How to Revitalise the Brain if you’re not Dr. Frankenstein

How to Revitalise the Brain if you’re not Dr. Frankenstein

Does the title rhyme? I think it just might. We’re off to a great start then!

Of course, it isn’t necessary to harness lightning and channel electricity to create brainwaves or make us feel more alive. There is, in fact, a far simpler, less complicated and indeed, more pleasant method to achieve this.

Our brains depend on proper hydration to function optimally. Brain cells require a delicate balance between water and various elements to operate and when you lose too much water, that balance is disrupted. Your brain cells lose efficiency.*

Years of research have found that when we’re parched, we have more difficulty keeping our attention focused. Dehydration can impair short-term memory function and the recall of long-term memory. The ability to perform mental arithmetic, like calculating whether you’ll be late for work if you hit snooze for another 15 minutes, is compromised when your fluids are low.*

Over the course of a typical twenty-four hour period, the longest spell most of us go without fluid intake is the six to eight hours we spend sleeping. Sleeping is hardly the kind of activity that you sweat over, but that doesn’t mean you’re not losing water during the night. With every somnolent breath, you expel moisture, and the cumulative effect of a night’s sleep is to dry out.*

Ideally, it’s best to drink water soon after waking up. Alternatively, the next best option is to make frequent visits to the water cooler at work.

Drinking water from an AquAid water dispenser does more than just enliven you. It literally creates the implementation of sustainable water supply projects for millions of people who don’t have access to any water. So, not only will you feel like quite the bright spark each time you replenish your water from your water cooler, but also you’ll retain the knowledge that maintaining your hydration is helping others. No Dr. Frankenstein tactics required!

*source: article by Joshua Gowin Ph.D. at Psychology Today

The Rain and Drinking Water Polarity

The Rain and Drinking Water Polarity

You would be forgiven, what with the rain bucketing it down, if you’re viewing wet and water with a somewhat beady eye. For all the good it does and the fact it’s vital to our very lives and sustenance, it doesn’t hold sway when you’ve been rained on, constantly.

Is there a positive slant to these downpours, we ask?

We believe so.

Measuring rainfall beats trainspotting we’re sure of it. Is there anything more satisfying than comparing rainfall notes with your neighbours, workmates (read competitors):  Well, our rain gauge measured 17mm, not sure where you get 10mm from? See?  Promotes interest and healthy competition all round.

Rainfall replenishes the Earth’s water table. All of which means, healthy, thriving plant growth, whether that’s for oxygen creating trees through to crops and crops of your favourite veg.

Free car wash. Okay, perhaps not the best example but true nonetheless. Also encourages physical activity as you rush outside post downpour to wipe your car down so that it shines just as if it’s been freshly washed.

Rivers, lakes, dams refill. And all that goes along with that: Thriving plant, bird, animal and aquatic life.

But what of the polarity mentioned in the blog title? Well, whereas we may not appreciate water raining down on us, we can appreciate constantly available refreshing drinking water.

That would be drinking water dispensed from your mains-fed or your bottle-fed water cooler.  Installed by AquAid. Backed with services and sanitisations performed by our WHA accredited service technicians. Also worth consideration is that AquAid supply hot drinking water dispensers, hot water boilers and Instant Taps. So, if our rain happy reasons haven’t convinced you, it’s good to know you can make yourself – and your neighbour and your workmates – a piping hot cuppa at a moment’s notice. What’s not to like?

Water Cooler Health – Keeping Fit in the Office

Water Cooler Health – Keeping Fit in the Office

Aside from everything else that has occurred over the last two years, possibly one of the biggest changes was the advent of working from home, which brought with it Zoom meetings, Zoom meeting attire – pyjamas on the bottom, work shirt on top. These factors however seemed to snowball into creating a rather sedentary work creature – one of living in sleepwear morning until evening and sadly with that, a serious reduction in exercise or keep fit routines.

All very understandable of course, however, although our daily routines have forever changed, heading back into the office has become the norm for many of us. As has ditching our leisure wear and making a determined effort to dress for work.

The good news is even if you were an exercise powerhouse in the privacy of your home; you are still able to maintain a decent level of fitness while at the office.

If you look online, there are more office exercises than one can extend a desk donkey kick at, but the set from the NHS seems very sensible (and achievable). In part due to their suggestion to:

‘Wear loose, comfortable clothing and keep some water handy.’

We say as much as we know how easy it is to let workplace routines fall aside when you’re not in your usual workspace. Like taking regular breaks.  Stepping away from your desk.  Refilling your water jug or replenishing your water bottle at the office water cooler.

Taking breaks and exercising (even during working hours) are important, however, maintaining good hydration habits, by drinking water regularly, is vital to your well-being and ability to work smarter and not necessarily harder.

If you would like to install a water dispenser, hot & cold water cooler, hot water boiler or Instant Tap in your office, contact us at AquAid.  We’re nationwide for your convenience.

AquAid – How does Hydration Aid Education?

AquAid – How does Hydration Aid Education?

With 24 January being International Day of Education, we thought it important to highlight an often overlooked yet crucial solution which aids children’s education.

Dehydration in children can be difficult to spot

Most children show no obvious visible signs of dehydration, as symptoms such as lethargy, irritability and lack of concentration may be considered normal during class, more often in the afternoon however, we now know that these signs may be due, at least in part, to the effects of dehydration.

The brain cannot store water

No matter the age of the schoolgoer, learning requires the brain’s engagement. Because the brain has no way to store water, drinking water continually throughout the day is vital. When the body loses more water than is being replaced, dehydration occurs and brain function can be affected.

However, when the brain is operating with plenty of water, children are able to have greater clarity, creativity, focus and quicker thought processes.

Well-maintained hydration can boost learning

When we are thirsty, mental performance including memory, attention and concentration can decrease by up to 15 percent. Children are better able to concentrate as they are not as distracted by dehydration effects such as thirst, tiredness and irritability.

The role of nurseries, schools and learning centres

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.

For more than two decades, AquAid has been involved in campaigns spearheading the importance of drinking water. We understand a hydrated child is a much happier child. Consequently, we have always encouraged our school customers to provide readily available drinking water for both the children and the entire school contingent.

Drawing from our wide range of high quality water dispensers, we offer a selection of Mains-Fed water coolers for large schools where the water consumption is high as well as Bottle-Fed water coolers for either smaller educational facilities or where there are no water mains available at a drinking water area.

We provide Touch-Free water coolers. Our water coolers are equipped with anti-bacterial taps for increased hygienic water dispensing and various drainage options to reduce overflow and spillage wherever possible.

Moreover, to help create and instil better hydration habits, we also offer free refillable drinking water bottles and free school posters to help keep water top of mind during the school day.

Water Cooler Refresh or, How to Refresh, AquAid Style

Water Cooler Refresh or, How to Refresh, AquAid Style

There is ample information available about refreshment, refreshing, how to refresh. We decided to take a closer look at what exactly refresh means – when pertaining to hydration that is.

Drinking water regularly doesn’t often top the refreshment list – it’s often seen as a chore more than something one does for enjoyment. Which is a pity as making regular visits to your water cooler – whether it be a mainsfed or bottled water dispenser to replenish your water glass or bottle – is just about the simplest and kindest manner in which to refresh yourself.

There are scores of literature and countless research and case studies available that illustrate the refreshment arising from ensuring you have a constant supply of drinking water available throughout your working hours.

A few refreshing facts – drinking water regularly:

  • Increases your brain’s ability to better concentrate and focus – aiding all round cognitive function.
  • Is one of the best ways to *boost your metabolism; one study* found that people who drank as little as 500ml water had their metabolic rates increase by 30 percent.
  • Improves mood and well-being, which in itself creates feeling refreshed.
  • Reduces fine lines and wrinkles, plumps up the skin leaving you feeling invigorated and refreshed.

No matter your physical makeup, level of activity, the type of work you do, drinking water is truly the simplest route to feeling refreshed every day. Cheers! 

*sources: eatthis.com and Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

Sustainable Water Provision and your AquAid Water Dispenser

Sustainable Water Provision and your AquAid Water Dispenser

Irrespective of your take on climate change, radically changing weather patterns year on year or the crucial drop in natural water supply globally, there is no denying that the stats speak volumes:

771 Million people lack access to potable water.*

1.7 Billion People lack access to improved sanitation.

Approximately 60% of the global population lives without access to a toilet.

*stats from Water.org

The ramifications of these statistics and the volume of people it affects can seem quite daunting in terms of how to address this global issue.  The good news, though, is that there are multiple organisations that continue, year on year, to provide sustainable solutions to the lack of water and adequate sanitation to those in need.

Sustainability may seem like a 21st century buzzword – bandied about without much meaning, but the truth of it is – sustainability is vital in the provision of water and sanitation to those for who access to water is an ongoing fight for actual survival.

Sustainable water projects are those that include both short term and long-term solutions that pave the way forward by enabling a community to begin water related projects that may provide them with a capacity to earn an income or to trade their produce or services to others.

There’s much truth in the adage, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime’, but before we implement this philosophy, help is needed to provide water to communities that more often than not, do not have the most basic of infrastructures for a steady supply of water.

That’s why here at AquAid Water Coolers we have, since our humble beginnings over two decades ago, partnered with charities that not only provide emergency relief but also sustainable solutions to poverty around the globe, as is the case with Christian Aid and in the case of The Africa Trust, throughout Africa.

To learn more about the work that these organisations carry out, visit us at our website, and see how your water and water dispenser purchases are making a visible difference to others.