How drinking water can help you break some bad health habits

We know you know: Everyone should drink water. (The most widely recommended amount for adults is 64oz, or eight 8oz glasses of water a day.)  The benefits of being well-hydrated on your health and wellness are well-documented and endless.

Drinking water, though, can also help you to break a number of bad health-habits, some you may not even realize are bad habits. Read on to learn more.

Bad Habit: Snacking between meals when you think you’re hungry

• Try This: Drink a glass of water and wait 15-20 minutes

Mild dehydration often feels like hunger. This happens because your hypothalamus controls both appetite and thirst and when you’re dehydrated, it may send the wrong signal.

Bad Habit: Not drinking water with meals

• Try This: Drink water with every meal

Some people believe that drinking fluids with meals dilutes the digestive stomach acids needed to break down food, however, drinking water actually helps your stomach liquefy food, aids digestion and helps with nutrient absorption. 

Bad Habit: Only drinking coffee all morning

• Try This: Drink a glass of warm water first

Coffee is great! Don’t get us wrong. Coffee has a number of incredible health benefits when enjoyed in moderation… It’s the habit of ONLY drinking coffee before noon that we want you to reconsider.

We tend to be a little dehydrated when we wake up so drinking water before anything else will help rehydrate you, improve digestion and can help kick start your metabolism when taken on an empty stomach. Plus, if you don’t tend to drink a lot of water during the day, drinking a glass or 2 before your coffee will help you reap the day-long benefits of being well-hydrated you’ve been missing!  

Bad Habit: Only drinking alcohol at happy hour

• Try This: Match every drink with a glass of water.

If you drink alcohol, chances are you’ve felt the repercussions of over-indulging the next day (sorry…). That’s because alcohol is a diuretic which means the more of it you drink the more fluids you lose, raising your chances of dehydration which, the next day, can cause headaches and fatigue. If you match each drink with a glass of water, you’ll stave off dehydration… and the urge to cancel on your workout buddy in the morning.

Bad Habit: Treating symptoms like headache & fatigue vs. preventing their cause

• Try This: Drink some water before grabbing that bottle of advil

Dehydration is a common cause of headaches and fatigue. Before reaching for a pain reliever or caffeine to feel better, try drinking at a glass or 2 of water and keep drinking throughout the day. Dehydration headaches resolve within a few hours and replenishing the water your body loses throughout the day can help fight fatigue.

It's a good idea to make sure you're drinking plenty of water every day.

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