How to Drink More Water Effortlessly for Better Gut Health
Getting in enough water each day is important for increasing overall energy, lubricating your joints, digestive tract, and respiratory tract, regulating your body temperature, carrying nutrients and waste around the body.
In this blog post we’ll cover:
Why optimizing your water intake is important
How to increase your water intake
Creative ways to get more water in
In the summer especially, you want to make sure you are drinking enough water to help your body excrete any toxins that are hanging out and to replenish any lost through sweat. Your body uses several mechanisms to get rid of toxins, this is through “emunctory organs” which include the digestive tract, kidneys, lungs, and skin. If you’re not drinking enough water, you may end up more constipated and your kidneys won’t excrete as much urine.
So, as it starts to get warmer and you start a cleanse in this season transition, check out our top tips on increasing your hydration for this week and beyond.
A cute little water bottle always helps you drink more water. It’s also convenient to carry around with you everywhere. A water bottle that has a straw is a plus. The water is more accessible to you and you’ll end up drinking more throughout the day.
Bring your water bottle with you when you’re on the run. You’re likely to drink more if you have the water with you.
Add in some flavor
Sometimes plain old water is just plain old boring. Add in some flavors to make your water more enjoyable. I recommend adding in herbs like mint or basil. You can also add in fruits like cucumbers, strawberries, or blueberries.
Some great combinations:
Strawberry + lemon + basil
Cucumber + mint
Watermelon + basil
Blueberries + basil
Clove + orange
Lime + raspberries
Lemon + mint
You can also add in herbal tea bags to your water to help enhance the flavor. You can try tea like hibiscus, chamomile, ginger, dandelion, fennel and more.
Get bubbly with it
Drink mineral or sparkling water instead of soda. Sometimes it’s just the bubbliness of the soda that draws us in. Try to swap out soda for just some bubbly water. You can even get fancy and add in some fruits and herbs listed above.
Start off your day with water
Skip the caffeine! Drink a room temp glass of water with lemon and a pinch of salt when you wake up in the morning which will help to stimulate your gastrocolic reflex. This helps to get things moving in the morning to help you have a normal bowel movement.
Add in some coconut water to your day. Coconut water is full of electrolytes like magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Coconut water is also a great source of antioxidants, helping to fight oxidative damage in the body.
Food high in water
Eat your water! Eating foods that are rich in water like melons, oranges, peaches, grapefruits, tomatoes, bell peppers, cabbage, celery, blueberries, plums, cucumber, spinach. Note that when you cook some of these foods, the water content will decrease. To get the full effect, eat these foods raw.
Use an app to track your water. If you have a Fitbit, you have a water tracker built into your app. You can go in and set your standard size (your water bottle) and just click a button every time you finish your water bottle, it’s that easy. Other apps like Apple Health and Daily Water can be a good option to track your water intake.
Talk soon!
