Category Archives: Dehydration

When You Need Water the Most

In many diets, the main focus is the content – what we should be eating or drinking. This is understandable; many studies prove that diet accounts for 80% of weight loss to exercise’s 20%. It’s worth mentioning, though, that there is another important variable in any diet or health program.

It turns out that when you consume food, water or juices is just as important and which ones or which types you consume.

It makes sense if you think about it. What good would it be to eat a high-protein meal at 3 am? Similarly, it doesn’t make sense to drink all your filtered water directly before and after a workout. Our goal is for all of our customers to have the cleanest water possible, but also to drink it at the right times to maximize the health benefits. Below are some tips about the best times in your day to drink water.

First thing in the morning

You wouldn’t go eight hours during the day without water, would you? We sure hope not. So it makes sense that having a glass or two in the morning will help relieve your body’s thirst from the long night asleep (and possibly drooling). Water in the morning also helps kickstart organ function and clear out the residue and free radicals from the calories your body burnt overnight. If you’re really looking for a jolt, we recommend chilled water (with filtered water ice cubes, of course).

Before meals

We’ve discussed before how drinking water before a meal can help you avoid overeating. This practice has a few other benefits as well. Pure water moisturizes the stomach lining, helping prepare it to digest what may be acidic or brittle food. This same principle applies to the time between meals. You can keep yourself from unnecessary snacking by drinking water throughout the day.

When you’re sick or recovering

One of the times water can be most helpful is when you’re ill. Drinking plenty of water helps wash germs and viruses out of your body and keeps your hydrated if you have been vomiting or having diarrhea. Think of a patient with an IV – this is how you should consume water, consistently throughout the day.

This is especially important if you’ve been to a hospital or doctor’s office where other people are sick and spreading germs.

Drinking water also helps when you’re on medication (only, of course, if your medication allows this). The constant flow of clean, filtered water helps dissolve and spread the meds through your body during and after your sickness.

The bottom line

The best way to maximize the benefits of drinking water is to incorporate it into your daily routine and make it a habit. For more tips on how to do this, check out 7 Easy Ways to Drink More Water.

7 Easy Ways to Drink More Water

Amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life, it’s easy to forget about staying hydrated. After all, drinking water isn’t exactly the most fun thing to do. Research suggests that the easiest way to learn new habits is by incorporating them into your existing routines. This is what we’ve done with these 7 easy ways to make sure you’re staying hydrated!

1. If you eat, drink

An easy way to start drinking water more often is to have a glass before every meal. It’s a simple transition, because most likely you drink something while you’re eating. Drinking water also helps you eat less, so your waistline will thank you. This trick applies to drinking as well – try having a glass of water for every cocktail or beer you order. It’ll help with your hangovers!

2. Take it with you

You can’t drink water if you don’t have access. Carrying your own water bottle is a great way to avoid costly, wasteful bottled water. It’s also important to avoid plastic, which can leach harmful BPAs. Our Evolution Healthworks Glass DrinkSafes are perfect on-the-go bottles because they have a neoprene sleeve with handles.

3. Eat your veggies!

You don’t always have to drink in order to stay hydrated. Many vegetables and fruits are packed with water, so you can stay hydrated without chugging all day!

4. Set an alarm

If you’re anything like us, you and your smartphone are inseparable. Let’s face it: phones are becoming our appendages, so we might as well use them to our benefit. It’s simple – go to your Calendar app and set alerts for several times tomorrow (i.e. 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm) with any label – maybe a Wave emoji? Then, click on the Repeat option and set it to Every Day. Now, as you’re Buzzfeeding your day away, you’ll be reminded to stay hydrated!

5. Make a game out of it

Like playing games? Of course you do. Like competition? Of course you do. Studies have shown that adding a social or competitive aspect to your goals leads to much higher levels of achievement. Think Weight Watchers meetings. Or people posting their workout numbers on social media every day. Adding this layer of social pressure leads to much better results.

Now you don’t have to throw it in everyone’s faces, but you can start a mini-competition between yourself and a few friends. Just set some stakes (first round of drinks?) and keep track. Whoever hits 8 glasses a day for the longest wins!

6. Get your money’s worth

Here at Evolution Healthworks, we’ve had numerous customers tell us that they started drinking much more water after they purchased one of our home water filtration systems. We all like to get our money’s worth. If you buy a gym membership, you’re going to use it. The same goes for drinking water systems – the only difference is its much easier to drink more water than it is to go to the gym. Even better, you’ll see results much faster.

7. Reward yourself

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that we’re all humans. The reason you’re dehydrated in the first place is because life is hectic and it’s easy to forget to drink water. So when you succeed, make sure to reward yourself. We’ll let you decide how to do this, but whatever it is – make it worth your while to stay hydrated!

What would happen to your body if you didn’t drink water?

Water does more for us than just quench our thirst.

It’s one of the most vital substances for our body. Although drinking the recommended eight glasses of H2O a day seems difficult for most of us, not getting enough water can compromise our health because so many bodily functions rely on it. While we can withstand weeks without food, we can only survive five to seven days without water, but what would happen to our bodies if we stopped drinking water?

In their video, “What If You Stopped Drinking Water?” Mitchell Moffit and Greggory Brown of AsapSCIENCE explain how quickly we would begin to feel the effects of dehydration and what exactly those effects would be. Moffit and Brown explain the reason we feverishly look for water is because H2O is the most abundant molecule that makes up 65 percent of an adult. “As the universal solvent, it carries nutrients and hormones to the body, regulates body temperature, cushions the joints, and provides lubricants in our eyes,” according to the AsapSCIENCE video. However, as we produce 1.5 liters of urine every day, it is essential that the body replaces the liquid before it begins to shut down.

Completely depleting your body of water, even with fluids that contain water such as juice, coke, or tea, causes the brain to detect this change and creates the urge to drink something, hopefully water, immediately. When we don’t drink water, we begin to experience the initial signs of dehydration such as dry mouth, followed by dark urine with a strong odor. This signals the body’s attempt to conserve more fluids.

With one to two days of no fluids, we stop peeing altogether, have trouble swallowing, suffer from muscle spasms, and are more likely to experience nausea. The attention to digestion does not become a priority as victims become delirious and begin to suffer from severe brain function. Blood flow stops flowing to the skin, reduces heat loss, increases cork body temperature, and then gives us a bluish tint. Within three to five days, say Moffit and Brown, our organs and brain shut down.

Therefore, it is essential to keep our bodies hydrated with pure H2O, to keep our immune system functioning. As water is essential for our bodies, it’s important to fight for clean water availability for all.

9 reasons to drink water every day

1. It’s the key to life. Water is absolutely essential to the human body’s survival. A person can live for about a month without food, but only about a week without water.

2. It keeps you slim. Water helps to maintain healthy body weight by increasing metabolism and regulating appetite.

3. It wakes you up. Water leads to increased energy levels. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is actually mild dehydration.

4. It can make you live longer. Drinking adequate amounts of water can decrease the risk of certain types of cancers, including colon cancer, bladder cancer, and breast cancer.

5. It takes away pain. For a majority of sufferers, drinking water can significantly reduce joint and/or back pain.

6. It detoxifies your body. Water leads to overall greater health by flushing out wastes and bacteria that can cause disease.

7. It makes you feel better. Water can prevent and alleviate headaches.

8. It makes you look younger. Water naturally moisturizes skin and ensures proper cellular formation underneath layers of skin to give it a healthy, glowing appearance.

9. It makes your regular. Water aids in the digestion process and prevents constipation.

Drinking Water? You Still Might Be Dehydrated

Staying hydrated is important, especially during the heat of summer. Even if you drink a lot of water, though, other factors might be working against you.

If you’re under a lot of stress, the adrenal glands that pump out stress hormones become exhausted, causing dehydration and low electrolyte levels. While upping fluid intake can help, limiting stressors is the best long-term solution.
If you don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables, you’re not getting the water they bring along with them. Fill up half your plate at each meal with produce — it could give you an extra cup of water a day.
Some prescription medications can cause dehydration as a side effect. Many medications act as diuretics, which increase urine output and a risk of dehydration.
Eliminating carbs from your diet can decrease the number on a scale, but it could lead to dehydration, too. Carbs such as oatmeal, whole grain pasta and brown rice soak up water during the cooking process, which can increase hydration levels.
Any type of workout can lead to dehydration. If you are sweating out more than you are drinking water, there is a risk of dehydration. Health.com says to weigh yourself before and after exercise and for every pound lost, drink 16 to 20 ounces of water.
Taking certain kinds of dietary supplements can send you to the bathroom more often, causing a loss of fluids. To combat dehydration, speak with a nutritionist or doctor about any potential side effects.
As you age, it gets harder to stay hydrated and harder to tell whether you’re really thirsty. Keep a bottle of water near you at all times and, each day, keep a running total of how much you’ve consumed.