The following blog post contains excerpts from the Drink and Clear chapters in The Simple Seven book.
Our bodies constantly need water — for everything.
Water is mandatory in all the complex steps of digestion. Water is essential in the daily growing of hair and nails, in the weeks of healing a wound or the months of fusing a bone fracture. Water regulates circulation and body temperature around the clock. Water in blood delivers nutrients to our trillions of cells and carries their waste away every moment of our lives. When we’re even slightly dehydrated, metabolism slows down, decelerating weight loss and accelerating aging.
Imagine being dehydrated once in a while — or all the time, throughout your lifetime.
There’s no question that we need to stay hydrated.
The recommendation is to drink eight glasses of water a day. What a chore, chugging eight glasses of water every day. And it’s hard remembering to drink a glass of water every hour on the hour. It adds another task to our already busy day. When we forget, we try to catch up so we double up, water swishing around in our stomachs. We grow to hate the taste of water; we resent the routine. Eventually, we stop doing it, and we’re back to being dehydrated.
In The Simple Seven book I discuss ways of hydrating. My 3 simplest tips are easy to remember and add to your day, and they replenish your body when it needs it the most.
1. Drink a glass of water or two when you wake up in the morning.
The body uses up a lot of water during its nightly maintenance, as evidenced by the typically heavy first urination in the morning. Maintenance such as fortifying the immune system and fighting off illness. Producing human growth hormone (HGH), which promotes youthfulness. Clearing waste from the body. Repairing and regenerating.
2. Drink a glass of water or two before a meal.
Water activates digestive enzymes and hydrates the lining of the stomach, temporarily thickening it and buffering the underlying tissue from the corrosive stomach acid that can cause ulcers. Water triggers the muscles of the 35-foot intestinal tract to contract and move food through it.
3. Drink a glass of water or two after urinating.
A good time to remember to replenish the water you’ve just lost. Urine is mostly water, about 95 percent. Urine is meant be high in water, to dilute corrosive acid waste and prevent it from damaging the delicate tissues of the bladder and urinary organs.
You should notice a difference just by following these 3 tips consistently every day.
Keep in mind that water is hydrating, whereas the three most common beverages — coffee, soda, and alcohol — are not. You can still drink those beverages, but you’ll also want to drink water.
How water is moved around the body to where it is needed when we’re dehydrated is brilliant and nothing short of miraculous. In The Simple Seven I explain the science behind how it works , along with other body systems and functions.
***
The Simple Seven © Marlene Veltre 2024 All rights reserved
No portion of this post may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of Marlene Veltre.
The information in this post is to be used for educational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a substitute for professional medical advice or to prevent, cure, or heal any illness or disease. You should always see your doctor or health practitioner.