Your body uses water in all its cells, organs, and tissues to help regulate its temperature and maintain other bodily functions. Because your body loses water through breathing, sweating, and digestion, it’s important to re-hydrate by drinking fluids and eating foods that contain water. Many of you have told yourself that you are hydrating with soft drinks like Fanta. However, it is difficult for the body to get water from any other source than water itself. Soft drinks and alcohol steal tremendous amounts of water from the body. Other beverages such as coffee and tea are diuretics, therefore stealing precious water from the body.
DEHYDRATED MUCH? BELOW ARE WAYS TO TRICK YOURSELF INTO DRINKING WATER
1. Flavored water: If the taste of water is not for you, you can buy a bottle of flavored water or flavor the water yourself. To flavor your water, all you need to do is squeeze a lemon or lime. This can also be done with berries, herbs, citrus fruits, and so on. You will need to soak some of them in the water, such as cucumber slices; others you will merely need to squeeze in a few drops.
2. Drink cold water: We are in Nigeria, and so many of us look forward to the moment a cold drink is poured into our mouths. Seeking a cold bottle of water, rather than one of room temperature is another way to trick your brain into looking forward to water. In addition, drinking iced water can speed up metabolism and burn extra calories.
3. Remove your options: Just like when one is on a diet, the best way to trick yourself into drinking water is to deprive yourself of alternatives. So empty out your fridge of soft drinks, juice, and the like and stock up on your water. When you get thirsty, you’ll have to choose between drinking what is there or going to the grocery store.
4. Five parts water: Another trick is to add water to whatever you are drinking. This is easy to do with drinks like Ribena. However, you can also do it with juice, soft drinks, and so on. Remember to add five parts of the water and one part of whatever is being added.
5. Fruits: Eating fruits such as watermelon is also a great way to get around your distaste for water. Made up of 92% water and full of important electrolytes, watermelon is a great snack to have on hand for the hot Lagos sun, to prevent dehydration.
It may seem unlikely now that you’ll ever enjoy or desire water; but once you’ve started to drink more regularly, you will find it comes to you more easily and a habit will have been formed. Drink healthily. Water is BAE.