Stay Hydrated this Winter by Drinking Warm Water
Some doshas (vata, pitta) are more receptive to warm water throughout the year. I've found that for myself, warm water works unless I'm overheated or if I've just finished an intense workout.
Why Warm Water?
- Aids in digestion - digestion is sometimes an overlooked factor in overall health and in weightloss. If your digestive fire (agni) is not on point and not being stoked, your digestion gets sluggish and so does the rest of your body. Warm water keeps things fired up.
- Breaks down food - warm water facilitates the breakdown of food beyond your initial chewing, allowing it to more easily pass through your body.
- Detoxifying - warm water helps to flush out toxins (and ama) as it helps your digestive tract stay lubricated. Ice water causes everything in your tract to tense up and it has to work harder to warm the liquid to body temperature once it hits your stomach. This is the calorie burn that many articles speak to. To detoxify your body, you must baby it along, treat it well, not cause stress to it. This allows the detox process to occur. Although ice water will initially burn more calories, having a digestive tract that functions optimally will be more beneficial in the long run than the (very few) calories that ice water will burn.
- Maintains warmth in the winter - winter is a season of cold and dry and warm water helps your body to maintain its warmth. Who doesn't want a cozy warm water bottle to carry when stepping out into the cold?!
- Hydrates your body easier - cold water restricts blood vessels and requires the body use its energy to warm the water. Warm water easily integrates into the mix and your body is able to start absorbing and utilizing that warm water because it doesn't have to focus on heating it up.
- Increases immunity - warm water helps flush out the lymphatic system and helps you to stay healthy and more able to fight off sickness. This is especially important during flu season and as the holidays approach and we're all in close proximity, closed doors, with people who may be carrying new, fun sicknesses!
- Helps with constipation - even if you aren't necessarily full on constipated, warm water helps to move matter through your digestive tract. Everybody poops!
Staying hydrated is harder for some people than others. Winter seems to be a challenge for most people. If you notice that your lips are chapped, your hands are dry, your eyes are scratchy, you feel listless and lethargic, then you are likely dehydrated. Unfortunately, you can't go chug a gallon water and maintain hydration.
I noticed that my son's lips were chapped yesterday, which is part of the inspiration behind this write-up. During the winter, we're faced with such dry air, that our bodies have a hard time maintaining hydration.
Roadblocks to Staying Hydrated
Consistency: Hydration requires that you are drinking water at recurrent intervals throughout the day. If you've not had enough water from noon to 5 pm, you can't backfill at 7 pm with 5 cups of water. Your body will just flush it right through and isn't able to absorb it all.
Timing: Ensuring that you aren't drinking a lot of water with meals will help stoke your digestive fire. Drinking water on a (relatively) empty stomach will allow your body to more easily absorb the liquid.
How much water should you drink??
- Drink half your body weight in ounces of water. (If you weigh 120 lbs, you should aim for around 60 oz of water). You may need to increase or decrease this depending on your constitution. If you notice that you're urine is completely clear, you either need to drink less or drink less at a time but with more frequency. If your hands or lips continue to stay dry and parched, then increase your intake. Each person is unique - tune into your system to determine what works for you.
- Drinking too much water can dilute your nutrient intake and flush out essential nutrients that your body needs. Ensure that you aren't overdoing the water intake.
Action Plan!
- Start your morning with warm lemon water. Drink as much as you need in order to eliminate. This is the one point in the day that drinking an excess of water is acceptable, as the major goal is for the water to aid in elimination. With the lemon water on an empty stomach, it also helps to flush out toxins.
- Plan to have a few drinks every 15 minutes or a glass every 30 minutes throughout the day, paying attention to not drink a lot 15-30 minutes before a meal and allowing 15-30 minutes after a meal before drinking a large amount. This approach allows your body to absorb as much as possible and also helps to keep you from running to and from the bathroom all day! If you're consuming quantities in excess of what your body can absorb, you're just going to flush it down the toilet!
I'm still working on not chugging water with my meals. I always have and it's proving to be a difficult habit to break. I've done pretty well at the staying hydrated part. This week, I plan to work on not drinking a ton with my meals.
Tips:
- Find a water bottle that you really like.
- Keep it with you at all times.
- Set a timer on your phone for the first week.
- If you have a fitness tracker (FitBit), set an alarm for steps and for water intake!
- If plain warm water isn't appealing, try adding in herbs (mint, cilantro), fruit, lemon/limes.
- Herbal tea is also beneficial but the focus should be on warm water.
- If you drink coffee, double up your water intake around the time you're drinking the coffee. It's very dehydrating.
- If you have littles, make sure they're drinking water too (not just milk!) I have a hard time with my youngest, who only wants milk.
Happy Hydrating!
Stay hydrated, Bee Well! One-at-a-time!
Follow me at BeeWellWV on Instagram or email me at beewellwv@gmail.com.
Bee Well!
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