Here Are 9 More Reasons to Keep Yourself Hydrated This Summer

During the hot months not drinking enough water can lead to multiple problems. FIT provides ways to stay hydrated.

How Can You Effectively Stay Hydrated in the Heat?

(Photo: iStock)

Water is often called the forgotten nutrient since we all often take it for granted, but water is essential to life. Twenty-five percent of the human body is solid matter and 75 percent is water.

The brain is said to be 85 percent water, human blood is 90 percent water, muscles are 75 percent water, the liver is 82 percent water and our bones are 22 percent water.

You get the picture, essentially, every part of the human body is dependent on water.

During the hot months, here are some solid reasons to keep yourself hydrated.

To Prevent Heartburn

More often than not, heartburn is a symptom of lack of water. People who drink less water than they should are generally more prone to it, and drinking water regularly is an effective way of preventing acidity.

To Fight Fatigue

Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

Even mild dehydration - as little as a 1 percent to 2 percent loss of your body weight - can sap your energy and make you tired.

That’s because excess sweat leads to the loss of, not just water, but loss of salts too. Muscles need a good electrolyte-water balance in the body, so even mild dehydration makes us feel drained of energy. In fact, the quickest way to increase energy is by consuming water! 

To Avoid Constipation

Constipation is a sure sign of not enough water, and is a good indicator that you should drink more.

Lack of water clogs up our system and builds up our toxins; plus, when the body doesn’t get enough water, it takes what it needs from internal sources. 

To Ensure Weight Loss

Drinking water may be the most important piece to the weight loss puzzle. We often mix up food pangs with water cravings!

Sometimes thirst masquerades as hunger. So often when we think that our body is asking for food - it's actually asking for is water.

Also, enough water ensures that both digestion and metabolism are working at their full capacity.

To Prevent Water Retention

When we deprive our body of ample amounts of water, we threaten its survival.

In response, your body holds onto every drop of water it possibly can for future needs and purposes.

This water is often stored in extracellular spaces and appears as bloated hands, legs, and feet. So to eliminate water retention we need to drink more fluid rather than less.

To Lubricate Our Joints

Cartilage has about 95 percent water as its component.

It needs water for the purpose of lubricating the body’s joints during movement.

Dehydrated cartilage increases friction forces to the joints, resulting in joint deterioration and pain.

To Beat The Back Pain

Minimising back pain can be as simple as hydrating our body!

The water stored in the spinal disc core supports approximately 75 percent of the upper body’s weight.

When the disk dehydrates, it looses its efficiency and may lead to back pain. So actually our spine is dependent upon the hydraulic properties of water.

To Maintain The Body Temperature

Water helps us maintain our body temperature through perspiration. Perspiration dissipates excess heat and cools our bodies. Without water, this delicate balancing act of the body is disrupted.

To Make The Skin Supple

A dehydrated body robs the skin of water, leaving it dry and papery. Water hydrates us from the inside out, creating a fresh, healthy look.

Are You Dehydrated?

Signs and symptoms of dehydration include:

• Mild to excessive thirst

• Fatigue

• Headache

• Rapid heartbeat

• Dry flushed skin

• Dry mouth

• Little or no urination

• Muscle weakness

• Dizziness

• Muscle cramps

• Light-headedness 

Good to know: the best way to tell if you are dehydrated is to check the colour of your urine; if it’s dark you need to drink more, it's pale coloured you are fine. 

How To Drink Enough Water?

Wake up to water - literally. Before you eat or drink anything else in the morning, have a glass of water.

Carry your little bottle of water with you everywhere you go.

Fill a pitcher, jug, or a bottle of water and keep it on your desk at work or handy at home. 

Try wearing a digital watch that beeps at the beginning of each hour. Use that as a reminder to pour yourself a glass of water. Vow to drink that water before the next beep.

Get a water purification system. Purified water tastes very good and may help make drinking water more appealing to you. You can also chew a piece of minty gum with some cold water. 

Water Alternatives: The Good And The Bad

Water is your best bet, but it is certainly not the only way to get fluids… other liquids are good too.

Easy Alternatives:

• If you just don't like the taste of water, try adding a wedge of lemon or orange peel. You could also add a washed sprig of mint, fresh coriander, saunf (fennel seeds) or a cardamom (elaichi) pod to give water an interesting twist. 

• Make a plain glass of water more refreshing by adding frozen fruit such as orange, lemon, kiwi, peach, apricot and plum instead of ice cubes. The frozen fruit looks colourful floating about in the clear water and also chills your drink with a hint of fruity flavour. 

• Include plenty of non-caffeinated fluids, such as tender coconut water, fresh limewater, lassi, buttermilk, milkshakes, and homemade jal jeera and aam panna.

• Make and drink weak herbal tea in your favourite flavour - it has no calories, won't rot your teeth, adds antioxidants and pleases your taste buds. 

• Eat water-rich foods, such as fruits like watermelon, which is 92 percent water by weight.

Avoid

Alcohol and caffeinated beverages like tea and coffee and soft drinks do not count because they are actually diuretics, meaning they cause you to lose fluid rather than retain it.

In fact, because of diuretic effects of caffeine drink, you should have 2 glasses of water for each glass / cup of these you drink to minimise the effects.