The Key to Hydration: 3 Water Drinking Rules to Live By
What’s the secret to a nice complexion? Hydration, hydration, hydration. Waterworks as a natural filter for impurities both inside and out. To keep this filtering process working, you should be drinking around six, eight-ounce glasses of water a day. It’s important to create a daily water drinking routine. Creating a system that ensures that your water bottle is topped off 24/7 will help with mental sharpness and sustained energy levels on top of the already mentioned complexion boost. These should be reason enough to reach for your water bottle.
Hydration can go beyond simply drinking water, there are tactics that you can implement that will make it easier to reach your proper water intake amount. Stick to these rules to set you on the path to a healthier life.
Drink warm water
In order to stomach a large amount of fluid, don’t drink water that is too hot or too cold. Ice water will shock your system and this causes your body to only be able to drink a smaller amount each day. Drinking room temperature water makes it easier to drink. Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine both recommend the same. Coldwater, in particular, is said to negatively affect the digestive process, and warm drinks are believed to be beneficial.
Have the majority of your water before lunch
Even if you have the best hydration intentions, it’s easy to fall off the water wagon when your day gets busy. That’s why it’s best to have designated drinking times and to get most of your hydration in early. The best way to make sure you’re getting used to drinking water is by making it a habit.
Another benefit to this system? It’ll give you a sounder night’s sleep—seriously. By leaving all of your water drinkings until the end of the day right before you go to sleep, you’ll be running to the bathroom every hour. So help yourself sleep better by drinking water constantly throughout the day.
Don’t drink water with meals
You may have noticed that we haven’t mentioned any liquids with meals in this schedule. This is because you really should only drink water just 30 minutes before, which studies have shown can help prevent overeating. In fact, you could even consider water off-limits for 2 hours after lunch or dinner.
Why do this? Some experts believe that the key to hydration is how water interferes with digestion by diluting the enzymes used to break down food, however, mainstream medicine doesn’t agree with this theory. So there is a little room for confusion. However, there is another benefit to a dry dinner that makes sense even if there’s no science to back it. When you don’t have any water at the table to wash down your bites, you’ll realize that you have to focus on chewing your food better in order to swallow it. This slows down the way you are eating. And really, I think most of us could agree that we like to fit mindful moments in our days whenever we can.
Hydration does nothing but good things for your body. Water is the oil to our body’s gears and it is extremely necessary to be getting the correct amount each day in order for your body to function properly. So, create a schedule and stick to it! Make it a habit and eventually, it will be second nature.