The importance of drinking water cannot be overemphasized. Water is very essential to every living thing on earth, especially since living cells are composed of about 70 % of water. Water helps to keep the skin hydrated and boosts its natural glow. Drinking water helps with digestion, circulation, transportation of nutrients, creation of saliva and maintenance of body temperature. Water also acts as a detoxifier that helps to flush out toxins and get rid of waste primarily through sweat and urine. Also drinking lots of water helps to improve the milk flow for breastfeeding moms.
Have talked about some of the health benefits of drinking water, it is crucial to discuss ways to help every member of the family get the daily water requirement.
The recommended daily amount of water is: 5 glasses (1 litre) for 5 to 8 year olds. 7 glasses (1.5 litres) for 9 to12 year olds. 8 to 10 glasses (2 litres) for 13+ years.
For adults, the 8 x 8 rule is used. Drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Since one ounce is approximately equal to 30 ml, so eight 8-ounce glasses of water will be about 1,920ml. This is roughly 2 Litres.
I am sure this recommendation might be a sort of eye-opener about whether each member of the house-hold is drinking enough water to maintain their normal metabolism.
The following are some of the practical ways to get enough water into your system as well as encourage every other member of your family to do the same:
- Get a clear Jug and put water in it. Either the water is from a filter or a water dispenser, fill the clear jug with water. This is for two reasons. First, personally I realized that I tend to drink more water when it is at room temperature. The second reason is that seeing water physically sitting in the clear jug is an open invitation to DRINK! Peradventure, you are an ‘on-the-go person’, just fill up a water bottle with water and take sips throughout the day.
2. To further enhance the appearance of the water in the clear jug, you can add to it some lemons slices or some strawberries. This makes the water even more appealing to the eyes, and you will find the little ones actually requesting to drink water. The water also tastes really good plus its so colorful and “happy”. The result is that you all want to drink more water. Who doesn’t want something pretty?
3. Put a bottle of water and perhaps a cup in every room. I tend to recycle things in my house. Hence, when we exhaust the content of a fruit juice, I do not discard the bottles. What I do is to wash and store water in these bottles and put one in every room in the house. You can put some disposable cups with it. This is because from personal experience, there have been times when I felt thirsty but was too bloody lazy to relocate myself to the kitchen for a drink of water. We want to avoid such missed opportunities to drink more water.
4. This particular advise would work best with kids. Offer them water in fancy cups or in colorful bottles or funny-looking bottles. We went to the Philadelphia Zoo at a point and got alligator-shaped bottles. Ever since, when I put water in those bottles, my toddlers tend to drink more water.
5. Also, this works with toddlers. I call it the “Juice bait”. What I do is to put water in my children’s cup when they are eating and tell them they get some ounces of juice if they drink their water. This works in most cases.
6.Just DRINK! This way you help yourself and also model good behavior for your children because they are watching you. I keep telling my children “water is good for us”.
I say to you today, Water is good for you!