Healthy Hydration Tips

How many glasses of water do you drink a day?  While some people find it easy to knock back the recommended 6-8 glasses a day, most of us struggle with filling our daily quota.

Here are some creative hydration ideas:

Hydration Tips:

• Make sun tea.  In the morning I put 3 herbal tea bags in a half gallon wide-mouth Mason jar – You can buy these from Ace Hardware online (they usually only carry the quart size in the store) but instead of paying a premium to have them shipped to you, they can deliver them to your local store and you can pick them up there.Remove the string from the tea bags, fill with filtered water and cover.  I just leave it on the windowsill for about 5 hours, sweeten with either whole leaf stevia or xylitol, recover and refrigerator.  My favorite sun tea these days is Organic Cran-Aid from Traditional Medicinals.  It has a combination of cranberry, uva ursi (an herb that supports bladder function) hibiscus, rose, peppermint and other herbs.  HINT:  I fill a glass with ice, add some fresh mint leaves and pour the sun tea over – AMAZINGLY REFRESHING!
• Water quality is key.  I have found a brand of water called LeVai (found at my local health food store) that is alkalized.  If you can’t afford an expensive water filtering system, alkalized water has a very pleasant taste and helps balance your body’s Ph (potential hydrogen)  I find it much easier to drink water when I enjoy the taste.
• Morning detox.  Most mornings I start out with a glass of alkaline water, squeeze in a half lemon and a shake of cayenne pepper.  Great way to get your system revved up and start hydration.
• Add chlorophyll. There are some water enhancers/flavorings available at mainstream stores these days but I wouldn’t advise using those as they have artificial flavorings and colors.  You can buy flavored liquid chlorophyll at a health food store – my favorite is mint.  Adding about 4-6 drops to my bottle of workout water makes it pleasant-tasting and gives me an extra dose of vital green gold; it sweetens the breath and cleans your digestive track.
• Iced green or herb tea.  Green tea has a small amount of caffeine but it also provides some great health benefits.  I bought this Magic Tea Maker from one of my favorite online tea stores, The Tea Table, along with some scrumptious flavored green teas (Crime of Passion, with calendula and sunflower petals and the Apricot Green Tea are my favorites)  Fill with hot water and then place over a mason jar filled with ice – when you remove the little holder tray, the tea flows into the cup or jar.  Instant iced tea!  (I’m actually sipping mine right now, flavored with some stevia.)
• Eat fruits and veggies.  If you eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies as opposed to a diet of mainly cooked and dehydrated foods, you will derive a lot more water from your food, which reduces the amount of liquid you need to drink. Some foods actually leach liquid from our bodies – caffeine, salt and alcohol are some of the biggest culprits, so best to keep those down to a minimum, especially during the summer months when we are losing a lot of our natural fluids through sweat.

Happy Hydration!

What are your favorite hydration tips or ideas?  Please share.

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