Hello? It’s your body here…and we really need to have a chat.
Water, water, water. It’s all around you and all within you…in fact, as your body, I’m always pretty thirsty because I’m made up of 60% water! And because drinking water is crucial for your survival I have many clever ways of letting you know when you’re not drinking enough.
Well, actually, it’s quite simple…you just need to listen to what I’m trying to tell you.
Hi there! Now that I’ve got your attention, here’s the 10 main signals I give to you when I’m in danger of becoming, or are already, dehydrated.
1.YOU’RE THIRSTY
Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? But by the time I tell you I’m thirsty you’re already pretty dehydrated. Ideally you should be drinking enough water so you never get to the stage where you feel thirsty. And here are some ideas of how to increase your water consumption.
2. YOUR URINE IS DARK YELLOW OR BROWN
Dark coloured or infrequent urination urine (less than 4-7 times per day) is my way of telling you I am retaining fluids in order to maintain vital bodily functions. Apart from your first wee of the day, if your urine isn’t clear or light yellow, you’re definitely not drinking enough and you’re also making yourself more susceptible to urinary tract infections, because water also helps flush out toxins and keep your renal system running smoothly.
3. YOUR MOUTH, SKIN AND EYES ARE DRY
Dehydration affects not just your insides—it also affects your outsides, making your skin dry and itchy, eyes red and sore, and your mouth really dry. If you aren’t drinking enough water you can also have problems producing tears.
4. YOUR SKIN BREAKS OUT
Without adequate water, toxins build up on and under your skin, resulting in skin disorders as diverse as acne, psoriasis, eczema, and discoloration. If you don’t drink enough I can’t sweat out all of the internal and internal toxins, which makes you prone to clogged pores and skin breakouts.
When you drink water you’re bringing oxygen into me, and I can then oxygenate your cells. The more oxygen you get in your cells, the more energy you have.
If you don’t drink enough water, I have to go looking elsewhere for that oxygen and I take it from your blood. This basically slows your whole system down and makes you feel even more tired, moody, and downright lethargic.
5. YOU FEEL LETHARGIC
When you drink water you’re bringing oxygen into me, and I can then oxygenate your cells. The more oxygen you get in your cells, the more energy you have.
6. YOU HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
When I don’t get receive oxygen from water I have to take it from your blood, which not only makes you feel tired, but it slows and thickens your blood flow and increases its sodium content in the blood.
All of which create a “perfect storm” for high blood pressure…leading to many other diseases.
7. YOU BECOME CONSTIPATED
When you stay hydrated it helps lubricate your digestive system.
If you don’t drink enough water I have to use the water that the intestines need for the next step of the digestive process, which means they can’t do their job and you become very clogged up.
8. YOU’RE ALWAYS HUNGRY
Well sometimes I get confused too when you don’t drink enough and I try to tell you to eat instead of drink!
Getting into the habit of drinking water when you feel hungry not only helps control hunger pangs, but it helps you feel fuller for longer, enabling you to increase your water intake, decrease your food consumption and regulate your weight.
9. YOUR BACK AND JOINTS ACHE
Your cartilage is nearly 80% water, which is why drinking water after exercise is essential for maintaining healthy bones and joints. Water keeps your joints lubricated, which protects your body during strenuous activities or unexpected movement.
10. YOU HAVE HEADACHES OR MIGRAINES
Dehydration also affects your brain tissue, making it shrink and pull away from the skull. I then send alarms to your pain receptors that surround your brain and this gives you a headache.
And because dehydration means less blood and oxygen flowing to your brain, I have to dilate your blood vessels in your brain, which gives you a pounding headache.
11. YOUR BREATH SMELLS
Yes, I know, this really stinks. But did you realise your bad breath is not only a sign of poor dental hygiene? When you keep your mouth moist with water it helps wash away food particles and bacteria, which in turn keeps your breath fresh.
The best way to work out how much you need to drink is to start with the usual recommendation of 8 glasses of water per day. However, if you’re doing a lot of exercise, breastfeeding, or it’s extremely hot, you might need to drink more.
The easiest and most inexpensive way of increasing your water intake is to invest in a home water filter system and a good quality reusable water bottle.
Because once you’ve got pure filtered water on tap 24/7, at a fraction of the cost of bottled water, drinking enough water becomes an absolute pleasure, rather than just another chore.
And you’re far less likely to become dehydrated.
Glad we had that little chat?
You can thank me later.
As a nation, we’re drinking more bottled water than ever before, with 466 million litres of bottled water sold to Australians in 2015. And at average cost of $2.75 a litre, our bottled water habit is costing us nearly $1.3 billion dollars annually.
However it’s only when we also factor in both the financial and environmental costs of manufacturing, transporting, distributing and disposing of the plastic bottles that the real cost of bottled water becomes apparent.
The average price of bottled water is $2.75 per litre, which is more expensive than milk or petrol. Some brands of bottled water cost as much as $12 per litre, while the average price of spring and mineral water is $5.18 per litre.
By contrast, tap water cost between 1-2 cents per litre, which means we are paying up to 2000 times more per litre for bottled water.
A frighteningly small percentage of water bottles are recycled, which means most of them become landfill, taking up to 1000 years to break down.
According to Clean Up Australia, 10 per cent of rubbish found on Clean Up Australia Day was related to bottled water.
Many plastic water bottles end up in the ocean, where they break up into small pieces. Marine animals mistake this plastic for food, inadvertently ingest it and die.
Many brands of bottled water do not contain any fluoride and this is now contributing to half of all Australian kids suffering tooth decay by the age of six.
Countless blind taste tests prove we can’t tell the difference between tap and bottled water, but we do prefer the taste of filtered tap water.
Tap water is monitored far more vigorously than the largely unregulated bottled water industry…and besides, the truth is a lot of bottled water is just tap water.
In a plastic bottle.
That you (and the environment) are paying for.
The production of bottled water containers requires millions of barrels of oil per year. In Australia it is estimated it takes 200ml of oil and up to seven litres of water to manufacture a single plastic bottle.
Because bottled water is heavy and expensive to transport, it causes thousands of tonnes of transportation-related pollution to be released into the earth’s atmosphere every year.
Health authorities don’t recommend the reuse of single-use bottles because they pose a potential microbiological risk if not cleaned properly. And some plastics, when heated, release chemicals into your water.
The bottled water industry has been created to fill the void created by declining soft drink sales, convincing you to pay up to 2000 times the cost of tap water…purely for the convenience.
Don’t let the soft-drink industry mislead you into thinking bottled water is the only healthy alternative to soft drink.
If you want to hydrate yourself and improve your health by drinking pure, thirst-quenching H2O, a home water filtration system will allow you can enjoy the pure taste of filtered water, on tap 24/7.
And if you also invest in several good, quality reusable water bottles, you can still enjoy the convenience of filtered water, at home and at work, and at any time of the day, without paying through the nose for bottled water.
Today’s inline home water filter systems offer a healthy, practical and inexpensive alternative to bottled water and are quick and easy to install, with no additional tap required.
And when you kick the bottled water habit, not only will your tastebuds thank you…your wallet will thank you and so will the environment.