faithtricia's steps of faith

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Drink Your Water!

i am sure you heard all of us tell you that you need to
"drink your water"!

and regardless of if you do hot yoga every day or not,
water is essential for our bodies.

did you know that by the time we feel thirsty,
we are already a little bit dehydrated?
did you know that we are sweating *all* the time?

in the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, we often forget about
one of the most important things for our health - water!
the human body is 60-80% water.

when the body is dehydrated, its systems cannot function properly.
even bowel movements are effected by how much water we drink!

it is generally recommended to drink 2 liters of water each day.
what i like to do is have a *big* glass of water first thing in the
morning and drink throughout the day as much as possible.
i always keep a water bottle nearby!

TIP #1 - add a little something to your water

to ensure that the water is actually "soaking" into your system,
add a slice of lime or lemon or even, yes, a tiny bit of sea salt.

TIP #2 - distilled water vs mineral water

please do note that is better to drink tap water or mineral water
than "distilled" water. distilled water has been "cleaned"
so there is absolutely nothing it in. if you are drinking
distilled water, you are not replenishing any minerals.
even though "distilled" water is cheaper,
it is not so good for replenishment. or add a bit of "sea salt"
(must be "sea salt" normal table salt is not good for you!)

TIP #3 - are you getting headaches? time to "replenish"

and, finally, if you experience slight headaches after class
(don't worry, it's very common), it's normally because you have
sweated out a lot of minerals (sodium, potassium)
& need to replace them. these can be easily replenished
with 100Plus or Gatorade.

or try a coconut - it's nature's sports drink!
or i like to eat a bit of seaweed (seriously -
seaweed has lots of important "trace elements/minerals"!)
try to korean seaweed ...
comes toasted, pre-cut in little packets. very yummy, too.

TIP #4 - do tea, coffee, juices etc count?

generally, it's best to drink 2 liters of *plain* water per day.

there are some studies that show all liquids help hydrate the body.
but, caffeine is a slight diruetic (which makes you pee more)
which makes your body lose more water - which defeats the point!
so, try to get as much regular, plain water as possible.
it's really the best way.

Labels: health

by Tricia at 2:19 PM |