How do you know whether you are drinking enough water every day?
When your body has lost1-2% of its total water you will start to feel thirsty. Try to spread out your water intake throughout the day and try to avoid your large amounts of water intake in the evening within two hours of your bedtime
Look at the colour of your urine. It should be a light clear yellow. Dark yellow colour urine may indicate you are dehydrated. It is not necessary to drink 8 glasses of water a day, what you should drink is half your body weight in ounces. If you weigh 120 pounds you should drink 60 ounces in water. (60 ounces divided by 8 ounces is 7.5 glasses of water.
What type of water is best to drink?
Filtered water: free of chlorine and fluoride.
Reverse osmosis (RO) water is a great economical choice however you should add a feature that allows reintroducing lost minerals through the RO process. Alternatively you can purchase a trace mineral dropper from a health food store and add drops to your water.
Avoid long term use of distilled water. It is alright for short-term detoxification, however the longer you drink it, the more likely you’ll develop mineral deficiencies and in an acidic state. You can also rapidly lose electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and trace minerals, which can cause cardiac irregularities, high blood pressure, and cognitive/emotional disturbances.
What to drink water in?
Preferably use glass and/or stainless steel containers.
Avoid plastic water bottles as they contain chemicals like BPA and phthalates, which mimic hormones in your body. Some of the greatest concern surrounds early-life exposure to BPA, which can lead to chromosomal errors in your developing fetus, causing spontaneous miscarriages and genetic damage. For example, exposure to just 0.23 parts per billion of BPA is enough to disrupt the effect of estrogen in your baby’s developing brain. When I am on the go- I simply use a glass bottle with a plastic cover I got from Costco.
How to change up your water intake:
Try to infuse your water with fruits and herbs; try some of the following:
Mint and cucumber, frozen raspberries, and lemon
How I got my kids start drinking water was by buying a fun water dispenser, like the picture below, where they could go and get water by themselves and I gave them some fun kids glasses to drink from as well.
How I got my kids to stop drinking juice and make the switch to water- I slowly started to dilute their juice with water, plus we also explained to out children about how sugar makes them weak, not strong! In addition we also gave them fun water containers that they get to take everywhere- even on vacation.
