Are you drinking well enough?

 

Are you drinking enough?  You may think you are, however if you are not well enough hydrated your energy levels will be low.  If you are not drinking enough quality fluids, you may well suffer from headaches and have higher blood pressure than is healthy or safe for you; your bowels may be sluggish and constipated.  If you are not well hydrated, your body cannot digest food very well and you may think you are hungry when in fact you are thirsty. 
It takes more than one day of drinking well to rehydrate each of the millions of cells in your body so that they are not feeling stressed.  Look at plants when they go without water – they look limp and start browning at the tips of their leaves.  When you are dehydrated, you may find that you are “browning at the tips” with your cells may feeling more like raisins than grapes!  Your blood does not flow as readily to the edges of your body and your lymph fluid stagnates, especially if you are also inactive.  This contributes to lowered immune function.
How much should you drink?  It depends on your lifestyle, your state of health and your body size.  If you work in air-conditioned offices or are outside working physically, then you need to drink more.  You need to drink more in summer; you need to drink more if you are a big eater or are over-weight.  You need to drink more if you are on medications or are unwell.
Coffee, tea, alcohol, milk and other sugary drinks do not hydrate your body well enough.  Milk is a food.  Coffee is a diuretic and will make your body urinate out more fluid than you drank in the coffee cup.  You will find the same with alcohol.
An interesting exercise for you to gauge your hydration status is to drink what you think would be sufficient for you to be well hydrated and then book in for your body composition test.  This test, a Bio-Impedence Analysis, will give you immediate feedback on how well hydrated you are.  You will also find out more about how well your body is ageing – whether you are ageing faster than candles on your birthday cake! 
Choose drinks that hydrate you so that you feel well and full of vitality. Enjoy these longer summer days with a long cold one!

Are you drinking enough?  You may think you are, however if you are not well enough hydrated your energy levels will be low.  If you are not drinking enough quality fluids, you may well suffer from headaches and have higher blood pressure than is healthy or safe for you; your bowels may be sluggish and constipated.  If you are not well hydrated, your body cannot digest food very well and you may think you are hungry when in fact you are thirsty. 

It takes more than one day of drinking well to rehydrate each of the millions of cells in your body so that they are not feeling stressed.  Look at plants when they go without water – they look limp and start browning at the tips of their leaves.  When you are dehydrated, you may find that you are “browning at the tips” with your cells may feeling more like raisins than grapes!  Your blood does not flow as readily to the edges of your body and your lymph fluid stagnates, especially if you are also inactive.  This contributes to lowered immune function.

How much should you drink?  It depends on your lifestyle, your state of health and your body size.  If you work in air-conditioned offices or are outside working physically, then you need to drink more.  You need to drink more in summer; you need to drink more if you are a big eater or are over-weight.  You need to drink more if you are on medications or are unwell.

Coffee, tea, alcohol, milk and other sugary drinks do not hydrate your body well enough.  Milk is a food.  Coffee is a diuretic and will make your body urinate out more fluid than you drank in the coffee cup.  You will find the same with alcohol.

An interesting exercise for you to gauge your hydration status is to drink what you think would be sufficient for you to be well hydrated and then book in for your body composition test.  This test, a Bio-Impedence Analysis, will give you immediate feedback on how well hydrated you are.  You will also find out more about how well your body is ageing – whether you are ageing faster than candles on your birthday cake! 

Choose drinks that hydrate you so that you feel well and full of vitality. Enjoy the longer summer days with a long cold one and the long winter evenings with warm nutritious drinks and soups.

Contact us and book an appointment for a Nutritional Consultation

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