How to Drink More Water & Why It’s Important for Your Health
Making up a large percentage of your body (as much as 60%!), water is essential for your overall health and wellbeing. Despite its importance, many of us struggle with staying hydrated during the day – especially as we get older. Here at HSL, we put your wellness at the heart of everything we do. That’s why we’ve collated a guide to help you in knowing how to drink more water and feel better for it. From assigning yourself daily goals to infusing your drinks with different flavours, there are many ways to make drinking H2O feel a little more fun and less like a chore. Keep reading to discover how you can drink more water and all the benefits you can experience.
Tips on how to drink more water
Whether you add a few of these tips into your daily routine or even just one, there are plenty of ways to drink more water – just find what works best for you!
1. Create a daily goal
With the pace of everyday life always increasing, daily goals are a great way to keep yourself on track. They give you something to aim for and achieving those small wins will give you a burst of serotonin to keep you going. Why not treat yourself to a small reward each time you hit a weekly or monthly goal as an incentive?
Using a water bottle with time markers and motivational messages is another simple, yet effective, way to track the progress you’ve made throughout the day. Plus, reusable bottles are environmentally friendly; remember to fill yours up before leaving the house so you don’t need to buy unnecessary single-use plastic. Your body and Mother Nature will thank you!
2. Introduce new routines for yourself
Forming routines is the key to consistently achieving your goals. Simple rules, such as always refilling your cup as soon as it’s empty, are vital in establishing patterns that you’ll stick to. Setting reminders on your phone or writing them down in the form of physical notes is another great way to remind yourself to stay hydrated.
3. Include water in your mealtimes
An easy way to drink more water is by incorporating foods that contain a high percentage of H2O into your diet. Foods such as lettuce, celery and watermelon are all great examples of water-rich foods that can easily be added into daily meals.
Drinking a glass of water before snacking will also help you identify if you’re truly hungry or if you’ve confused the feeling with thirst. Make it a routine to frequently swap out fizzy drinks and alcohol for a glass of water at mealtimes to stay hydrated and improve your overall health.
4. Don’t be afraid to mix it up!
If you’re not a fan of the taste of water, try infusing your drinks with cordial or add slices of fruit for extra nutritional benefits. Herbal tea bags are another go-to if you want to explore different flavours. Changing up the taste will prevent drinking water from feeling like a chore, which in turn will help increase your intake. Alternatively, you could introduce ice cubes into your other favourite drinks to dilute them and contribute to increasing the amount of water you consume.
Benefits of drinking water
Now that we’ve covered how to drink more water, it’s important to understand why it’s beneficial to increase your daily intake of H2O and what happens when you drink more water.
1. Increases your energy levels
Drinking more water will help you feel an increase in energy levels, as fatigue and tiredness are common symptoms of dehydration. It will also improve your mental focus and concentration, as dehydration can affect your ability to recall information and make you feel sluggish.
Hydration is key for physical health as your body needs fluids and electrolytes to both physically move the body and to recover after exercise. The sweat that you produce during exercise is made of the fluids and electrolytes that can be replaced by drinking water.
Top tip: Hydration is also linked to cardiac performance. When you’re dehydrated, your blood volume decreases, resulting in low blood pressure which decreases the amount of blood that is pumped to your heart. This then makes it harder for your body to pump oxygen and nutrients to your muscles, again resulting in fatigue.
2. Helps to maintain bodily functions
Drinking water is essential for many bodily functions. For example, having water during or after a meal helps your digestive system to work efficiently in breaking down the food and absorbing the right nutrients, helping to prevent constipation.
Water helps the kidneys to remove waste from your blood in the form of urine, along with keeping your blood vessels open so that blood can travel freely to your kidneys and deliver essential nutrients to them. Your kidneys regulate the fluids in your body, so when you become dehydrated, it’s more difficult for this delivery system to work. Improving your kidney function will decrease the likelihood of kidney stones and being unable to regulate your body temperature.
As well as benefiting your kidneys, drinking plenty of water will aid lubrication around your joints. This lubrication will keep your joints cushioned and help reduce joint pain.
3. Hydration benefits your wellbeing
The optimal amount of water you need to drink will be based around your individual lifestyle. Chronic dehydration can disrupt your mood and lead to poor mental health. As your brain is an organ that is strongly influenced by water intake, increasing your H2O intake can help prevent headaches, dizziness and even delirium.
Drinking more water can also be great for your complexion. Dehydrated skin is more prone to skin issues and wrinkling, so drinking more water can increase skin elasticity and assist in flushing out toxins.
So, there we have it – our guide to drinking more water and the benefits it holds! We hope you feel motivated to drink more water to improve your own wellbeing.
At HSL, your comfort and wellbeing are our top priorities; that’s why we offer a range of practical and comfortable chairs, sofas and beds that have all been approved by our Occupational Therapist, Julie Jennings Dip COT HCPC, to support a healthy lifestyle.
