“WATER” The Miracle Drink With AMAZING Health Benefits
So many of us live in a constant state of searching for health. We feel overwhelmingly tired and achy. We have brain fog and blotchy skin. We have weight issues. We shell out big cash for supplements and shakes and gyms. All to little (or no) benefit.
We feel so crappy (for lack of a better word) that it’s almost impossible for us to believe that relief could be easy.
Don’t hold the sensational title of this post against me… But let’s talk about water.
Why are we ignoring water?
This is speculation here, but I think we overlook water for a number of reasons:
- We THINK we are getting enough – but we don’t really know what enough is. (That’s probably our biggest mistake. None of us are ignoring our health on purpose, right?)
- We underestimate the benefits of drinking water because we’ve never taken the time to really learn what water means to our bodies.
- It’s so readily available to us that we don’t consider it a miracle drink.
- We don’t like water… because we have programmed our bodies to like tea, coffee, pop, juice and everything BUT water.
- We are a little lazy, we think it’s hard, and we don’t want to bother drinking it.
Are you getting enough water?
If you automatically assume you’re drinking enough water, without being intentional about how much you drink, then you probably aren’t.
Counting coffee (or tea or juice) as a good water replacement, because it’s made with water, is also a huge mistake! Yes, our bodies will extract the water from those things – if you were stranded on a dessert island, those things would keep you alive.
But your goal shouldn’t be “stay alive” while surrounded by accessible water. Your goal should be “feel great”. The extra burden we put on or bodies, of processing coffee, tea, juice and especially pop, takes away from some of the amazing benefits you could be seeing if you drank plain water instead.
If you feel great all the time, have lots of energy, are rarely thirsty, and pee often – very light colored or clear pee – then you might actually be getting enough water.
If you are tired, have headaches, digestive issues, muscle aches and pains, trouble sleeping, or dull / dry skin, you probably aren’t getting enough. Water should be the first thing you turn to for health improvement.
Find your bare minimum water intake by dividing your weight (in pounds) in two and THAT is how many ounces of water you should be taking in daily (minimum). So a 160 lb person actually needs 80 ounces of water, which would be TEN 8 oz glasses of water in the day.
If you are very physically active or breastfeeding you will need MORE water.
It really is a miracle drink – the benefits of drinking water
When I was in high school (so…. some years ago, I guess) I read a book – “You Are Not Sick, You’re Thirsty”, and it really opened my eyes to the benefits of water. It’s a freaking fascinating read!
The author (an MD) claims chronic dehydration – our general state in North America, by the way – can cause asthma, allergies, arthritis, hypertension, depression, headaches, diabetes, obesity, and MS among heaps of other nasty stuff.
So I was really fortunate to get into the water drinking habit young. I can honestly say that I feel good most of the time. I am not generally tired, I have good skin, I don’t battle my weight. (I didn’t really realize how rare of a thing this was!)
(There are other factors to this too; I try to keep my sugar intake down, I do cardio regularly, and I try to eat whole foods and take good quality supplements. But I am still firmly convinced that water is the foundation for the health of my body.)
When I don’t drink water during the day, I feel crappy that evening. My body is addicted to water! (Well, it’s addicted to knowing what our bodies are supposed to feel like.)
Every “water drinking article” out there goes into great depth about the health benefits of water – so I thought rather than hash them all out again, I’d just make a funky infographic.
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