Water.  We all know it’s important.  We all know we are supposed to drink it (lots of it).   Do we really pay attention to it though?  I am wondering if it is just “one of those things” we take for granted, that we think we do right or consume enough of, but really don’t

Do you or kids ever:

  • feel moody or fussy?
  • feel tired or dizzy?
  • suffer from headaches?
  • have dry mouth or increased thirst?
  • have dry skin?
  • have bad breathe?
  • fight sugar cravings?

You guessed it; dehydration may be a contributing factor.  Dehydration can be minor and easily fixed or extreme and end up needing medical care.  Whenever we express to our chiropractor about not feeling well or having distress, she almost always asks if we have been drinking enough water.  She mentioned one day, how “Just about everything can be helped with water.”  If nothing else, it is an easy, easy place to start to see if it can help improve a situation.  Here’s more information on Unusual Signs of Dehydration.

Dr. F. Batmanghelidj said, “You’re not sick; you’re thirsty. Don’t treat thirst with medication.”   Many things from arthritis, colds, blood sugar, heart disease, sleep disturbances, allergies, and asthma can all be helped with water.  Water helps lubricate joints, releases toxins from the body, supports digestion, and increases energy.  You may like to read more from these articles: 16 Illnesses Water Can Prevent and Heal and Water Cure.

There are guidelines available to decide how much water a person should drink in a day.  Some charts are based on age, but I tend to lean toward the recommendations based on weight.  Even then there are multiple thoughts, but a pretty simple concept is to try to drink half your body weight in ounces of water, daily.  So, if your teenager weighs 100 pounds, he should drink at least 50 ounces of water a day.  Other factors should also be taken into consideration to decide if you need more water, including: your activity level, exposure to heat, if you’re outdoors a lot, and how you feel in general.

Some foods provide a good resource for water intake as well. These foods all have a high percentage of water:  zucchini, radishes, celery, tomatoes, green cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, red cabbage, peppers, spinach, and broccoli.

Are you thinking you may need to be drinking more water? 

Here are a few ideas on making hydrating yourself and your kids a bit more fun and intriguing.

Use a straw.  I drink a lot more water if I have a straw.  I even splurge and spend the extra ten cents to buy the colorful straws.  I like color.  We also use different color straws to determine whose water glass is whose for the day.

Get a nice durable water bottle or fun cup.  We have to use “glasses” that are plastic (pba free) and that have lids.  My kids each got a new water bottle  for Christmas this year.  They’re quite nice.  I got one too…only a little bigger.

Make sure the water tastes good.  I cannot stand the way our, or most, tap water tastes.  So we have a reverse osmosis filter system and I love it.  We have a few Brita water bottles for filtering on the go as well.

Put fruit in ice cubes trays, add water, and freeze.  Then add those few fruit filled ice cubes to your water to make them pretty and tasty.

Infuse your water with some of these tasty recipes from Daily Burn.  I want to try the blueberry-orange and vanilla-pear.  They each sound very intriguing.

Add a drop of essential oil.  Try Young Living’s Vitality Lemon, Vitality Orange, Vitality Grapefruit, just to name a few refreshing flavors.  Make sure any essential oil you consume is safe to do so.  Also, make sure you only put your essential oils in a glass or stainless steel drinking container.  Learn more about safe essential oils HERE.

Do you know how much water you actually drink?

Funny thing…water is about the only beverage that I drink and I fill my water glass up many, many times a day.  The thing is….my little monsters drink all my water.  So, I don’t truly know how much I actually drink.  Even though they each have their own water bottles or glasses each day.  When theirs is empty they drink mine or when mine is closer…they drink mine.  At least I know they are drinking water.

Here are a few quick and easy ways you can try to see how much water you actually drink.

Keep a little chart.  Simply make tally marks or X’s on your planner or to do list.

Put a rubber band on your water bottle each time you drink it all and need to refill it.  Count the bands at the end of the day to know how many full glasses you’ve consumed.

Download a free app on your phone.  Search “water” or “water drink reminder”.

Cheers to you and enjoy your water!

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