Hydration Station
We always are told to drink more water whenever we start a healthy eating plan or when we decide to get healthier. There is a lot of merit behind this and the truth is, most of us are not drinking enough water in a daily basis, which can lead to us developing dehydration.
There are usually two main reasons why we don’t drink enough water, either we don’t feel thirsty enough to drink water or we don’t like the taste of water. Here are our top tips for making hydration easy:
- Always carry a bottle with you- out of sight, out of mind. Sometimes, just having a water bottle with you reminds you to drink more water. Choose a water bottle that is easy for you to carry around and that doesn’t leak.
- Drink a glass of water with every main meal and in between- if you tend to forget to drink water throughout the day, then simply drinking a glass of water at mealtimes can help you with this, as you are already sitting and focused on eating your meal. You can even set an alarm to drink water between your meals, or say that you will drink water at a certain time everyday.
- Still or sparkling- if you prefer sparkling water to still, then by all means, drink it. Water is water and as long as you’re drinking it, then that’s what counts. The only time you need to be careful with drinking too much of a certain kind of water is flavored water, as often flavored water has added sugar and extra energy.
- Flavour your water- if you are someone who just doesn’t like the taste of water, then consider adding sliced fruit or mint to your water. Good options include: lemon, berries, citrus fruit and cucumber slices. This helps to infuse the taste of the water, which may help you become more motivated to drink it.
- Drink sugar- free herbal tea’s- drinking herbal tea’s contributes to your water quota, just don’t add sugar. Choose from: rooibos, chamomile, peppermint, green tea or ginger tea.
From the image above, you can see that plain water has no added sugar and should be consumed more often that other sugary beverages. The image shows the number of teaspoons of sugar per drink per 500ml of that drink. If you are someone who is trying to be healthier or more mindful of your sugar intake, then it is definitely recommended that you opt for plain water most of the time and other sugary beverages on occasion.
How many glasses of water should I drink a day?
We should be drinking 6-8 glasses of water daily. This may increase depending on how active we are or how hot it is. Use the 6-8 glasses per day as a guide and then listen to your body over time; if you want more water, then drink more.