I’m kidding, right? Nope. Totally serious.
I’ve clearly been sleeping on this topic and I’m late to the party. But there IS a “right” and a “wrong” way to drink water.
This reminds me of the time an eye doctor told me I needed to learn how to BLINK.
I need to be TAUGHT how to do something that is a normal autonomic function? Swell.
Here’s what got me thinking about the topic:
- One of my new year’s resolutions was to be better about drinking water. We all know that water is good for us, right? Great for our organs, proper digestion, skin hydration, and the list goes on.
- After decades of being a devotee of water drinking, I grew to really loathe water. I had to choke it down to get my full eight glasses in daily. (Lest we lose focus, we’ll talk HOW MUCH water another time, okay?)
- Another thing I find annoying about drinking a lot of water is the constant need to be in the bathroom. I’m not alone, am I? I feel like my life turns into a revolving door of water –> bathroom –> water –> bathroom. Come on! I have a job and a life!
Then I saw an education piece done by a naturopathic physician out in Oregon. Dr. Ajana Miki (ND, LAc) (@ashlandnaturalmedicine) said that we discount our dietary water in our daily water intake.
Huh? Dietary water? What’s that?!
As it sounds, it is simply water from our diet. Foods we consume have water in them and they can count against our daily water intake.
My handy (and sometime annoying) water reminder app would ping me every hour or so with a reminder to drink more water. It suddenly hit me – What if there is an optimal way to drink water? Maybe, just maybe, there is a way off the water –> bathroom –> water –> bathroom hamster wheel.
Come to find out, there is!
There’s actually a fair amount of science behind the fact that HOW and WHEN you drink water makes a huge difference in your hydration.
- SIP, don’t guzzle. I was struggling to get my water in so I was chugging – like a beer-guzzling frat boy on a Friday night. However, this introduces TOO much water into your system at once. It overloads and comes right out the other end. Sipping it a little at a time allows your body to absorb it and you get the benefits of drinking water. Waterboarding yourself is NOT the answer. (Check!)
- Timing is everything. Come to find out, drinking water with a meal isn’t the most helpful. Too often, we dilute those precious stomach acids with water and then wonder why we don’t feel great after a meal. My mother knew this (sorry, mom, you were right!) and never had water on the dinner table. Certainly not the pint glasses we serve in today’s restaurants. A little water 30 minutes before a meal can help you from overeating. A little after the meal is okay. Even a little with the meal works. Watch for that operative word – LITTLE. SIP.
- More timing considerations. It’s great to start your morning off with water to get your system going, but tail off about four hours before sleep time so you get uninterrupted rest.
- Water temperature. If you subscribe to eastern philosophies, it’s worth noting that Aruyvedic practitioners recommend warm or hot water as the optimal temperature because your body can absorb it (and therefore hydrate better). When I contacted Dr. Miki about this she said, “Sipping hot water throughout the day is believed to help move lymph and toxins, improve digestion, and soften/hydrate tissue.”
- What you drink matters. Dr. Miki stresses the hazards of drinking straight tap water. She recommends the Berkey water filter [affiliate link] to purify the water you put into your body. I feel like caution always makes sense, particularly in light of the Flint Michigan water crisis a few years ago.
- What you drink OUT of matters. Most of us know that plastic isn’t great for our health. Dr. Miki said, “Some elements of plastic leach into the water and causes endocrine disruption and estrogenic cancers. This is only what we are aware of now…we learn new things constantly.”
I want water to HELP keep me vital and youthful, not cause harm. So, in the interest of health, in the interest of a more youthful perspective on the environment, I switched to re-usable water bottles. My issue is, I’m a klutz. I’m constantly juggling my water bottle (and dropping it). I needed something more robust…that didn’t break or leak. After YEARS and dozens of bottles, I finally found my holy grail water bottle. It keeps cold Cold and hot Hot. It doesn’t get condensation on the outside and – it doesn’t leak. (yay!) Here’s the magic bottle, the Glacier Point Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle [affiliate link]! - Bonus: If you feel like every little bit helps, then take a page out of Masura Emoto’s book The Hidden Messages in Water [affiliate link] and write on your water bottle. Mine says Joy, Youth, Vitality, Health!
If you’re curious, head over to the Good Stuff page and read my little synopsis on the book. I think it’s worth a read!
Mark this in the list of things I learned in my “wise” years – how to drink water correctly!
It really makes me wonder, what ELSE don’t I know? What piques YOUR curiosity? Write it in the comments and I’ll look into it for you!
If you want remedial training on how to blink, by the way, just let me know. I’m happy to share! 🙂
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