooking. Here are some water benefits to motivate you to get hydrated!

WATER BOOSTS YOUR ENERGY

Water is one of the pieces factored into your body’s hydration levels. When you don’t drink enough water over a period of a few days, you may become dehydrated. Many beverages, even though they are liquids, can actually cause you to become dehydrated. Soda, tea, coffee, and alcohol are all diuretics, or beverages that actually remove liquid from the body.

Dehydration can cause all kinds of mental and physical ailments for your body, including in some cases fatigue, confusion, brain fog, weak & painful muscles, and more. This is because when you don’t get enough fluids and electrolytes, your brain can’t send neurological signals to the rest of your body as fast as it normally does. This results in your sluggish mood, exhaustion, and difficulty concentrating.

When you drink more water, your body can not only stay energized enough to function well, but also energized enough to get a healthy amount of exercise. Drinking water is the most direct way to stay hydrated without worrying about any of the side effects of caffeine, sugar, or artificial flavorings.

WATER FLUSHES TOXINS FROM YOUR BODY

A detox is by no means just a diet or a fad. Some detoxes can be really beneficial and sometimes even medically necessary. Water is an excellent tool for removing unhealthy toxins from our bodies. Most commonly known, it helps move food through the digestive system by making the digested food softer. Without water, these digested foods would move very slowly through the body and eventually cause constipation. Water helps the nutrients in our digesting food get to where they need to be and helps the waste produced from our digested food exit the body as fast as possible.

Another way in which water helps to rid the body of toxins is through the kidney system. Our kidneys are completely dependent on water for them to function correctly. One main job of the kidneys is to remove waste from the blood and urine. They maintain the body’s water balance and remove toxins through the bladder. Drinking water everyday is extremely helpful in ensuring that these processes take place every day. The water we drink acts as a natural lubricant for our essential organs to keep them running smoothly.

WATER AIDS ABSORPTION

Water begins aiding the body as soon as it enters your mouth. Saliva, which is made of mostly water and requires good hydration, acts as the first step in breaking down the food we eat by softening it so that it may travel smoothly down the throat and esophagus. When the nutrients that we consume are broken down both by saliva and by the water that we drink with a meal, the digested waste is able to move more smoothly through the body, particularly the small and large intestines, where the water helps with the absorption of nutrients that the body needs.

WHY OTHER BEVERAGES AREN’T CUTTING IT

You may be thinking that you have nothing to worry about since you drink lots of other beverages that must contain water. However, some of these beverages also contain other ingredients that are less than desirable for the body. Soda and coffee both contain caffeine, which stimulates the central nervous system and is technically a psychoactive drug with addictive properties. Many people drink caffeinated beverages like coffee, soda, and energy drinks to stay awake, but the ways in which caffeine “wakes up” your body are actually kind of scary.

Caffeine works ver

metallic cans top view. pattern can from beer or soda flat lay

y quickly once consumed. At first, some feel jittery immediately after consuming caffeine. People then experience a raised blood pressure and heart rate. Caffeine then works to keep you awake by binding itself to a neurochemical in your brain called adenosine. This neurochemical normally lets your brain know that it is time to go to sleep, but when caffeine is bound to it, it tricks your brain into keeping you awake. These effects also make it harder for you to fall asleep at night since the caffeine has worked so hard to keep your brain and body alert all day. Some other long term health problems associated with caffeine consumption are anxiety, restlessness, tremors, and an irregular heartbeat. That definitely will not help your body function properly.

Sodas, some coffees, and even fruit juices also contain high levels of sugar. Many people, including children, consume higher amounts of sugar than they should. Drinking too much sugar can eventually lead to a myriad of physical and mental health problems, including inflammation, Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, higher blood pressure, and depression.

Ditch the Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles, Please!

a sea of multi-colored Plastic bottle tops

Now that we’ve covered why you should hydrate

with water, it’s time to go over how. Did you know that 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills every single day? Did you know it also takes around 700 years for a single plastic water bottle to decompose in nature? Needless to say, single use plastic water bottles are doing far more harm than good, especially when there are easy and inexpensive alternatives that don’t do as much harm to the environment.

People, particularly Americans, create massive amounts of waste simply by drinking water irresponsibly every day. Click here for a more comprehensive guide on the detriments of single use plastics.

Switching to the Perfect Reusable Water Bottle

If you’re looking to better your health and also lower your carbon footprint, a reusable plastic water bottle is well worth the investment you make. Switching to a refillable water bottle, whether metal or hard plastic, lowers your carbon footprint by eliminating years worth of single-use plastics from our landfills and your wallet. If you drink from two 16 oz single use water bottles per day, that averages about 730 each year. Replace that with one 32oz metal water bottle that you refill daily, and you’ve eliminated over a thousand plastic water bottles from being sent to the landfill in under two years. I’ve had my metal reusable water bottle for just over two years now, and I don’t think I’ve purchased a disposable water bottle ever since. It easily became a part of my routine to fill it up and take it with me wherever I went: phone, purse, glasses, water bottle.

Hand holding a turquoise stainless steel bottle with urban view

Missing the Flavor? Try Some Infused Water!

If we haven’t convinced you yet to switch to water, these recipes might get you a little more excited. Depending on what you infuse into your water, you can add extra flavor and nutrients into your day! Here are two tasty infused water recipes that you can make at home

Cassie’s Strawberry, Lime, Cucumber, and Mint Infused Water

Yield: 2 QUARTS

Prep Time: 5 MINUTES

Additional time: 10 MINUTES

Total time: 15 MINUTES

Ingredients

1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup sliced cucumbers
2 limes, sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
Ice cubes
Water

Instructions

In a half-gallon jar, or a 2 quart pitcher, layer the strawberries, cucumbers, lime slices, and mint leaves with the ice cubes.
Fill a jar or pitcher with water.
Let chill for 10 minutes, and then enjoy!

Tips!

I can get 2-4 fill-ups out of one batch of flavorings, but you might want to change out your flavorings sooner for stronger flavor.

The longer the water sits, the stronger the flavor. It’s mild at first, but after a few hours (or overnight) it’s quite strong.

Kelly’s Rainbow Citrus Infused Water

Creator: Kelly Roenicke

Total Time: 5 minutes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 2

Calories: 52 kcal

Ingredients

1 blood orange
1 satsuma mandarin or clementine
1 lemon
1 lime
32 ounces filtered water (US Customary – Metric)

Instructions

Wash and slice the citrus fruits and set the end pieces aside.
Layer the slices in a quart size glass Mason jar and pour cold filtered water on top.
Cover the jar and store in the refrigerator. The flavor will get stronger after a few hours. You can replenish the water throughout the day.

Tips!

Store water in the refrigerator, not at room temperature.

Conclusion

Whether you quit your caffeinated drinks cold turkey or slowly train yourself to stop drinking sugary sodas, your body and your planet will thank you when you start drinking more water. The benefits of water for your body are endless when you think about how every single organ is helped by water. Additionally, the planet has the potential to become exponentially cleaner if we all switch from plastic single use bottles to reusable water bottles.

Will You be Increasing Your Daily Dose of H20?

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Is Water Good For You? Easy Ways To Up Your H2O Game

Written by Sadie Zollinger