by Fern Shaw | Mar 14, 2013 | Health and Hydration
As we’ve mentioned before, the adult human body is composed of up to 70 percent water. A huge amount of water is lost through metabolism, exercise, temperature regulation, waste transportation and digestion. Needless to say, it is essential for your health to stay hydrated.
Previously we’ve come up with ideas to encourage our precious children to drink water, but what about ourselves? If you’re the kind of person who Pavlov Dog (excuse the very bad pun) salivates at liquid only is it’s fizzy, packed full of sugar or is a pretty colour, how do you ‘trick’ yourself into drinking the good ol’ H2O?
Add visual interest to your beverage. Forcing yourself to drink eight, tepid glasses of water out of a boring plastic cup will feel like drudge central. Instead, purchase a colourful sports bottle or a trendy travel mug. Carry your fashionable cup with you and take small sips throughout the day. Don’t try and drink it all at once.
Freeze slices of orange and lemon or whole grapes, strawberries and raspberries. Fill a clear glass part way full with frozen fruit and pour water over it. Not only will your water look interesting, but the slight fruit flavour may make it easier to drink.
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Surprisingly, about 20 percent of your daily water consumption comes from food. Some, such as cucumber, watermelon and tomato are nearly 90 percent water by weight. Cut up fruit and vegetable slices and carry them in a sealed bag in your purse or briefcase for a snack during the day.
Drink beverages other than water. Water is calorie and cost free, but other drinks are good for you too. Try non-fat milk or vegetable juice for something nutritious. Tea and coffee count toward your daily water consumption, but exercise moderation as caffeine makes the body excrete water. Too much caffeine may also make you jittery. Avoid sugary juices and soda. Limit alcohol consumption as alcohol is a diuretic and may dehydrate you.
Teach yourself good habits. There have been some rather unsettling reports about the lethargy produced from computer and office bound work. Combat these by ensuring that at your break times, you leave your desk and perambulate over to the water cooler area. While it won’t be welcomed if you pretend that you’re stalking prey at a watering hole in the Serengeti, a quick confab with your co-workers while you replenish your water bottle, will give your brain a break.
Stake your water bottle claim. Fun it up at the office by ensuring that your water bottle that you replenish at the water cooler is distinctive and ‘you’ branded and unlikely to be claimed by a magpie type colleague. Who knows, you could start a trend!
by Fern Shaw | Mar 11, 2013 | Health and Hydration, Water Coolers
Various campaigns and studies to do with schools and drinking water conducted over the last decade or so have produced a mixed bag of results.
One thing is clear though – a hydrated child is a much happier child for a number of reasons. This fact, combined with you, as the parents, leading by example and the schools ensuring that drinking water is readily available makes for a holistic approach to hydration. Here are a few examples of why:
It boosts learning
- The key to boosting the capacity to learn is to keep well hydrated throughout the day.
- When we are thirsty, mental performance including memory, attention and concentration can decrease by about 10 per cent. Pupils concentrate better because they are not distracted by the effects of dehydration such as thirst, tiredness and irritability.
- Children will achieve more when both their health and learning needs are met. Ensuring free access to water and promoting a regular water intake throughout the school day is a vital role for schools in promoting health and providing a healthy learning environment.
It’s healthy!
- Drinking adequate amounts of water regularly throughout the day can protect health and contribute to well-being.
- Drinking adequate amounts of water can help prevent a range of short and long-term health problems from headaches, bladder, kidney and bowel problems to cancer.
- Water has none of the health problems associated with drinks containing sugar, additives, sweeteners, acids or caffeine.
Parents?
- By keeping yourself hydrated, you teach your children good drinking habits. Good for them, good for you.
- By checking that your children’s school has toilets that you would use and that there are sufficient drinking points (not only in the toilets), you’re working your way towards ensuring that your children can easily hydrate.
And for the school?
- As children spend the majority of their day at school, it is very important that the school provides fresh drinking water.
- Various studies have shown that schools that lead by example and encourage their children to keep hydrated show a marked improvement in overall attention given as well as learning capabilities.
- A child who is not irritable because of dehydration means that teachers are able to better teach their pupils.
AquAid have, for many years, been involved in campaigns spearheading the importance of drinking water.
We know it is of vital importance.
To this end, we ensure that we have a wide selection of water coolers that are installed into schools, gyms and learning centres across the country. When we install a water cooler in a school, we have individual water bottles available to encourage the children to fill their water bottles throughout the day.
Our water coolers can either be mains fed for large schools where the water consumption is high, or for schools where there are no water mains close to a particular area, bottled water coolers can be installed and replaced on scheduled intervals.
by Fern Shaw | Mar 5, 2013 | Health and Hydration
- Collect water from your roof to water your garden.
- Rather than following a set watering schedule, check for soil moisture two to three inches below the surface before watering.
- Install a rain sensor on your irrigation controller so your system won’t run when it’s raining.
- When doing laundry, match the water level to the size of the load.
- Know where your master water shut-off valve is located. This could save water and prevent damage to your home.
- Avoid recreational water toys that require a constant flow of water.
- Encourage your school system and local government to develop and promote water conservation among children and adults.
- Use a grease pencil to mark the water level of your pool at the skimmer. Check the mark 24 hours later to see if you have a leak.
- If your dishwasher is new, cut back on rinsing. Newer models clean more thoroughly than older ones.
- Drop your tissue in the bin instead of flushing it and save water every time.
by Fern Shaw | Feb 8, 2013 | Health and Hydration
For ages now I’ve been paying more attention to a certain element of nature, with the scientific call sign of H2O, more commonly known as WATER. Why is this? You ask.
Well, a ways back, all of a sudden, I started developing migraines. Never experienced one in my life, then *bam* from a whole host of attributing factors, I had my first ever, vampire-like hissing at sun light; stomach rolling; spots in front of my eyes; 4 to 12 hours whimpering (gently) in a darkened room experience and I took back every mean word I’d said about those that complained of this ‘mythical’ ailment.
I started seriously considering making nice with a GP somewhere (I tend to steer clear of doctors unless absolutely necessary) just to get my hands on some Schedule 90 migraine medication, just so as to avoid a rehash of the migraine experience.
I mentioned these occurrences to a distant friend. Her exact words? ‘Are you drinking water?’
My stammered reply, ‘Well, no, but I don’t like water, it’s boring and it doesn’t taste nice!’
She was adamant. So I did. And over the years, I’ve happily shared the knowledge with fellow sufferers of many & varied ailments and have truly delighted in seeing more than one person have that light bulb moment when they realise their body has been trying to tell them quite desperately in some cases, for years – ‘I NEED WATER IN ORDER TO FUNCTION’.
The human body has its emergency calls for water. These are localised emergency calls. We call these heartburn, rheumatoid joint pain, back pain, migraine headaches, colitis pain, fibromyalgiac pain, even angina pain — signs of dehydration in the body.
Pain may be a warning of localised thirst; that is, the pain signal may be a warning of dehydration in that specific area (a regional thirst), for example, low back pain, migraine headache, joint pain, and angina. Chronic dehydration may contribute to a reduction in lymph flow, which in turn may contribute to or cause varied problems.
So, treat yourself and your body with great kindness and drink cool, refreshing, rejuvenating water the next time you’re feeling a bit low. Your body will thank you for it.
by Fern Shaw | Feb 4, 2013 | Health and Hydration
Earlier this year, France imposed a tax on sugary soft drinks after a study found that more than 20 million of its citizens are overweight.
Health campaigners in the U.K. are pressing for a similar tax. Researchers at Oxford University calculate that a 20 per cent tax on soft drinks would reduce obesity and overweight in Britain by 1 per cent — roughly 400,000 cases across Britain. The only problem with this finding is that other studies have shown that over the last 10 years, although the consumption of added sugar soft drinks has reduced by 9%, obesity has increased by 15%.
Understandably, the idea of a tax has met stiff opposition from the British Soft Drinks Association.
Apparently, the problem is not only the range of between 6 to 8 teaspoons of sugar in a standard can of soft drink, but also the citric acid that is used to make the drinks fizzy. Citric acid is very corrosive on one’s teeth.
Diet soft drinks are not much of a better option as they contain chemicals that are not high on the good for your organs list should your consumption of these drinks be excessive.
A bigger problem than weaning oneself off soft drinks is helping one’s children to not drink them, as, because of the high sugar content in soft drinks, it creates a like-with-like effect and increases the desire to eat salty foods in place of say, drinking water and eating fruit or, the dreaded vegetables. J
While the battle about whether to tax or not tax added sugar soft drinks rages on, perhaps it’s time to look at other alternatives that are kind to you, your health and your pocket:
One could try the ‘everything in moderation’ approach or, for the more stout of heart, cutting the consumption of sugary drinks from one’s diet.
Either way, It is your decision as to what you choose how to ‘fuel’ your body.
by Fern Shaw | Jan 30, 2013 | Health and Hydration
Water makes up almost sixty six percent of the human body and seventy percent of the brain. (Can’t drink this).
At birth, water accounts for approximately 80 percent of an infant’s body weight.
One ear of corn is 80 percent water. (Can’t drink this either).
75 percent of a living tree is water. (Nope.)
75 percent of a chicken is water. (You get the general idea …)
80 percent of a pineapple is water.
95 percent of a tomato is water.
Water usage in the U.K. is around 3.6 billion litres per day which is 151 litres per property. That’s about 150 litres per day per person.
The total amount of water on the earth is about 1.36 billion cubic kilometres of water.
Scientists estimate groundwater accounts for more than 95 percent of all fresh water available for use.
Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, O degrees Celsius.
Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, 100 degrees Celsius.
Water is unusual in that the solid form, ice, is less dense than the liquid form, which is why ice floats.
Water regulates the earth’s temperature.
So much water and only an infinitesimal percentage of the Earth’s water is available for human consumption. Perhaps a good idea to start this New Year with achievable resolutions and ones that won’t just make you feel good, but can help other 70 to 80 percent humanoid beings too.
