Drinking lots of water in order to stay hydrated, is a vital part of any healthy lifestyle: helping us to maintain a healthier body weight, improve our mood, sustain our energy levels and keep our skin looking great. There are now many different brands of flavoured water available. The only problem is choosing ones that do not undo all the benefits that water provides.

First of all, watch out for sugar. Some brands of flavoured water contain more sugar than a can of soda.

Try to avoid caffeine-laced water. Caffeine wreaks havoc with the adrenal system and although you may experience a brief spike in energy, overall this is not the best way to sustain your daily energy levels. Caffeine is also dehydrating, so best avoided if you are choosing flavored water as a way to hydrate.

One advantage of flavoured water – is that it can contain extra vitamins. This is a good way to top up your daily vitamin intake but not act as a substitute for other sources of vitamins such as from fresh fruit and vegetables.

Do not ‘let your eyes decide’ and reach for the brightly coloured ‘waters’.  Colour of flavoured water is not the same as with picking fruit the brightest doesn’t mean the best flavour and the richest in healthy content.

Written by Vanessa

Water; it’s free, accessible, calorie-free, life giving and thirst quenching. Increase your intake of water and feel the benefits.

1. MAINTAIN A HEALTHIER BODY WEIGHT

Water helps the body metabolise stored fat. The kidneys cleanse our body, via the blood, of waste and need water to function well. When the kidneys are not operating optimally the liver takes up some of the kidneys workload, hence the liver is not metabolizing stored fat into energy efficiently.

2. IMPROVE THE APPEARANCE OF YOUR SKIN

Water not only aids detoxification but hydrates the skin, plumping it out creating a fresher, more youthful appearance.

3. IMPROVE YOUR MOOD

Being dehydrated can make you feel tired and lazy – very similar to feeling low or depressed.

4. HELP YOUR BRAIN FUNCTION

Given our brain is about 70 percent water dehydration has a negative effect on adult cognition; the brain controls body function via electrical signals through our nervous system. Like any communication network the purity of the carrier, affects the speed and clarity of the signal.

5. IMPROVE YOUR ENGERGY LEVELS

It has been medically proven that just a 5% drop in body fluids will cause a 25 to 30% loss of energy in most people and a 15% drop causes death!

6. REGULATE YOUR BODY TEMPERATURE

When you exercise, you lose water through your breath and by sweating. As the sweat evaporates, your body cools.

7. STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

Water helps all the mucous membranes in the respiratory system stay moist enough to combat the viruses they encounter. It also aids the function of the lymphatic system.

8. PROTECT YOUR JOINTS

Water moisturises our joints providing them with better protection against wear and tear.

9. AID DIGESTION

Malabsorption of food can cause imbalances of bacteria in the digestive tract; the first step in improving digestion and nutrient absorption is to increase your water intake.

10. STAVE OFF SUGAR CRAVINGS

Sugar cravings are often a sign of dehydration. Next time you want to reach for the chocolate try having a glass of water.

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How much water should you drink a day?

1. Drink lots of water
2. Eat Fruit daily
3. Eat vegetables daily
4. Take multivitamins
5. Do weight training weekly
6. Do cardio weekly
7. Avoid complex carbs
8. Avoid refined sugar
9. Take cod liver oil
10. Avoid coffee
11. Drink peppermint tea
12. Reduce alcohol consumption
13. Walk more instead of taking the bus or car
14. Reduce daily carbs
15. Reduce daily fats
16. Drink a glass of water before meals
17. Take fat loss supplements
18. break your meals up into 5 0r 6 smaller meals
19. Eat with on a small plate to create the illusion of eating alot
20. Read weight loss books
21. Read fitness blogs
22. Don’t eat junk food
23. Don’t eat fried food
24. Get a personal trainer
25. Use a tape measure instead of weighing your self
26. Opt for organic foods
27. Build muscle as you will burn off more fat daily from being muscular
28. Don’t skip meals
29. Never train for more than an hour
30. Run outside
31. Be creative with your cardio, not just the treadmill for an hour
32. Never sacrifice your health to lose a bit of fat
33. Get a workout partner
34. Don’t be self conscious at the gym nobody cares
35. Run hills and climb stairs

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There are 7 great foods to add to your diet that really help detoxify-

1. Apples- Contains pectin, tannic and malic acid that helps clean out the intestines and regulate the bowel.  Potassium and phosphorus help to flush the kidneys out.
2. Grapes- high in tannin which helps boost the metabolism.  They have a high magnesium content that helps cleanse the liver and kidneys.
3. Melons- high water content good for flushing the system.
4. Carrots- high in vit A, C and E good for soothing and strengthening the intestine.
5. Beetroot- one of the most powerful cleansers of all foods.
6. Cucumber- high water content good for flushing toxins out the system.
7. Pineapples- neutralizes excess acidity in the stomach.

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1. Water- a dehydrated muscle easily cramps so drink water regularly throughout the day and your workout.
2. Overheating- if you don’t drink enough water you can easily overheat and the combination of overheating and dehydration is what easily causes muscle cramps.
3. Water retention- salt helps keep water in the body without enough sodium we can easily lose alot of body water and become dehydrated which leads to cramps.
4. Potassium deficiency- potassium deficiency is thought to be linked to muscle cramps.  We lose alot of potassium when we train through sweat.  This can easily be boosted with a banana prior to your workout.
5. Magnesium- magnesium deficiency is thought to be linked to muscle cramps.  We can boost this by eating nuts, beans and pumpkin seed.
6. Restricted blood flow- if you have restricted blood flow to a working muscle then this can easily lead to muscle cramping.  Tight bands or tight clothing can easily restrict blood flow leading to muscle cramps.
7. Flexibility- a tight muscle can easily cramp if it restricts the range of motion of the exercise you are performing.

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1. You don’t drink enough water- 6-8 cups of water a day is generally the guideline for water intake a day by the average person although people partaking in regular exercise should look to drink more than this.  Coffee and tea don’t count as your water for the day.
2. Water gets rid of toxins- water gets rid of toxins you get from coffee and alcohol also drinking water helps the kidneys do their job, so if your having a high protein diet this will really help as your kidneys are doing alot of work.
3. Water prevents fluid retention- despite what you would think when you drink water regularly it makes you hold less water as your body doesn’t need to store as much as it knows its getting water regularly. 
4. Aids digestion- regular drinking of water helps the digestion process and if you are eating lots of protein throughout the day this is very important as the body can often struggle digesting all this food.
5. Metabolizing fat- When you don’t drink enough water the kidneys can’t function properly.  When this occurs this job is passed to the liver.  The liver metabolizes the fat into energy.  if the liver takes over the kidneys job less fat is burned so you store more fat.
6. Salt and water retention- the higher intake of salt you have the more the body tries to retain water to dilute the the salt.

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How much water should you drink daily

2.5 litres a day but more in times of exercise or on hot days. This is the guideline amount and should be followed for good health results. How much water to drink is one of the most common questions I am asked as a personal trainer. Remember, that over-drinking is just as bad, people often forget this if you begin to feel nauseous you have probably drank too much. A lot of drinks bring you up to your daily water consumption level e.g. tea and fruit juices. Keep an eye on your water intake and if you are taking a supplement such as Creatine make sure you drink more water.

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