Healthier Lifestyles Begin with Water
Do you ever feel like you just don’t have enough time in your day to get to the gym for a couple hours each day? Do you ever feel like gourmet organic health foods are a little costly for your budget? It seems like even celebrities are spending a fortune these days just to be able to have the healthier lifestyles they want. But according to an online article from the Huffington Post, a healthier lifestyle for you and your family starts with one change – more drinking water in your day. The article describes several reasons why water is so good for your health, and it is easier than you think to add it in your daily routine. So forget the trainers, the health foods, and start with real life – real drinking water. We can work out as much as we can, eat as healthy as we can, but without hydration, our body still won’t be as healthy as it could be with water.
According to the article, there are seven main reasons water is good for your body. Drinking water keeps your memory sharp, your mood more stable, and even helps you stay motivated with healthy living. When you stay well-hydrated, you tend to think problems through easier and researchers hypothesize that not having enough water in your body could reduce oxygen flow to the brain or temporarily shrink neurons – basically not drinking enough water can actually distract you. Another healthy benefit of water is that it keeps your throat and lips moist and will prevent your mouth from feeling dry. Dry mouth can cause unwanted situations like bad breath or an unpleasant taste, and can even promote cavities. Third, dehydration lowers your blood volume and this in turn makes your heart have to work harder. It must pump the blood and try to get enough oxygen to your cells, which is why sometimes we feel winded exercising lightly or even walking up stairs.
Another is that your body releases heat by expanding blood vessels close to the skin’s surface, resulting in more blood flow and more heat dissipated into the air. When you are dehydrated, it takes a higher “environmental temperature” to trigger blood vessels to open wider, so you stay hotter. Furthermore, when you drink plenty of water, the water inside and outside of the cells of contracting muscles provide enough nutrients and removes waste efficiently so you perform better overall. Water is also crucial in lubricating your joints.
Another reason to stay hydrated is so your skin stays more elastic and younger looking because your skin cells will be healthier. “Your kidneys need water to filter waste from the blood and excrete it in urine. Keeping hydrated may also help prevent urinary tract infections and kidney stones.” If you are severely dehydrated, your kidneys may stop working, causing toxins to build up in your body. Finally, it is important to remember that based on your size, gender, and activity level, everyone needs different amounts of water, and it usually isn’t “eight glasses a day.” The Institute of Medicine says adult men need about 13 cups (3 liters) per day of fluid; adult women need about 9 cups (2.2 liters) of fluid. “The easiest thing that anybody could do on a daily basis is monitor their urine color,” says Douglas Casa, Ph.D., A.T.C., who studies hydration at the University of Connecticut. “Lighter urine color — like lemonade — means you’re generally well-hydrated. If it’s darker, like apple juice, you are most likely dehydrated.”
So when you feel like it is impossible to get healthier, don’t give up – try water! Now increasing the amount of drinking water you consume from the tap can also mean increased contaminants. Tap water all over the country, although some of the best in the world, can still contain contaminants which are not good for you or your family. Some can cause serious illnesses or other health effects. Water filtration systems can be an affordable solution and still provide your household with a continuous flow of safe drinking water and keep your body feeling great. Reverse osmosis and water coolers provide clean, healthy drinking water without those unwanted contaminants or disinfection chemicals. If your goal is a healthier lifestyle, consider a drinking water system and safe drinking water!
