Tips to increase your hydration
We all know it is important to keep hydrated, but many people really struggle to drink enough fluids. This can lead to a whole range of health issues, such as headaches, dizziness and constipation. For more on signs you may be dehydrated, see my previous post on hydration (Hydrate your way to heath & happiness!).
You should be drinking approximately 2L (about 8-10 glasses) fluids every day. To be clear, obviously you don’t want to be counting alcohol in this amount (yes, I have been asked this in the past!). How much you need to drink could be more than this, for example if you live in a hot country or break a sweat with exercise.
Here are my top tips for making sure you stay well hydrated!
First of all, find out how much you actually do drink! Many of us do not realise how little we are drinking throughout the day, so a good place to start when considering your hydration is finding out your current status. For one day, keep a log of all of your drinks, so that would be amounts as well as what you are drinking. This can be a very revealing exercise, and will help focus your mind.
Keep a glass/bottle of water with you all of the time. If you have a drink close at hand you are much more likely to sip on it during the day.
Have a glass of water by your bedside. When you wake up, your body is particularly dehydrated. Keeping water by your bed will allow you to drink up even before you get up. Getting in some water first thing can help clear your sleepy head and wake you up!
In the morning, portion out your 2L into bottles that you can then keep near you during the day. This will help you understand more clearly if you are making your target of 2L or not.
What to do if you don’t like water?
Lots of people actually don’t like the taste of water, or find it boring. There are lots of ways you can add interest to what you are drinking. For example:
Add a squeeze of lemon or lime to your water
Drink herbal teas. Herbal teas also come with their own unique health promoting benefits, so sipping on a herbal tea is a win win!
Don’t fancy a hot herbal tea - cool it in the fridge to make iced tea
Try coconut water. This is a great choice especially after exercise as it helps replace electrolytes you loose through sweat.
Have fun making infused water by adding sliced fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices to your water (more coming in my next post - Make water exciting)
Drinks to avoid
Keep in mind that not all drinks are equal in terms of providing hydration and overall supporting your health:
Coffee and tea are mildly diuretic (they promote your body to make urine), and so drinking a lot of these may not be ideal for keeping well hydrated. And if you are adding syrups, cream etc to your coffees and sugar to your tea, these quickly ramp up the calories.
Alcohol is dehydrating and is also bad for your health especially in larger quantities.
Fizzy drinks, energy drinks, cordials and fruit juices all contain a lot of sugar, and so you should really be avoiding these and swapping in some of my suggestions above instead. High sugar is not only bad for your teeth, but these types of drinks send your body on a sugar rollercoaster, increasing your cravings and energy dips.
What about zero sugar drinks? Well these may not have sugar, but they are sweetened, often with artificial sweeteners. Depending on what these are, they may be damaging to your health, and at the least they confuse your body - your body tastes sweet and so expects sugars, when it does not get these you will crave for something else sweet to fill that void!
I hope you find these tips useful! My next post will be on creating infused water, a brilliant way to make your water drinking more fun :)
Fabia x
