Spice Up Your Everyday Hydration Routine
Sarah Hale
A fact that pretty much every living human knows is that our bodies are made up of about 50-65% water. We're sure you've heard this statistic from your doctor, your exercise friends, or from your mom, so it’s not news to you but it’s always great to be reminded. It’s vital to continue to fuel our bodies by drinking water because the water in our bodies serve as an essential function to keep the wheels spinning. Water provides many benefits for your body such as keeping skin looking healthy and youthful, combating fatigue and stress, and helping your digestive system move along. Throughout the day, your body is losing water from sweating, urinating, and breathing, which can cause dehydration if you don’t continue to fill your body back up with water. Dehydration causes undesirable symptoms that can be harmful to your overall health and wellness. We want to educate you further about why the body functions well when hydrated, creative ways to drink water, and encourage you to participate with us on a five-day water challenge!
So, let’s dive into the health facts and why your body needs to be constantly refreshed. Every single function in your body is sustained by continuous water refuel. This is why it’s so important to have at least 7-8 glasses a day to fill your body back up [best thing to do is drink in ounces half to two thirds your body weight]. As we discussed briefly, when your body is losing water throughout the day it can lead to dehydration. Dehydration symptoms get a MASSIVE thumbs down. We don’t want that. We want to receive all the wonderful benefits that H20 has to offer. Let us tell you more about them:
1) Brain power: Your brain needs water to produce hormones and neurotransmitters, but your body is not able to manufacture those without water. Our brains require an abundant amount of water and is very dependent on it. Drinking a lot of water is said to improve focus, memory, balance emotions, and will even help you sleep at night. In contrast, dehydration cause impaired memory, lack of concentration, brain fog, and brain fatigue. Lack of water can also provoke headaches or migraines for those who tend to suffer from them. These symptoms can affect everyday function and can cause further issues, so drink up and keep your brain moving and grooving at the pace it needs to be going. Plus, drinking water boosts your mood and makes you a more pleasant person to be around.
2) Digestive system: Although water is not necessarily needed in order for food to be digested, it can aid in the process of breaking down your food. When your food is properly broken down, this ultimately prevents constipation because the water helps get rid of unnecessary, excess waste. Try eating foods that contain high water content such as vegetables and fruits to help your digestive system move along. We also recommend adding a drop of Young Living’s Digize Vitality oil to a glass of water before a meal. This oil supports the digestive system and includes antioxidant properties. This product is an amazing addition for your wellness regimen and digestive support.
3) Maintaining healthy weight: Sometimes dehydration is a deceiver and it tricks us into thinking that we're hungry when we just actually need water. Once again, since water aids in brain function, it helps your brain receive more accurate hunger signals. We'd absolutely recommend drinking a glass of water when you feel hungry to determine whether you're actually hungry or if your body just needed a drink. This will help with weight control, as you will be prone to drinking water instead of filling up your body with unnecessary calories that your body didn’t actually need. It’s also proven to raise your metabolism and improves your fat burning rate.
4) Promotes healthy growth and reproduction in cells: First things first, we are highlighting on cells because they are the basic building blocks of all living things and our bodies are composed of seriously billions of these little guys. They carry out special functions in our body, provide body structure, convert nutrients into energy, and seriously so much more. Since there are so many cells in the body, we can’t highlight on each function, but we just want you to have the basic understanding that cells are vital to human development, growth, and function. Our cells are made up of mostly water and it works the same as our bodies, they need to be constantly filled back up. Water helps in nutrient intake and getting rid of excess waste for your cells.
5) Kidney/ Liver function: Water is so so helpful when it comes to normal kidney functions: flushing out toxins, passing urine through the kidneys, and preventing build up of minerals that could potentially turn into kidney stones. Drinking more water increases your fluid intake and aids in the process of what the kidney and liver were made to properly do.
Now, we totally understand that drinking 8 glasses of just plain ole water can seem mundane. So we want to give you some suggestions for spicing up your everyday hydration routine, so listen up!
1) Try adding essential oils. Young Living has this FANTASTIC vitality line that includes some H20 boosters that will have you begging for more water. Our favorites are lime, spearmint, peppermint, lemon, orange, or grapefruit. This adds a burst of energizing flavors to your drink and to your day!
2) Along with your essential oils, cut up some fresh fruit to spice up your drink. We have two different spritzer recipes that you should most definitely try, especially to refresh you this summer. Also, double hydration if you choose fruits with high water content.
3) Skip your afternoon go-to sugary or caffeinated drink and drink an extra glass of water instead—you can even mix an ounce or two of Ningxia Red into your water for an added afternoon boost of natural sugars with amazing super fruits and essential oils!
4) Incorporate more foods with high water content into your meal plans. Watermelon, cucumbers, grapefruits, strawberries, lettuce, and celery are just a few of the foods you can add to your diet.
5) Freeze fruits and water in ice cube trays with a drop of your favorite vitality oil. This is a nice refreshing summer time treat- keeping you cool and hydrated.
6) Challenge yourself: people are often motivated when they have a goal to achieve- there are plenty of free apps out there that can help you track your water intake and help you feel like you have accomplished something big. Waterlogged and Hydro Coach have received incredible ratings and are easy to maneuver
7) Make a rule to get a glass of water at a restaurant before you can order any other drink. There is no harm in wanting to jump right into eating, but making sure you get the proper amount of hydration is important to feeling your best. Setting these boundaries will help you make sure your body is getting the fuel it needs. This doesn’t have to just be at restaurants, you can set boundaries for yourself in other ways as well that gets you drinking water.
8) Ask friends, family, significant other, or co-workers to get in on the water challenge with you. This will keep you accountable, while encouraging others to live a healthy lifestyle as well.
At the Oily Home Companion, we desire growth for our community in many ways, but especially when it comes to your health. We want to emphasize that drinking water should be an essential part of everyone’s routines because it provides an abundance of benefits that cannot be beat. Healthy skin, functional bowel movements, and major brain power seem like desirable life and health goals to me. Wouldn’t you agree? We would like to invite you along on this five day challenge to kick dehydration out the door and invite a much more hydrating and nourishing lifestyle!
5 Day Water Challenge
Find a buddy to do the challenge with you! It's always more fun with a friend.
Figure out how much water you need to drink per your weight (2/3 of your weight in ounces is a good place to start)
Make a plan (i.e. drink 2 glasses in the morning, 2 early afternoon, 2 late afternoon, 2 evening)
Don't forget your favorite vitality oils! Add a drop or two to make your water drinking challenge even more refreshing!
Celebrate! Make sure you do something extra fun on your last day to celebrate finishing the challenge. We believe in addition to feeling great, you'll also feel motivated to keep going with your new hydration routine! 🚰