Gut Health and Hydration

Water is the essence of beauty, and beauty is the essence of life...all Zoolander jokes aside. Water is a vital source for feeling and looking beautiful on the inside and out. Staying hydrated and consuming foods that contain water can help improve digestion and promote a healthy gut. Whether you drink it cold, warm or infused with fresh fruit, water has the ability to move nutrients around the body, flush out bad toxins and ease waste removal. When the inside of your body is properly hydrated and working beautifully, it shows on the outside. Having a healthy and hydrated gut promotes better skin, immune systems, sleeping habits, positive moods, brain function, energy levels and may even help boost metabolism to aid weight loss. Water may be the essence of beauty, but beauty starts from within…the gut!

Supercharged Tips on How to Stay Hydrated

1. While suggested amounts differ, and everyone’s body is different, you should aim to have 2-3 litres of water per day. Based upon your body type, lifestyle and overall health, you may need more or less than the recommended amount. As well as listening to your body, you can always ask your health care professional about how much water you should be consuming.

2. Always keep a water bottle handy and refill throughout the day. This will help make drinking plenty of water a healthy habit that’s easy to maintain.

3. Try keep track of your water intake. You can do this by taking note of how many bottles of water you drink a day. Another way is to keep an eye on the colour of your urine, this will help you to keep track of your hydration levels. If your urine is quite dark it means you are dehydrated, while the lighter it is the more hydrated you are.

4. Eat your water intake. Foods like cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, celery, radishes and watermelon have a high water content and contribute to around 20% of your entire fluid intake each day. Eating these fruits and veggies regularly is a definite way to stay happily hydrated. You can also try adding hydrating meals to your diet like smoothies, salads and yummy soups.

5. Infuse your water with fresh fruit and herbs. This makes keeping up your water intake a little more interesting and delicious! Lemon, mint and berries are a great combination that make water go down a treat.

6. Avoid ignoring thirst. If you're thirsty, it's likely that you're already dehydrated and this could quickly have a harmful impact on how your mind and body function.

7. Try to drink filtered water where possible. While most of us question the quantity of water we should be having, less of us are concerned about the quality. Tap water is usually treated with chlorine to help protect us against illnesses, however researchers say that the chlorine doesn’t just kill pathogenic bacteria in our H2O, It also kills our beneficial gut bacteria. A lot of water supplies also contain fluoride, lead, and a number of other chemicals that can harm the gut microbiome.