10 Simple Health Practices: 9. Drinking Sufficient Amount Of Water

Water is the essence of life. Our body is made up of 75% water. A 5% drop in body fluids actually cause roughly up to 30% energy loss in an average adult. A more severe dehydration of up to 15% drop in body fluid can be life-threatening. Therefore drinking sufficient amount of water on a regular basis is vital to good health. Drinking up to 2 litres of water daily is a good amount.

Here are a 4 ways on how you can drink 2 litres of water on a daily basis:

1. Always Carry A Water Bottle
A water bottle typically can contain 500-750 ml of water. All it takes is less than 3 minutes to get your water bottle ready. Remember to always wash your bottle after a day of usage. You must be careful not to fill very hot water into your bottle as it may deform your bottle and also may contaminate the water. This is because some plastics might melt when you pour very hot water.

2. Always Have 2 Cups of Water By Your Bed
When you wake up in the morning, you will probably feel thirsty. However most of us do not attempt to quench the thirst because usually we will be rushing to work in the morning. This is where having 2 cups of water by your bed makes it convenient and acts as a reminder to drink up when you wake up. In addition, research has shown that our water absorption rate is at a peak when we wake up because the body has been rested and has not been filled with water during our slumber hours.

3. Opt For Water Instead Of Coffee
Coffee is highly diuretic. What this means is that coffee will increase our rate of water excretion, which is not favourable. I can understand that we often take coffee as a form of beverage to keep ourselves awake and alert during work. However, substituting coffee with water is even better as it replenishes our natural energy. It also may make us visit the toilet more often for relief which will surely wake us up. Not to mention that regular trips to the toilet make us less sedentary which is good for our health and that drinking coffee is harmful to our health in the long run.

4. Opt For Fruit Juice Instead of Soft Drinks
During meals, we often order soft drinks. As carbonated drinks with high sugar content, soft drinks are not healthy drinks. In fact soft drinks are also highly diuretic and actually make us thirstier afterwards. Fruits by nature are high in water content. Thus getting an apple juice or your favourite orange juice, especially those freshly squeezed ones, makes so much more health sense. Of course you can have water as your drink for your meal. However always drinking water can be boring and thus difficult to maintain. Besides fruit juices are a great alternative to water, given that fruits are healthy foods and that they provide a savoury taste which does not cost much.

Having a sufficient amount of water intake daily will provide us with a wide range of benefits from good skin complexion to more energy. So be sure to drink at least 2 litres of water daily!