Digestive, skin, bladder and kidney problems, fatigue and headaches are just some of the adverse effects from not drinking enough water. Without sufficient water, many of the body’s essential cellular processes are severely hampered.

Did you know that many people often confuse ‘hunger’ with ‘thirst’ and often eat something instead of drinking water?  When you start feeling thirsty your body is already dehydrated!

The best practice is to sip water throughout a day, so have it handy and make it a habit.  Positive habits will replace negative ones.

If you’re not a fan of drinking good quality, clean water, you need to start somewhere since you’re body is made up of 70% water for a reason.  Remember this: water is essential to life!

Have a big glass of water just before you go to bed to help the body repair itself, and a big glass of water right after you wake up – this will boost up your blood pressure to normal levels. Don’t just grab that coffee to ‘wake up’!

Also, don’t believe that sweetened (i.e. high sugar) cartoned juices or fizzy drinks, even ‘zero’ sugar ones, will hydrate you as well as water does. Sugar, as well as salt, makes your body waste precious water just to clean it out from your system.

Caffeine (whether you drink tea or coffee doesn’t matter) causes a loss of water because caffeine is a diuretic.

Make sure to drink one extra glass of water for every cup you have.

Drinking water speeds up your metabolism to where it should be and you will naturally eat less before of it – you will feel more ‘full’.  It’s one of the safest and healthiest way to lose some excess weight.

Infographic: SDFJ.org