Your body is made up of mostly water. It is no wonder that there are so many great benefits to drinking water. Yet, most people do not even come close to drinking enough water daily. Not consuming enough water can make you dehydrated. If your body becomes dehydrated, you can feel sick and will show several symptoms. Some of these symptoms are headaches, dizziness, low blood pressure, dry skin, trouble concentrating, the feeling of dry mouth and fatigue. No one wants to feel any of these symptoms, especially being tired.

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Everywhere you look there is water and most of the time it is free. There are several ways to add water daily and improve your overall health.

Health Benefits:

• Regulates Your Body Temperature­: This is very important to your health. If you are too hot or too cold it can cause many issues with your body.
• Removes Waste:­ Water helps to remove the waste from your body through urination, perspiration and bowel movement. Water is a natural detox for your body.
• Protects the Brain:­ The water in your body pads your brain and helps to protect it from movement and from any hits that your head may take.

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• Protects Internal Organs:­ Water protects all of your organs by keeping them in a bubble type atmosphere so they do not get damaged in your day to day activities.
• Lubricates Joints­: The water acts like a cushion for your joints and bones. If there was no water your joints would grind against each other and cause great discomfort.
• Clear Skin:­ Drinking water helps to keep your skin hydrated and looking young. It helps to fight off the bacteria that cause pimples and acne.
• Weight Loss:­ By consuming more water you will feel fuller longer and not consume unneeded calories. Also, water has no calories. What better than to consume, than water with no calories!

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• Better Mood:­ Drinking enough water will put you in a better mood. You will feel better overall. The Journal of Nutrition stated that when women are mildly dehydrated they are in a bad mood, have difficulty concentrating, seem more tired and experience prolonged headaches.
• Prevents Kidney Disease:­ Drinking water regularly helps to flush out your kidneys and lowers your risk of having chronic kidney disease.
• Exercise Longer:­ Consuming higher quantities of water allows people to be able to exercise longer and more efficiently.
• Running Faster­: If you are a runner like I am, you are always looking for ways to run faster and safer. Drinking more water will help you run faster. This happens because your body does not feel overheated and does not exhaust as easily as if you did not drink water.

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There are so many ways that water helps your body but yet it still is hard for some to consume water. Some people trick themselves into ways to consume more water and by doing this they start adding a good habit to their daily lifestyle. Other people are able to change their mind set and change up their routine.

Ways to Consume More Water

Set a Daily Goal­: By setting a goal you can start off with small amounts and build from there. By starting small it will help you to accomplish the baby steps and you will want to challenge yourself with a bigger goal.

Buy a Water Bottle:­ If you buy a water bottle that you know you will use then you will, by habit, drink more water. Once you have the bottle make sure to take it with you everywhere you go. If you are at work it is so much easier to drink more water and when it is right beside you. If you are at school the same thing applies. When you make it easily accessible then you will consume more.

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Use a Straw­: You can buy a cup or water bottle with a straw. When you drink from a straw you drink faster and by drinking faster you will drink more water without even consciously knowing that you are doing it.

Use an App:­ Most people have smartphones today, which makes it convenient to use apps to track your water consumption or to help you reach your goal. The apps that I personally like are Fitbit and Waterlogged. Waterlogged is a free app that you can download onto your phone. It enables you to track your goals daily and it shows you how far you have come. Fitbit is similar to the Waterlogged app. To use the Fitbit you will need the device and then you can set up the app on your phone. This app allows you to track you water consumption and your daily goals. I like this because it shows you a graph and you are able to see how you did for the week, month etc. It also keeps track of the amount you have drank each day so you can compare how you did during the week and this helps to extend your goals beyond just daily goals.

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Add Flavor to Your Water:­ Some people just do not like the plain taste of water. If you are one of these people there are other ways to enjoy water. Adding fruits or veggies to your water is a great trick to help enhance the flavor of your water. Also, you can buy the premixed flavors to flavor your water. The only downfall of this is that you need to be careful of adding calories, especially if you are trying to lose weight.

Water Based Foods:­ Adding water based foods to your diet is a great way to ensure you consume water. Most water based foods are fruits and vegetables. Some of the best picks are cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, celery, grapefruit, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, apricots, strawberries and salad greens. Just keep in mind eating them raw is the best way to get the most water. If you cook them they will lose much of their water.

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I don’t know about you, but drinking more water sounds pretty good. The health benefits are great and water is free of any unwanted calories. It is a simple lifestyle change that has many rewarding benefits. I will drink to that!