When the weather heats up most of us take more liquids on board to stay hydrated. As the heatwave sets in our thirst for cold, refreshing drinks rises too, but it’s not just in the summer months that we should be drinking more water. Health experts recommend drinking as much as 2 litres of water a day to stay hydrated. But when life gets busy our thirst often goes unquenched and it’s not always easy to keep the need to drink more water front of mind.
The hidden benefits of drinking water
- Staying hydrated can help improve brain function and keep your energy levels up.
- Increasing your water intake may help you lose weight by increasing your metabolism and reducing your appetite.
- Drinking more water can help keep health problems at bay and help prevent arthritis.
So, to coin a global brand tagline, what are the best ways to 'obey your thirst' and ensure you stay hydrated throughout each day? It is a little known fact that by the time thirst sets in your body will have already lost more than 1% of its total water content. The challenge therefore is to take water on board at regular intervals, even before you feel thirsty.
Hacks to help quench your thirst
1) Keep a reusable water bottle by your desk or in your bag, to sip on throughout the day. Drinking lukewarm water is never a pleasant thing, but a bottle such as those available from Chilly's will keep drinks ice-cold for up to 24 hours, regardless of the outside temperature.
2) Don’t feel guilty about drinking tea and coffee – they’re fluids after all! If you’re fuelled by caffeine, then so be it and if you have an instant hot water tap in your kitchen then we really can’t blame you. For every cup of tea or coffee drink one glass of water to really keep that dehydration at bay.
3) Invest in a water filter tap for your kitchen – having filtered water literally on tap means you have a constant supply of pleasant tasting H2O.
Abode Aquifier, for example, come in a range of on-trend styles and finishes and deliver fresh filtered water at the push of a handle. Or convert your existing kitchen tap to a filtered water tap with the addition of the Swich by Abode; simply turn the handle control to indicate the type of water supply that you wish to channel through the tap.
And when you consider how much it costs to buy bottled mineral water, and the negative impacts of all that plastic on the environment, a water filter tap actually costs a lot less than you may think.
4) Add lots of ice to your summer cocktails. Popping just four ice cubes into your drink will add roughly a cup of water to your diet for a sneaky way to keep those hydration levels up in a healthy way. Spare a little worktop space for an ice maker such as this one from Andrew James to keep those ice cubes in good supply.
5) Start and end each day with a glass of water. When the juggle gets too much just make sure you drink a glass of water with breakfast and again before bed to keep the nightmare of dehydration at bay.
