INCORPORATE SOME MORE WATER IN YOUR LIFE TODAY
Water. Much has been said about this subject. ‘Everyone knows’ one should drink at least one and a half liters of it a day for good health. ‘Everyone knows’ it is good for your health. Then why does not ‘everyone’ manage to do this and is there so much illness in the world caused by dehydration?
No, it is not that you are of bad will. No, I do not believe you lack discipline. The reasons for it could be many, some of which I will list here:
You have been told wrong information about ‘water’, while being lead to believe it was true.
You are drinking the wrong kind of water for your body (oh yes, water can be different from water. More about this later).
There was a time when I thought I knew all about it. When I look at it now, I could not have been any more wrong. It should have been obvious though, as I was walking right into disease after disease. I gained 26 kilo’s in less than half a year, had bladder infections for 2 years straight, with no solution that actually worked, had severe pains in my shoulders and hip, bordering on arthritic joint pains, had headaches at the drop of a penny, was feeling tired all day and lacked the energy one would expect at 36 years of age.
So, what’s the big deal about water?
Water is a basic of life, just like oxygen, before food and all other essentials of life even. We all know that. Without water, the body would die faster than without food. And we usually eat 3x a day at least. But do we also drink water often enough?
If we don’t, the body gets dehydrated. Some people think that is something only possible if one got lost in the desert and had to go without water for several days. The truth is that chronic dehydration is widespread. Most of us are continually in a state of dehydration without even knowing it.
WHY?
According to the Mayo Clinic, the average adult loses more than 10 cups of water every day, simply by breathing, perspiring and eliminating waste. When water is lacking, numerous functions start getting in trouble. Some of the resulting symptoms are: headaches, constipation, brain fog, digestive disorders, skin disorders, weight gain, high blood pressure, joint problems and afternoon fatigue. Many other ailments are the result of too little water. By the time any of these common symptoms arise, dehydration has already progressed to the point where water is being rationed in the body, for a long time already. Long-term water rationing leads to premature aging and disease.
The best is to drink plenty of water throughout the day. The best time one could start, is at wake-up time. I try to drink 1-2 glasses of good quality water every morning before breakfast. It helps my body to activate internal organs.
I drink one glass of good quality water about 10-20 minutes before each meal, this helps my body to digest everything easier.
When I crave something, whatever it may be, I try drinking 1-2 glasses of water and wait 15 minutes. If by then the craving is gone (which happens often), I leave it at that, just recognize I was thirsty. Very often people think they are hungry, when in fact the body is giving signals that it is dehydrated.
How much water is the right amount to drink each day? This is different for each person. It is believed that 2-3 liters is the average daily for an adult body.
It also depends on so many factors. Some people drink coffee or alcohol daily, others don’t. It is advised that one, for each cup of coffee or glass of alcohol, one is best to drink twice that amount in water, just to replenish the water that is lost by drinking that. The same with soft drinks, although they seem to require even more water for their harmful effects to be flushed out of the system.
What can then be counted as water intake, in addition to plain water? Soup is usually fine, so is herbal tea as long as it does not contain caffeine. Nettle tea is quite good, this helps to detoxify the body.
Now what if you have tried all the above and you find you are simply not able to take in more water than, let’s say, ¾ of a liter without feeling bloated? Well, even then there’s nothing wrong with you.
I ran into this very situation some years ago. No matter how hard I tried, and I did try very hard, I could never drink more than a liter. And even that was at the cost of feeling comfortable, as I was usually feeling very bloated for the rest of the day.
Or what if you have been told: if you drink enough water, you will lose weight. So you have been drinking and drinking, but it just doesn’t seem to happen. Or maybe you have instead gained weight and now think that drinking water makes you gain weight instead of losing it.
In both cases, you may not be drinking the right kind of water for your body. You see, there is water, through the way its ions cluster, which can only be assimilated by the body for about 15%. The ions are too large to hydrate the body much and do not get used.
On the contrary, there is other water of which the ions in the water are much smaller and thus 85% of what you drink can be assimilated by the body cells. Needless to say, one needs much less of this water to achieve the same hydration as the type of water described above.
The result of drinking the latter? You feel more energized, you look and feel younger, wrinkles get smaller or disappear completely, you get ill less often and if a germ manages to enter the body, it is being dealt with faster and with much less discomfort.
So, if you are looking to have more energy, age gracefully, be more healthy and no longer suffering from the what is believed to be ‘normal’ symptoms of getting older, try drinking more water. It may just help.
Now write a post or grab your journal and write about your reflections, experience and share your story.
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About Ilse Van de Wiele
Ilse is a Holistic Health Coach, graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York. She helps parents to age gracefully and provide a healthy life for their children, businessmen to gain more energy and people with weight issues to achieve their goals with lasting results. She is part of the Advisory Board of the National Health Federation. Her mission: to help people unravel any confusions on health, discover some basic truths on it and help them to make educated and conscious decisions with regards to their health and that of their loved ones.
Out of the responses to this challenge, I will give 2 people a 50 minute free health coach session. Just leave me your e-mail address, so we can set up the free session at a time that suits you.
Free offer for 2 people that do the challenge:
Amongst those doing the challenge en writing down what it did for them, I will pull out 2 names who will get a 50 minute free health coach session from me. I just need their e-mail address, so we can set up the free session at a time that suits them.
