The GOODista team is delighted to work with contributors who resonate with our overall focus on wellness in all its dimensions. Here we offer you an article by Capri Fiello about hydration (especially in winter). Drinking water is essential and the benefits of staying hydrated are so often underestimated – so take a look and feel free to let us know what you think. Thank you for reading and continue to Feel, Be and Do Good.
Why Stay Hydrated?
Staying hydrated is something most people have heard billions of times throughout their lives. Yet even after hearing about the importance of hydration, it’s easy to forget how greatly it impacts one’s health.
According to Brita, dehydration can be defined as when our bodies are not consuming enough water or fluids to account for the water lost. Long-term dehydration can lead to an array of health problems like muscle weakness, constipation, and inability to concentrate. Look out for symptoms like dizziness and infrequent urination because they can be a sign of dehydration.
How Much Water Should You Drink?
Your health during the winter is just as important as your health during the summer. People often neglect to exercise and keep their bodies properly hydrated. The dry environment coupled with being indoors frequently and the lack of sun affect the body’s active desire to drink. In other words, you may not get thirsty, but just because you don’t feel like drinking doesn’t mean you don’t need water. Mayo Clinic says “…that an adequate daily fluid intake is: About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men. About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women.” If you can’t start off drinking these exact amounts every day, that’s okay! Start drinking as much as you can and slowly increase the amount until you’ve reached your hydration goal.
How Does Winter Affect Your Hydration?
There is a large misconception that you should be more concerned about dehydration during warmer months. However, did you know it’s just as vital to maintain hydration during freezing winter days as well? In the colder months, it’s more difficult to notice when your body is sweating. Perspiration combined with the extra layers of clothing and dry air can cause our bodies to become dehydrated without us noticing.
Staying hydrated throughout the winter can boost your immune system preventing seasonal illness. Additionally, drinking water and staying hydrated can help you stay warmer in the winter months. Water helps your body maintain temperature balance so when you aren’t adequately hydrated, your body can become cold.
How Water or Lack of Affects Your Life
There are many benefits of drinking water, and it plays an important role in most bodily functions. We rely on water to keep a proper equilibrium of the body and with adequate hydration your health and energy should increase, leaving your body feeling refreshed.
#1- Intimacy –
The winter months, also known as “cuffing season,” a time where single people look for relationships to pass the colder months of the year, is a time when people turn to romance for happiness. However, many relationships suffer during winter due to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD does more than just make you, well, sad. It could affect intimacy with your partner. The feelings associated with SAD like anxiety and depression can impact your desire to be affectionate with your significant other. Mild dehydration can impair cognitive performance and mood showing a marked increase in anxiety and tension even when at rest. This anxiety and tension can result in medical issues such as upset stomach, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, and more. All of the symptoms can affect intimacy with your partner if not handled properly. To avoid these issues, make sure you’re drinking the designated amounts of water and communicating with your partner.
#2- Mental Health –
Mental illness can affect every aspect of life and can be hard to explain to those who’ve never experienced it. Describing how it can seep into everything you do and how it can make everyday activities hard is extraordinarily difficult. Relationships, work, and your social life are all aspects that can be affected by mental health. Sometimes mental health can affect people so badly, minuscule tasks such as getting out of bed, eating, and keeping good hygiene are almost impossible to complete. There are multiple things someone who is experiencing mental illness can do to stay mentally strong, but did you know water is one of them? Keeping up with your hydration during the winter can improve your physical state making you feel more energized and aware. The better your physical health is, the less anxious and stressed you’ll feel about the mental aspects of life. Water helps clear a foggy mind, allowing you to think clearer and more rationally, and provides the body with the energy it needs to function properly.
#3- Skin –
Being asked, “How did you get your skin to look so good?” is one of the best compliments to receive, and drinking proper amounts of water can help make that happen! People underestimate the power of drinking water and the positive effects it can have on your skin. Water can help to tighten the skin while leaving you with a glowy complexion. Additionally, water also helps to regulate pH balance which helps prevent breakouts and reduces wrinkles by maintaining skin elasticity. Splashing warm water on your face to open pores and using cold water to close your pores, helps to keep your face clean and bacteria out. If you’re drinking the recommended amount of water, along with maintaining a self-care routine you may reap the reward of healthy, clear, and glowy skin.
Awareness of the importance of water can change the quality of your physical health, mental state, personal relationships, sexual health, and keep your skin moisturized and radiant. That being said, while it may not always be at the forefront of your mind, try to drink plenty of water in winter to keep your body and mind in good shape.
Drinking Water is Good
The GOODista team wishes to thank Capri Fiello for this post, and indeed after understanding more about the benefits of drinking water – especially during the colder months – we are ready to stay hydrated. Hope you are too! Feel free to stay connected with us. Get the free newsletter.
