by Fern Shaw | May 29, 2020 | Water Coolers
At present, it’s understandable that we may crave comfort food and drinks. The quick fix from salt and sugar loaded food and drink is undeniable, so even while you’re attempting to stay better hydrated, you may be ingesting dehydrating substances without even realising it.
Sodium is a big culprit
When you eat salty foods, your cells tell your brain that you’re thirsty. Examples of foods high in salt are fast foods, potato crisps, tinned foods, deli meats and condiments like tomato ketchup, brown sauce and sweet chilli sauce.
Sugary drinks also contribute
Much like salty foods, sugary drinks also tell your brain that you’re thirsty. Try to avoid these – fizzy, energy and sports drinks as well as over sugared coffees and cocktails.
Instead of eating and drinking these dehydration-inducing foods and beverages, drink more water and add these top superfoods to your diet for optimal health and antioxidant levels.
Blueberries
Yielding antioxidants, vitamin C and anti-inflammatory properties, a handful of these berries daily can do wonders.
Fatty fish
Fatty fish with omega-3s include salmon, herring, sardines, and mackerel. Make sure that you only buy fish off the endangered list. A good guide to which are sustainable and safe fish to buy can be found here.
Soy
This does not mean using enough soy sauce to turn your sushi rice another colour. Soy sauce has a high sodium content. Clean and simple soy is recommended. Soy in this category includes tofu, soymilk and edamame. For the curious, edamame are green soybeans boiled or steamed in their pods.
Fibre
There are a variety of great options for getting more fibre in your body:
- Beans. Think three-bean salad, bean burritos, chilli, and soup.
- Whole grains. That means whole-wheat bread, pasta.
- Brown rice. White rice doesn’t offer much fibre.
- Popcorn. It’s a great source of fibre.
- Nuts. Almonds, pecans, and walnuts have more fibre than other nuts.
- Baked potato with skin. The skin’s important here.
- Berries. All those seeds, plus the skin, give great fibre to any berry.
- Bran cereal. Actually, any cereal that has 5 grams of fibre or more in a serving counts as high fibre.
- Oatmeal. Whether its microwaved or stove-cooked, oatmeal is good fibre.
- Vegetables. The crunchier, the better.
With all this talk about salt, it’s quite likely you’re now thirsty, so to help, here are a few thirst-quenching alternatives that are not only good for you, but will tamp down on your dehydration quickly:
Tea
The antioxidant powers of tea are present in both black and green tea. Moreover, you’re drinking water when you drink tea, minus all the sugar you would be when consuming fizzy drinks.
Calcium-rich
The health-conscious tend to stay away from dairy products for fear that they contain fat, but calcium is necessary for the body. If you’d rather not consume cheese and milk, take a calcium supplement.
Water
As always, the simplest and quickest route to maintain good hydration is to drink water more. To gauge how much water you should drink, refer to AquAid’s handy guide to start you off.
*updated from a blog post Jan 2013
by Fern Shaw | Apr 22, 2020 | aquaid, bottle fed water coolers, water cooler
Social media has played a huge part in communicating with and connecting people over the last few months.
Posts, videos, memes, all exhorting individuals as to what they could do while practising self-isolation. Everything from downing raw eggs (can you say salmonella) to playing tennis across rooftops (which we quite liked, truth be told). We are being bombarded with so much information it can be overwhelming, so, whereas here at AquAid we’ve decided to add to the pile, we like to think you may find our to do (or not do) list easy to digest:
- If you’re lucky enough to have a pet, pet your pet. Often. There’s nothing quite as recuperative as communing with a furry creature who adores you. (Or scaly, or feathered if that’s the way you roll, pet wise).
- Drink water more. Make sure there’s always fresh water for above-mentioned pet.
- Remember the oxygen mask deployment rules when flying (slight paraphrase here): take care of yourself first so that you are better able to help others.
- A prime example of taking care of you is to remember to drink water. Properly hydrated equates to you being better equipped to perform – no matter the task.
- Bend your knees. Whether you’ve decided to completely re-landscape your garden; spring clean your entire dwelling; re-arrange your furniture or stoop to blow that dust bunny back under the sofa – bend your knees.
- You guessed it. Irrespective of your level of lockdown activity, hydrate. Then hydrate some more.
If you require a water dispenser, your Bottle-Fed water cooler topped up or bottled water delivery wherever you are, remember that here at AquAid, we continue to operate responsibly, including maintaining social distancing and our customers not having to sign for bottled water deliveries.
by Fern Shaw | Mar 10, 2020 | water boiler, water cooler
Now that March has arrived, it would be nice to believe that spring isn’t too far off (and it isn’t that far as the new season arrives officially on the 20th of March).
As we Britons are used to radical weather patterns whatever the season, it’s no surprise that the topic remains at the forefront of our communication. Whether (ha) we’re topping up our water at the water cooler station at work i.e. chatting to colleagues (not the water cooler, although should you wish to, please, feel free – even a water cooler can benefit from some attention) or chatting with family or friends or indeed, speaking to strangers.
Irrespective of our opinion about the topic of the weather, there is no denying it has a huge impact on our behavioural patterns; moods; what we eat; our travel patterns; what we wear and what we drink.
Although we may not think about how different our drinking water patterns are depending on our environment, they very much are. When it’s warmer we tend to exert ourselves more and are always on the lookout for the perfectly chilled water, while come the colder months there’s nothing better than a piping hot drink to stave off the chill. This usually means you are more likely to be on the lookout for a hot water boiler that can dispense a constant supply of hot water throughout the day.
If you’re prone to drink more water when it’s warm and less when it’s cold – a gentle reminder that you’re just as likely to become dehydrated in winter as you are in summer, so remember, whatever the weather, make sure to have AquAid address all your hot & cold water cooler requirements. We are always happy to help.
by Fern Shaw | Mar 4, 2020 | bottle fed water coolers, mains fed water cooler, Water Coolers
Recently, Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, spoke of his wish to have all London primary schools become ‘water only’ zones.
The reasoning behind this stems from a report that found that nearly 40 percent of children in London between ages 10 and 11 are obese. Mayor Khan said, “Making water freely available and introducing measures like ‘water-only’ in schools are some of the simple things we can do to not only tackle childhood obesity, but also improve behaviour and learning.”
AquAid has always promoted and encouraged proper hydration habits for every individual; however, a large portion of our focus has always been and continues to be ensuring the provision of large capacity water coolers, designed specifically for the school environment, to schools throughout the UK. Our water coolers can either be Mains-Fed for large schools where the water consumption is high or, Bottle-Fed for schools where there are no water mains close to a particular area.
This is because, at AquAid, we understand that remaining properly hydrated helps to improve attention, short-term memory, and well-being. The fact is, a hydrated child is a much happier child and to this end, we have always encouraged our school customers to be able to provide readily available drinking water for both the children and school faculties.
Further to that, our water coolers are all equipped with anti-bacterial taps to ensure safe drinking water, 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.
by Fern Shaw | Feb 12, 2020 | water cooler, Water Coolers
There’s no doubt the day can instil an equal amount of horror and dread in many, so for Valentine’s this year, we have come up with an (almost) fool-proof plan that will not only be kind to your pocket but will also make your intended view you in a more rosy coloured light.
What is this trickery you may well ask? What cunning plan is percolating at AquAid?
As with most successful concepts, the trick(ery) is in the simplicity. So, without further ado we present our ‘How to (almost) guarantee a good reaction from your intended romantic target’:
Drink water more.
Before you leave the page in disbelief, allow us to elaborate:
Your skin is an organ. As with all your body’s organs, in order to function at its best, your skin requires water.
Reduce puffiness. Our skin will swell most often because of water retention, usually due to dehydration, where the body retains water to protect itself. Unless you’re aiming for the sympathy vote, puffy does not equate to attractive.
Dry, itchy, flaky skin can indicate a lack of hydration. It’s always good practise to keep our skin washed and clean, but without feeding our skin internally by drinking enough water, it is unlikely that the skin’s appearance will improve.
Reduces sagging skin and wrinkles. Drinking more water helps tighten your skin, as it provides more elasticity and the ability to bounce back from sagging.
Conclusion: when you hydrate properly, your skin plumps up and becomes smoother and brighter.
The final bonus to this amazing plan is how easy it is to action, especially if you have an AquAid Water Cooler installed at your work place.
Include a visit to your water cooler station when you are taking that much needed break.
Replenish your drinking water often.
If straight H2O is a little too much to contemplate, not to worry – your AquAid hot water dispenser will keep you filled to the brim with whatever hot water drink you might fancy.
In addition, in no time at all, you will be smooth skinned, clear-eyed and bursting with good energy – just in time for your intended to take note of how truly gorgeous you are!
