Water is Life

70% of our bodies comprise of water. Like most of us, I like feeling energetic throughout the day to accomplish my day with satisfaction. I have been on a non water drinking journey and closely monitoring the effects of not hydrating my body. Its noteworthy to mention that I love drinking water and fluids and this has been part of me for a while now, but I decided to do this test as the only way to check is using my body as a laboratory of sorts. I am sharing this real life experience to show how hydrating our bodies through out the day is key to being healthy.

For a start, I take water first thing after waking up, on my test day, I did not drink my usual big glass of lemon water, this led to me being very hungry during breakfast and I ate almost double my usual breakfast portion. At 10AM, I was feeling rather lethargic and hungry. I craved cookies, samosa or mandazi. But, due to the fact that I was conscious of my actions, instead I drank a tall glass of water and all these feelings subsided. The feelings of lethargy and feeling like I needed to eat something were on and off the whole day. At some point in the afternoon, I felt a slight headache which was not going away. I did this experiment for three days denying myself the much needed glass of water at various intervals during the day. These are the effects I felt for lack of hydration:-

• Lethargy
• Hunger pangs
• Craving carbs and sugar
• Headache
• Feeling Light headed
• Dry mouth and throat

After the experiment, i gradually increased my water intake to about two litres a day to enjoy all the benefits of hydration. I also incorporated some herbal This is what i learned:

• Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink water, if you feel thirsty, your body is already dehydrated
• Thirst can be experienced as a mild hunger, when feeling hungry at 10am reach out for your water bottle
• Digestion improved
• Increase in energy
• Drinking water will keep you lean, you will avoid junking and munching on snacks
• Drinking water throughout the day flushes out toxins and excess fat out of the body
• Water is the number one antidote to wrinkles
• The common phrase ‘ 8 glasses of water per day’ is the bare minimum, target 12 – 16 glasses of water a day for optimum health.
• You will notice you use the bathroom more often, goal is to have clear urine by lunchtime.

Tips to drink more water

• Get a water bottle that you can take with you everywhere you go – stainless steel is better than plastic due to carcinogenic pollutants from plastic that can leach into water. Let your water bottle be second to nature to you.
• If you dislike to wake up to pee at night, stop drinking water an hour before bedtime
• Eat water rich foods; raw fruits and vegetables like apples, strawberries, grapes, water melons, cucumber to also increase your daily intake of water. Try eat these with every meal and snack.
• If you easily get bored with water, try natural flavored or sparkling waters but avoid artificial sweeteners, high sodium, high fructose, or anything artificial.
• Make your water tasty
  • add lemon or lime – great detox
  • add cucumbers to add refreshing flavor or peppermint for a cooling effect
  • add slices of fruit to a jug of water and store in the fridge overnight for great flavors and taste.
  • Drink herbal teas with hot water, they will add on antioxidants, avoid adding sugar