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What can you do in the next 60 seconds that will improve your health?
Drink two cups of water.
Under certain conditions, drinking two cups (one pint) of water can boost your mood, metabolism, brain power, and ability to deal with stress. Scientific evidence links hydration to a plethora of health benefits, and the fact is, scientists have just scratched the surface when it comes to understanding all of the roles that water plays in our body.
If you want to lose weight, water may help
According to Jodi Stookey Ph.D., a nutritional epidemiologist specializing in water and hydration effects on chronic disease at the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in Oakland, California, “Drinking water instead of any beverage with calories (including milk, juice, soda, coffee, tea, sports drinks, alcohol) reliably lowers the total calories, carbohydrate, and protein that people consume at their meal, which in turn favours fat burning. Drinking water can also boost fat burning, by improving cell hydration (by improving the cell's response to insulin; by decreasing the cell's breakdown of protein and stored glycogen to amino acids and glucose. Fat burning is suppressed when concentrations of glucose, amino acids, and/or insulin increase).”
Water may also help you beat stress
“It’s worse to be stressed out if you’re dehydrated,” Stookey says. “If you’re dehydrated, your stress response will be significantly bigger, it will be magnified.”
So how much should you be drinking?
The amount of water each person needs on a daily basis can vary depending on size, activity level, and a number of other individual factors. The best way to judge your hydration level is by the color of your urine, says Stookey. You want to drink enough to dilute it until your urine is clear, not yellow.
Don’t like drinking unflavoured water? We’ve got 4 ideas to make your 8 glasses a day tasty and refreshing.
Berry Blast
Mull ½ cup of sliced strawberries, ½ cup of raspberries, and ½ cup of blueberries. Add ice and either flat or sparkling water. Serve.
Tropical Breeze
In a pitcher, put ½ cup of cubed mango, juice from half of a lime, and 3 torn basil leaves. Add ice and flat water. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Peachy Ginger
Mull one peach. Add water and ice, then stir in 8 thin slices of peeled ginger. Serve.
Blueberry Basil
Mull ½ cup of blueberries, ½ lime, and 3 torn basil leaves at the bottom of a pitcher. Add ice and either flat or sparkling water.
Want more ideas? There are plenty on Connect! #water