Microsoft word - drink to your health - 1st draft.doc

Mother nature’s healthy ‘cocktail’
Wouldn’t you want to find out more about a new ‘miracle’ health
drink, if it claimed to make your skin glow, give you more energy,
increase your mental and physical performance, help you lose
weight, remove toxins from your body, improve your digestion
and reduce any headaches or dizziness that you might be experiencing?
It sounds great doesn’t it? And what’s even better, it exists, it’s free, and it comes out of your
kitchen tap! Yes, we’re taking about water.

Water – the natural choice
You’ve heard it said that we should all drink eight glasses of water a day, and there’s a very good
reason for that. Your body must have water in order to digest and absorb vitamins and nutrients,
detoxify the liver and kidneys, carry waste away from the body and generally help your digestive
system to work properly. Eating lots of fibre to aid digestion is great in theory, but it just won’t
work without water.
Some nutritionists say that 80% of people are walking around dehydrated, which is probably a fair
assessment. Basically, not only are they not drinking enough water, they are also having too
many ‘diuretic’ type drinks like tea, coffee and other caffeine-based drinks. These literally absorb
water from the body and make the situation even worse!
Once you’re dehydrated, your blood is literally thicker than it should be and your body has to work
much harder to get it to circulate. And because of that, your brain becomes less active, you find
hard to concentrate and you start to feel exhausted.

Water – the natural health drink
Most of us live with these symptoms and accept them as just a ‘normal’ part of life, never realising
that there could be a simple way to improve how they look and feel. But even more worrying, lack
of water can also lead to certain medical problems, or to increased risks for people who are
unwell already.
A six-year study of more than 20,000 healthy men and women aged 38 to100 found that people
who drank more than five glasses of water a day were 41% less likely to die from a heart attack
during the study period, than those who drank less than two glasses.
Drinking more water also helps you to recover from colds and other illnesses more quickly,
reduces the risk of being attacked by viruses and enables you to avoid more serious illnesses
such as kidney stones or urinary tract infections. It is also essential for pregnant women and
nursing mothers, or for people who exercise regularly - and especially if that includes a high level
of cardiovascular activity.

Water – the natural diet supplement
There are many ‘wonder diets’ out there, and most of us have tried at least one at some point!
But have you ever considered water as a diet drink?
Drinking those eight glasses a day really can be a long-term aid to achieving and maintaining a
healthy weight. Not only is water a natural appetite suppressant, it’s also true that when we think
we feel hungry, it’s actually water that our bodies are crying out for. So by having a drink of water
instead, you could avoid eating unnecessary calories that your body doesn’t need. Lastly, you
may not realise it, but when you’re dehydrated, your fat cells become ‘rubbery’, making them
harder to metabolise and so making it harder to lose weight.

Water – the natural way
Drinking eight glasses of water a day simply doesn’t come naturally if you’re not used to doing it,
so here are some handy hints to make it easier to remember, and easier to do!
Take advantage of morning thirst
You are naturally dehydrated in the morning, so use this to your advantage and drink as much water as you can first thing. Not only will it give you a good head start on the day’s intake, it will also help to flush out the toxins that your body has been processing all night. Don't wait until you're thirsty to have a drink of water
If you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated. It’s best to drink water before you feel thirsty, but it’s not always easy to remember to do it. So why not set yourself a timer which will go off at regular intervals to remind you. Of course, this only works if you have some water handy at the time, so always try to keep a bottle with you wherever you are! Compensate for diuretics
These are the ‘thieves’ that steal water from your body. If you drink coffee, tea or other caffeine-based drinks, you'll need a few extra glasses of water to compensate. It’s also worth remembering that if you’re cold and you fancy a hot drink like tea or coffee in order to ‘warm up’, try warm water instead.
Water – the natural ingredient
Here’s a thought to leave you with. Almost two thirds of your body weight is water, and it needs to
stay that way. If you stop drinking water eventually there would only be a third of you left! More
specifically – 22% of your bone would be gone, 74% of your brain would be gone, 75% of your
muscles would be gone and 83% of your blood would be gone. Hmm, not a pretty sight!
So, in order to keep your body as nature intended – drink the water it needs to stay 100%
healthy!

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