1. More Energy

Dehydration can slow down circulation and affect the flow of oxygen to your brain. A lack of fluids can also cause your heart to work harder to pump oxygen all throughout your body. All that expended energy can make you feel tired, sluggish, and less focused. Simply by drinking more water, you’ll prevent dehydration and have more energy to get you through the day.

2. Weight Loss/Maintenance

Water can help boost your metabolism. Since it provides a sense of fullness, water can help you feel satisfied in between meals—instead of heading to fill your plate up with seconds. It can also help boost your metabolism.

3. Improved Brain Performance

Even mild dehydration—as little as 2% fluid loss—can affect mood, concentration, memory, and reaction time. Increasing our water consumption can have a positive effect on your cognition, stabilize your emotions, and even combat feelings of anxiety.

4. Improved Digestion

Your body needs water to digest food properly. When dehydrated, you may experience irregular bowel movements, gas, bloating, heartburn, and other discomforts that can impact your quality of life. Drinking enough water gets things moving in the right direction again. It aids in breaking down soluble fiber from your diet to keep your digestion process on track.

5. Improved Detoxification

Sufficient water intake supports your body’s natural detoxification systems, which remove waste and harmful substances through urination, breathing, perspiration, and bowel movements. Supporting your own powerful, built-in detox processes can help enhance your overall health.

6. Fewer headaches

Even a mild fluid loss can cause the brain to contract away from the skull, leading to headaches and migraines in some individuals. Being consistently well-hydrated may help keep head pain in check.

7. Joint Health

The cartilage in our joints is mostly made up of water. Staying hydrated aids your joints in staying well-lubricated, which helps reduce friction by creating more of a “cushion” between the bones. Less friction means smoother-moving joints and fewer aches and pains.

8. Better Temperature Regulation

When you’re dehydrated, your body stores more heat. Drinking plenty of water helps you produce sweat when you’re overheated during activity, which in turn cools your body down. This built-in cooling mechanism is critical in preventing heat stroke and other potentially deadly heat-related conditions.

9. Kidney Stone Prevention

Kidney stones are clumps of mineral crystals that form in the urinary tract. If you’ve ever experienced one, you know how painful they can be. Consuming adequate amounts of water each day can help dilute the concentration of minerals in your urinary tract and make stones less likely. Water also helps flush harmful bacteria from your bladder and can aid in preventing urinary tract infections (UTIs).

10. Healthier Heart

Your blood is made up largely of H2O. When you don’t drink enough water, your blood becomes concentrated, which can cause an imbalance of vital minerals (electrolytes). These minerals, like potassium and sodium, are key to the proper functioning of your heart.

How Much Water Do You Need?

If you want to prevent dehydration, it’s as easy as incorporating more water and water-rich foods into your diet. 8 glasses a day is an easy rule to remember and a good general target. You can also use the body weight formula: take one-third of your body’s weight and drink that number of ounces in fluids. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, aim to drink 50 ounces of water each day.

Sometimes we need more water. Increased physical activity and exercise, hot and/or humid weather, and occasions when you are vomiting or have diarrhea are all situations in which we should increase our water intake.
Each person’s hydration requirements are different, depending on factors like medical history, health conditions, and any medications being taken. Talk to your doctor to come up with a personalized hydration plan that meets your unique needs.

Proper hydration is just one of the focuses of my retreats. Along with juicing, fasting, yoga, hiking, meditation, colonics, and lifestyle coaching, my retreats give your mind, body, and soul that chance to do a full reset.