by Fern Shaw | Oct 24, 2018 | water cooler, Water Coolers
While it may not be the most common phrase one might be used to seeing and the association isn’t immediately clear, the fact is that good hydration habits make a significant positive impact on our ability to breathe well. And as we are all acutely aware, breath is life!
Water and your respiratory system: Research has shown that dehydration vastly affects all of the systems in your body including your respiratory system. Drinking water helps to thin the mucus lining your airways and lungs. Dehydration can cause that mucus to thicken and get sticky, which slows down overall respiration and makes you more susceptible to illness, allergies and other respiratory problems.
The Lungs: The airways and lungs are coated with clear secretions that promote proper respiration. When you are water deficient, the linings of the sinuses and airways become dry and prone to irritation. When the airways become too dry, the risk of breathing problems, or breathing related problems increases.
Dehydration can cause breathing problems: Water is used in the nasal passages, bronchial tubes, and lungs and to keep them moist. But when you breathe out, moisture from these tissues is expelled and every breath in brings in drying air. Under hydrated conditions water is rapidly replaced.
Dehydration can trigger allergies
Allergies are caused by a histamine reaction in the body. If you are allergic to pollen, your body views pollen as a danger and overreacts, causing your immune system to produce histamines to fight the irritants.
Histamines also have other functions, including regulating the body’s water supply. A 1995 Dutch study confirmed that dehydration triggers histamine production as a defensive mechanism to preserve water remaining in the body as well as to prevent future loss. When we are dehydrated, histamine production increases and can cause us to have the symptoms of seasonal allergies such as runny nose, sneezing, and itchy eyes. This accelerated histamine production to compensate for the body’s lack of water is easily avoided by simply drinking more.
These examples make it easier to understand why maintaining your water intake is of such vital importance. Which is why using your water cooler to fill your water bottle should be part of your daily routine: whether you’re at home, away, at work or exercising. Breath is life, so water + breath equates to an easier and healthier life.
by Belinda Ollewagen | Oct 17, 2018 | water cooler
We feel thirsty; we head over to our closest water cooler and we drink water – simple problem, simple solution. But have you ever wondered exactly how your body knows when to feel thirsty and what triggers this reaction? The answer begins with your hypothalamus.
Your hypothalamus is responsible for a number of vital functions in your body, from regulating body temperature and sleep, to monitoring your appetite. And because it also monitors blood volume and pressure, it can detect, amongst other, excessive loss of fluid in sweat and diarrhea, or changes in blood sodium concentration levels. When any of this happens it sends a signal to the brain ‘drink something’, which is why the hypothalamus is known as the body’s thirst center. There are a number of factors that affect the thirst mechanism: aneurysms or other brain injuries can sometimes impair the sensors which regulate blood sodium levels; but most notably, changes can often be seen amongst the elderly where ageing can affect the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis.
But your hypothalamus triggering your thirst mechanism isn’t the only way your brain responds to dehydration. When water levels in the body drop, the hypothalamus instructs the pituitary gland to secret more vasopressin – an antidiuretic hormone which causes water to be reabsorbed from the urine, decreasing the need to urinate and conserving water until such time as water has been replenished. A condition known as Diabetes insipidus can come about if the pituitary gland malfunctions or if the kidneys no longer respond to vasopressin – in which case a synthetic drug called demopressin can be administered which mimics the function of vasopressin.
According to Brainfacts.org, an online source of information about the brain and the nervous system, ‘although much has been learned about the neural regulation of thirst, research continues. Scientists are exploring, for example, why such factors as swallowing and the emptying of fluids from the stomach appear to inhibit thirst even before the body becomes fully hydrated. Studies into the thirst mechanism also are helping unravel some of the mechanisms by which the brain motivates sleep, appetite, and other basic human instincts.’
We may only have scraped the surface of fully understanding the role the thirst mechanism plays in our body, but undeniable is the sheer brilliance of our brain! And while our body naturally seems to know what it’s doing, it would be wise to help it along whenever possible, so make visits to your water cooler a regular part of your day, because remaining properly hydrated helps your entire body perform better.
by Belinda Ollewagen | Oct 17, 2018 | instant tap, water cooler
The dreaded afternoon office slump is something that afflicts many of us – come 3pm and we’re definitely NOT jumping up and down with boundless energy! Out of habit (and desperation) we usually grab a cup of coffee or a chocolate bar, but caffeine or sugar injections are most often counter-productive and we hit that slump even harder the next time around. In an effort to find healthier alternatives we went looking for options that hold more longevity, and HuffPost never disappoints, taken from Healthy Living, here are five of our favorite new energy boosters – and yes, your office water cooler is one of them.
- Munch a Lemon
No you didn’t read that wrong. Grab a lemon and bite into it – the tart citrus flavors will make your eyes pop and give you a quick boost of energy.
Extra perk: by adding lemon juice to your drinking water, you also add a number of other health benefits that help your body perform more optimally too.
- Take a Walk
Even for those of us stuck in an office, a quick walk around the block can do wonders. Between the fresh air and getting your body moving, flailing energy levels will definitely improve.
Extra perk: recent reports claim that sitting (as many of us in an office environment do all day long) is the new smoking, and that taking those frequent short walks helps ward off the negative consequences of being chair bound for so long.
- Grab a Peppermint
Different aromatherapy scents deliver different results and peppermint too has its place in the scent world, smelling peppermint fragrances or simply chewing a peppermint sweet can help one perk up.
Extra perk: drinking peppermint tea also helps soothe many digestive and stomach issues.
- Turn up the Music
While you might not be able to dance around the office to your favorite song (although stranger things have happened), nothing stops you from putting on your headphones and doing a little desk-dancing, it definitely energizes the spirit.
Extra perk: music actually helps you perform your tasks a little faster too.
- Drink Water
And finally, your water cooler: drinking water definitely does help when you’re in a slump, because very often what we mistake for fatigue is actually dehydration, and while other cold and hot drinks might aid hydration, nothing is as effective or as healthy as drinking water.
Extra perk: when using any of the AquAid products, whether water cooler or instant taps, a percentage of all sales are donated to the Africa Trust who help bring fresh drinking water to some of the most impoverished areas in Africa!
by Belinda Ollewagen | Oct 16, 2018 | instant tap, water cooler
If you’re making regular trips to your water cooler to make sure your body remains well hydrated so that it can perform optimally – well done! But if drinking regular water is starting to feel a little ho-hum, then maybe it’s time to mix things up a little, and an excellent way of doing that is to add something simple like a slice or two of lemon. Apart from enhancing the taste, lemon water also carries a number of other benefits.
Helps Prevent Urinary Tract Infections
Natural News advocates adding half a cup of lemon juice to your drinking water in the morning to help combat UTIs – lemon maintains the correct pH levels in the urinary tract preventing bacteria from growing.
Helps Strengthen the Immune System
Lemon is an excellent source of Vitamin C which, as we all know, helps combat colds and flu – especially important now as winter approaches. Not only that, but according to Greatist it’s also an antioxidant powerhouse and could help ‘decrease heart disease risk, reduce inflammation, and fight some cancers’.
Helps Reduce Inflammation
As cited on Live Strong, lemon juice helps to neutralize uric acid in the joints which is a major cause of inflammation – ‘although an acid itself, lemon juice, like apple cider vinegar, helps to promote the production of digestive juices including bicarbonate, helping to neutralize acidity in the body.’
And if preventing UTIs, strengthening your immune system and reducing inflammation is not enough reason to add lemon juice to your glass of water from the water cooler or instant taps in your breakout area, consider the aesthetic benefits: it helps neutralize the bacteria in your mouth which causes smelly breath and it aids collagen production which helps to keep your skin plump and youthful-looking. And if drunk in warm water, on an empty stomach as you start your day, lemon juice water is also said to aid weight loss as it promotes better digestion and increases your metabolism. So, go ahead and add a squeeze or two of lemon to your water – the benefits are far-reaching.
by Belinda Ollewagen | Oct 16, 2018 | instant tap, water cooler
Water is something we take very much for granted. We open our instant taps or we push the buttons on the office water cooler and without another thought, water comes flowing out. But this life-sustaining natural resource is so much greater than the casual consideration we give it. Courtesy of The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) here are a few interesting facts to remind you just how great a role water plays in our lives.
- 9% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.
- 97% of the Earth’s water is salt water – that leaves only 3% as fresh water.
- 7% of the fresh water on Earth is trapped in glaciers.
- If enough of those glaciers were to melt to cause a ten-meter rise in sea levels, it would flood 25% of the US.
- Over 90% of the world’s supply of fresh water is located in Antarctica
- Europeans use roughly 190 litres of water per day – in the US, people use double that amount, while those living in sub-Saharan Africa survive on only 8 to 20 litres per day.
- Daily we use more water flushing our toilets than we use showering or anything else water-related.
- In one year, the average American household uses (both indoors and outdoors) nearly 400,000 litres of water.
- A leaking tap that drips at the rate of one drip per second can waste nearly 12,000 litres of water per year.
- Water is the only natural resource that can be found in all three forms – solid, liquid and gas.
- Water is the great dissolver – it can dissolve more substances than even sulfuric acid.
And here’s something else to ponder: in just one day, 200 million work hours are spent by women collecting water for their families. This is one of the many reasons why AquAid believe in helping communities that are desperate for fresh water – a percentage of all water cooler or instant taps sales are donated to the Africa Trust who along with AquAid help bring life-giving water to some of Africa’s poorest communities. So, for a water solution tailored to your specific office needs, be sure to contact AquAid today.
by Belinda Ollewagen | Oct 16, 2018 | water cooler
We all know that drinking water is essential to our wellbeing and that without it, our bodies would cease to function properly; which is one of the many reasons why regular trips to your water cooler are so important. But what exactly are some of the bodily functions governed by water? Here are just a few of those life-sustaining operations:
- Water helps to regulate our body temperature – when we’re hot we perspire and the evaporation of water from our skin surface helps to cool our body. Just think back to our recent heat wave and how much moisture your body lost trying to keep itself cool.
- Water helps to moisten tissues such as those found in our mouth, eyes and nose – think saliva, tears and mucous, all of which play a very important role in homeostasis. This is especially important when you’re in an air conditioned office which can dry out your skin.
- Water helps to lubricate and cushion our joints – not only that, but water allows waste products to move out of our joints allowing them to function optimally. This is especially vital to remember with strenuous exercise as lactic acid can build up and additional water is needed to flush it out of our systems.
- Water helps to keep our bowel movements regular – not something you would normally associate with your water cooler, but those extra glasses of water help the food we eat to move along our intestines. If we’re dehydrated the large intestine soaks up much-needed water from our food waste which results in harder stools and ultimately constipation.
- Water helps our kidneys and liver work smarter – being dehydrated puts an extra burden on these organs which means they are less effective in flushing out waste products resulting in toxin build-up.
- Water is also the carrier of nutrients and oxygen to our cells – white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets are all suspended in plasma which is 92 percent water. Without water acting as a delivery service, most of our cells would clog up with waste and the consequences would be dire.
And there you have it, only a few of the life-sustaining bodily functions facilitated by the ‘matrix of life’ – water. For all your water cooler needs, be sure to contact AquAid Water Coolers today.
