Water
Here's there Middleway Network Wellness Podcast – the Water episode.
We all know that water is fundamental to life, that we are made mostly of water, and that without it we will quickly die. That should be all the information we need to inspire us to drink enough of it. Yet most of us do not drink the recommended amount of 8 cups of pure water per day. Instead, we drink other beverages, and some pure water. We may not be dying of thirst, but we are not optimally healthy either.
Caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks are almost the opposite of water. Caffeine is a diuretic. That means it is a chemical that makes us pee more. When we regularly drink caffeinated beverages to quench our thirst, even if we drink 8 cups a day or more, we will not get enough water, because we will also lose some in the process. When counting your water intake for the day, count all caffeinated beverages as minus one.
Here are a few things you can do to make sure you get enough water:
Start the morning by drinking a cup of warm or hot water, first thing after you wake up. Warm water is gentler on the stomach than cold water. We lose a lot of water during our eight hours of sleep. That’s the longest period of time we spend without drinking.
If you are in the habit of drinking coffee or tea first thing in the morning, stop. It is not good for you. In addition to it being a diuretic, caffeinated beverages also have an acidifying effect that is hard on the empty stomach. Drink your coffee with your breakfast.
Our bodies can only absorb about 8 ounces of water every 20 minutes, so it doesn’t do us much good to drink more than 8 ounces at a time. If your goal is to drink more water, don’t play catch-up by gulping down a whole water bottle.
Pee, then drink. This simple practice keeps us drinking pure water all day. Every time you pee, immediately go drink one glass of water. The more you pee, the more you drink, the more you pee… It’s a perfect positive feedback loop.
Most people on earth don’t have access to pure, inexpensive running water. If you do, count yourself lucky. In Middleway Method, we always consider the wellbeing of others. In the case of water, drink more and use less. Take shorter showers. Collect your gray-water in buckets and use it to flush toilets and water plants. If you have money to spare, give to charities that provide people with drinking water.
This is part of the Middleway Preliminary Practices free online wellness program. Learn more here.