Happy and Hydrated: Why Hydration is Essential for Your Wellness

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You’ve heard the advice so many times you might suspect you were a camel: Stay hydrated. Water is vital to life, but even plants can survive a drought. What are the benefits of maintaining optimal levels?

For one, it can help you live a longer, healthier life. Recent research in the Lancet reveals that people who maintain optimal hydration are less likely to show signs of aging and chronic illnesses. Those with too much serum sodium — an indicator of long-term hydration patterns — ran a higher risk of biological markers that made them older than their chronological age.

While that may be the most impressive health benefit of staying hydrated, it isn’t the only one. 

Wellness Benefits of Staying Hydrated 

What are the wellness benefits of staying hydrated above and beyond a longer, healthier life? Here are seven reasons why hydration is essential for your wellness. 

1. Reduce Chronic Aches and Pains 

Staying hydrated can help you combat the everyday aches and pains that prevent you from enjoying life to its fullest. For example, if you have arthritis, you know how joint misery can wreak havoc with your mobility and make it tougher to do your favorite things. 

However, maintaining optimal hydration levels helps lubricate your joints, making movement more comfortable. Dehydration pulls moisture out of muscles and connective tissue to protect your organs, leaving any remaining cartilage brittle. Water keeps your cushioning soft and pliable and lets your soft tissues support your activities. 

2. Maintain a Consistent Body Temperature

Perhaps water’s best-known function becomes apparent on hot summer days. Staying hydrated helps you maintain a consistent body temperature. You release excess heat through sweating but need plenty of moisture to draw upon. When dehydrated, you open yourself up to an increased risk of heat-related illnesses. 

3. Eliminate Waste

Maybe your massage therapist advised you to drink more water after a treatment to flush out toxins. While drinking water isn’t exactly akin to showering your insides, it does help your kidneys work more efficiently. These organs cleanse your blood and release waste products through your urine. 

4. Control Your Weight 

Do you want to shed a few extra pounds? Hydration alone won’t make you slim, but it helps. The secret lies in satiety. You might mistakenly think you’re hungry when you’re actually thirsty — sipping frequently throughout the day can prevent mindless snacking. 

5. Improve Your Mental Outlook

Scientists have uncovered an association between proper hydration levels and fewer anxiety and depression symptoms. Other studies have found that anxiety decreases as dehydrated individuals consume more water. 

6. Achieve Softer Skin 

Does your skin look dull and flaky? You can apply lotion all day, but hydration works from the inside, plumping your skin cells and reducing ashiness and fine lines. 

7. Improve Your Overall Performance 

Proper hydration improves cognitive performance, even among older adults with dementia. Additionally, it fuels your sports prowess, helping you bring more energy to your workouts or lead your recreational softball team to victory. 

8 Ways to Effortlessly Improve Your Hydration Levels

You know that you need to get more water in your life. If you tend to run dry, spend some time in mindfulness exploring why. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you forget? Maybe you like water just fine, but you get so busy throughout the day that you forget to sip up until your thirst becomes unbearable.

• Do you dislike the taste? Many people think of plain water as flavorless, but some folks find it too bland. Fortunately, there are ways to flavor it that add nutrition and don’t disrupt your blood sugar. 

• Does it make you queasy? While many people with conditions like inflammatory bowel disease can only tolerate noncarbonated drinks like water, others get downright nauseous from the flat stuff. Fortunately, you can make your water sparkle instead of opting for soda. 

Do you need some tips to improve your hydration and maximize your wellness? Here are eight suggestions that can keep you on track. 

1. Go a Bit VSCO

The stereotypical “VSCO girl” carries a super-cute water bottle adorned with stickers everywhere she goes. These teens are onto something. Invest in a bottle that keeps your beverage at your preferred temperature and personalize it however you like. You can even find groovy versions with Bluetooth speakers in the lid! 

2. Set a Reminder

If you’re like most people, you may as well glue your cellphone to you. Put that device to good use by using its alarm function to set reminders or download a free app that prompts you to sip on schedule. 

3. Eat More Fruits and Veggies 

There are many health reasons to eat more fruits and veggies, and here’s one more. Many of these foods contain around 90% water, meaning they hydrate you while you eat. A mixed melon salad makes a delicious lunchtime dessert that boosts your hydration for the afternoon. 

4. Juice up Your Beverage

Maybe you avoid water because you don’t fancy the flavor. Many commercial fruit juices contain too much sugar, but you can add taste without the glucose-spiking stuff by soaking fruit in your water. You also increase your nutrient intake without adding calories. Experiment with different flavors by mixing various combinations of berries, citrus fruits, melons, apples, and pears. 

5. Make It Sparkle

Are you among the unfortunate few who can’t drink plain water without feeling nauseous? Kick those sugary and artificially sweetened sodas to the curb. Instead, use a device like a SodaStream to carbonate your water and make it sparkle without adding any calories or problematic substances. 

6. How Sweet It Is 

Let’s be honest and real for a moment — many folks in the western world grew up on sugary drinks. As a result, they shy away from anything that tastes “flavorless,” and fruit alone doesn’t always cut it. 

Try adding a dash of stevia or monk fruit sweetener to your brew. Both of these come from plants, making them natural, and they won’t spike your glucose levels like sugar. 

7. A Spot of Tea

While you want to avoid sweetened commercial versions, the tea itself is chock-full of health benefits. You can brew it hot or make it iced, depending on the weather. True teas from the Camellia sinensis plant contain small amounts of caffeine that can result in more bathroom trips, but the beverages still hydrate you. Herbal teas contain no caffeine.  

8. Reward Yourself 

Do you want to make hydration fun? Make it a competition with yourself. When you nail a perfect week, treat yourself to a night on the town. 

Drink to Your Health

Water is essential for wellness and can improve your health in various ways. Embrace these tips to get more water in your life. You’ll look and feel better inside and out.