I am so pleased to share a special announcement today! I’ve partnered with my friends over at MightyNest, an online store specializing in natural, non-toxic products for the kitchen and home, on a series of giveaways you’ll be seeing here on the blog today and in the coming months. The giveaway items all align with topics I wrote about in my book One Simple Change
As you may or may not know, One Simple Change is a compilation of 50 ways you can transform your diet, adjust your lifestyle, and overhaul your attitude in order to benefit your health and the health of our planet. The book has been out for a couple of months and I really love getting feedback from readers. One of the chapters people seem to be resonating with quite a bit is the one about drinking water first thing in the morning. So I’m going to excerpt the book a bit here in order to revisit the topic of healthy water intake.
Drinking water first thing is really simple to do, and it can really be beneficial. Why drink water first thing in the morning? Our bodies are more than 60 percent water and, unfortunately, this makes us quite prone to dehydration. You can be dehydrated even if you don’t feel thirsty. Having a glass of water first thing and then drinking more throughout the day will help you avoid health issues that may be related to dehydration. Eating foods that contain water (like raw fruits and vegetables) and drinking additional healthy liquids will help as well.
The benefits of drinking water in the morning go beyond the physical, though: I find that having a glass of water right after I wake up makes me feel as if I’ve kicked off the day on the right foot. Since I’ve done something good for myself first thing, I am more likely to continue to make healthy choices as the day goes on.
Know that not everyone needs to have eight 8-oz/240-ml glasses of water every day, though. We all have different needs for water intake based on our size, activity level, our climate, etc. I suggest consuming lots of fruits, vegetables, and healthy drinks, and listening to your body. Drink water when you are thirsty, and pay special attention to drinking more when exercising vigorously or spending time outside in heat. It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on your urine. When you are properly hydrated, it should be very light yellow (though certain vitamin supplements and vegetables like beets do color your urine, rendering it an unreliable indicator).
Avoid drinking water when what you are is hungry (to fill you up so you won’t eat a lot). That’s not useful and it may even be harmful. When you are hungry, your body needs food, not water. Not drinking enough water isn’t healthy, but guzzling glass after glass of water when you are not at all thirsty is not exactly a healthy habit, either! You can, indeed, drink too much water, and doing so may be dangerous: when you drink far more water than your body needs over a short period of time, you can dilute the concentration of sodium in your blood.
