Water Water and more
Before you even read another line, go fill up your glass with fresh water and return to your book. Ok, now don't just leave the water next to you, drink the entire glass before moving onto your next task.
You Are what you Drink!
The human body is 70 percent water. You’ve got roughly 10 - 13 gallons of water in your body. Water makes up 75 percent by volume of your muscles and heart, 83 percent of your brain and kidneys, 86 percent of your lungs, and 95 percent of your eyes. Most of all, your blood is 90 percent water. If you don’t drink enough, and most of us don’t, you will compromise your body and your health. Your weight and energy is an obvious sign of that compromise.
Even mild dehydration slows metabolism by as much as 3 percent. We tend to interpret thirst signals as hunger pains. Then, if we are not drinking enough, we are eating too much. And, if we don’t drink enough water, we actually retain water in our tissues to neutralize the acids there.
Most important, the body uses water to neutralize acids, to dilute excess acid, and to literally wash them and all toxins out of the body via urine, sweat, and through the bowels. Without enough water your body becomes too acidic and goes into preservation, fat storing, mode. A drop of just over 2 percent in body water content is enough to make that happen. In case you think that sounds like such a big change that it is unlikely to ever happen to you, take note: It’s not unusual to lose 2 percent of your body water during an average hour of exercise. In addition to storing fat, not getting enough water will also make you sick and tired. Even in the earliest stages, dehydration can also lead to muddled thinking, short term memory problems, trouble with basic math, expressing yourself verbally, and difficulty focusing on a computer screen or printed page. The list continues with anxiety, irritability, depression, sugar cravings, and cramps.
As for making you sick: When the dehydration gets a little more severe, symptoms include acid reflux, joint and pack pain, migraines, fibromyalgia, constipation, colitis, and angina. Serious dehydration is linked with asthma, allergies, diabetes, hypertension, and skin problems. Degenerative conditions including obesity, heart disease, and cancer are all inked with serious long term dehydration...
Although the most serious symptoms listed don’t come from spending an hour or a day with low levels of water in your tank, most people exist in a chronic state of low level dehydration for most of their lives. No wonder we are sick and tired, not to forget overweight!
Understand that if you drink only when you are thirsty, you’re not getting enough water. Your body loses 2 - 3 liters of water daily through normal activity - breathing, sleeping, walking around...Thirst lags far behind your body’s need for water and is an inadequate signal of your body’s needs....
Prior to beginning the 40 Day Program, or make the decision to be responsible for your own health, you can make some easy changes in your diet and lifestyle to reap the maximum benefit of the plan. Start by logging how much water you consume on a daily basis. This is the first step to health. Today, tomorrow and throughout the week we want you to find your water set point and consciously increase your water intake daily.
Step 1 - Starting today, remember how much water (not coffee, soda, wine etc, WATER or herbal tea) did you consume today? Before you go to bed tonight, make a mental note or write it down. 1 glass equals 8oz. Did you drink 3 glasses of water? Make a note.
Step 2 - Recall how much water you consumed during day 1. Now Remember to drink 1 extra glass today. Hold yourself accountable, this is your body. Before you go to bed, note your water intake. If you did not add the extra glass, Do Not Go To Bed! Get up and go drink a glass of water! It does not matter if you need to pee in the middle of the night, you are doing your kidneys and other organs a favor and they will rejoice sooner than later. Continue these steps daily until you reach your water goal.
What is my water goal? To calculate the ideal water intake for your body start with your weight. Your current weight (honestly) will be divided by 30. This is your ideal # of LITERS you need to consume daily to reach the amount of water your body needs to be hydrated and flushed of food and toxins. 1 Liter is approximately 4 glasses. So if you need to drink 5 liters per day than you need 20 glasses of water. A little different than the typical 8 glasses a day? Yes, this might seem like a large amount of water, but you will consume and add gradually.
Pucker Up!
Lemons boast an incredibly impressive list of health benefits. These are just a few:
Lemon helps the liver to dump toxins by stimulating its natural enzymes. This promotes good health and helps keep the skin clear. Citric acid can help eliminate calcium deposits in the arteries as well as pancreatic and kidney stones. Lemon provides a huge dose of the free radical fighting antioxidant vitamin C, which helps keep skin even-toned and wrinkle-free.
Vitamin C also helps boost the immune system, keeping the flu and colds at bay. Lemons are a good source of electrolytes, such as potassium, calcium and magnesium, which help hydrate the body and regulate its functioning. Lemons are rich in flavonoids. Flavonoids not only help boost the potency of vitamin C, they improve blood flow, helping to maintain normal blood pressure and reduce inflammation. They help balance your pH level. Though acidic to the taste, lemons are alkaline-forming on the body.
Lemons contain modified citrus pectin and limonoids, which have been shown in a recent study to prohibit the spread of cancer cells, slow cancer cell growth and induce cancer cell death.
So, pull out your pucker face because things are about to get sour. Each morning, wash a lemon and squeeze its juice and pulp into a pitcher of room temperature-to-warm water. Let rind float in water. Drink. Repeat if desired.
Got a question about warm or cold? We’ll chat about what is personally best for you when we talk Ayurveda!
