54.5% of school children and 75% of adults are permanently dehydrated. On average, we drink only 1.8 of the 10 cups recommended daily, a number advised by the U.S Institute of Medicine.
Drinking more water sounds like it should be easy and yet, why are so many of us not doing it?? Ways to make it easier include :
Flavouring your water by adding a slice of lemon, ginger, berries or flowers to it.
Find a water-bottle you enjoy drinking from. It might be a glass jar, a steel flask or a recycled, commercial bottle.
Buy a water-filter (such as a Berkey), that will make your water taste better & eliminate chemicals that our Government's add to tap water. http://www.berkeywaterfiltersystem.com
Eat your water - eating juicy fruits and vegetables will help increase your liquid-load for the day.
Decrease your caffeine intake - possibly !! - drinking beverages containing caffeine, increases blood-flow to our kidneys, which some research has suggested may act as a diuretic, stimulating the production of urine.
Importance of being hydrated
Drinking fluids is crucial to staying healthy and maintaining the function of every system in your body, including your heart, brain, and muscles. Fluids carry nutrients to your cells, flush bacteria from your bladder, and prevent constipation (information taken from the 'Harvard Medical School' website).
Note : On very rare occasions it's possible to take in too much water if you have certain health conditions, such as thyroid disease or kidney, liver, or heart problems, or if you're taking medications that make you retain water. Some endurance athletes have been known to drink liquids too quickly, when hydrating for races - this rare, but real condition, is known as 'hyponatremia' and can be fatal, as the water intoxication causes sodium levels in the blood to drop dangerously low.
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