As outlined in medical journals, the human body is made up of over 50% water, averaging between 60% – 70% depending on age and other factors. Maintaining a healthy body water percentage assists the body with regulating its temperature, lubricating joints and keeping skin hydrated and healthy. To keep it simple, if your urine is transparent or a light yellow, then you’re adequately hydrated. Anything darker than light yellow means you’re on your way or are already dehydrated and need to drink water immediately. Fatigue, feeling thirsty and a mild headache are also early warning signs of dehydration.
To Drink Enough Water, It Must Be Enjoyable!
So many people have good intentions but get tripped up with the action taking for one reason or another. The biggest problem I hear with tap water is it smells and tastes horrible, so people don’t really want to drink it. Even adding tea and coffee to disguise the taste isn’t enough in some cases. Previously, we were told that tea and coffee dehydrate us, while more recent studies have shown tea and coffee have a diuretic effect but do actually aid in hydration.
You know that you can filter out some of the chemicals that the tap water is treated with to make it bearable, but it’s difficult and expensive to remove them all. The great news is, rainwater is free of these chemicals and some basic filtration can give you pure, fresh tasting drinking water that you will enjoy and want to drink more of. By keeping organic matter out of your tank with a rain head and first flush diverter, your tank water will be clean and fresh when you filter it out of the tank.
Bottled Water Can Contain Toxins That Leach From The Bottle!
People don’t often think about things they can’t see. When bottled water is bought from the supermarket or convenience store, it’s like it appeared in top condition. No thought is given to the time it spent on a pallet getting shipped from its manufacturing point to its final destination. Did it spend any time in a warm environment or directly in the sun? How much contamination from single use plastics gets into the water in these conditions? Do you store the bottles in a cool place, or do they sit in a closed car, waiting for the next picnic or kids sports training day?
I know I’ve drunk water from these throw away bottles that tasted a bit funny, which is why I choose to take my own filtered rainwater with me. Reusable containers don’t leach toxins, which is more than enough reason for me to forget about the convenience of store-bought bottled water. That’s before I even consider the damage that our environment is being subjected to from this influx of single use plastics, choking our waterways and wildlife. For your own health, your family’s health and the health of our ecosystems, doing a quick google search may just shock you.
Can You Get Water From Food?
Yes, you can get some of your water from different food sources. Obvious things like watermelon, rockmelon (cantaloupe), strawberries and celery are high in water content. Leafy greens like lettuce, cabbage and spinach also contain a large percentage of water. Eating soups, laksa and broths are another way to hydrate from food, while adding things like cucumber, tomatoes and capsicum to a salad is a simple way.
We can liken this to vitamins though, if you want more vitamin D, you can take tablets or simply get a little sunshine each day. Drinking at least two litres of filtered water a day is recommended and can be done quite easily. Together with the water you get from food, your body will function better and your organs will do their job with ease. The human body is capable of dealing with a lot of punishment, but why put it to the test when you know better. A healthy body and healthy mind are often thought to be more valuable than money!