LIVE | LOVE | LAUGH
by ELLEN WOOD aka Maruska, Contributing Writer
You Can’t Live Without It
Without what? Water! You can’t survive for more than three days without water. And when you drink a sufficient amount of pure water every day your skin glows, your energy increases and your overall health improves. Plus, splash some on your face before applying a cream moisturizer. I do that and my complexion is pretty darn good for 85 years old.
Another benefit: water doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. When you drink the proper amount of pure water, you’re moisturizing your skin from the inside. Your skin, which is your largest organ, is actually made up of about 20% water, in addition to protein, fat, chemicals and minerals. Skimp on the water and you’re withholding a vital necessity for your skin’s optimal health.
Wondering why you’re feeling so tired? No energy? Dehydration is the main culprit of the afternoon dip in energy. Literally, when we don’t consume enough water, we are drained. Back and joints aching? It could be because you’re dehydrated.
Ideally, you should drink half your body weight in ounces every day. If the weather is hot or very dry, you may need to drink more than half your body weight in ounces of water. You also may need to drink more if you’re exercising or taking certain medications.
Here are some tips for making it easy:
Weigh yourself and divide the number of pounds by two. That is the number of ounces of water to drink. If you weigh 160 pounds, you need to drink 80 ounces of water.
Even though there is water in other beverages and food, don’t count that in your daily dose of water.
Measure the number of ounces in your glass water bottle to see how many times you need to refill it.
Thank the water. Even if you don’t believe water receives it, research studies show that being grateful is good for your body and mind.
Keep that bottle with you – at your computer, in the car, on the kitchen counter and drink often.
What about bottled water?
Keep this statistic in mind: each hour of each day Americans empty 2.5 million plastic water bottles. Each one takes 500 years to decompose. Every choice you make has an impact, so be kind to the Earth and take your reusable water bottle with you.
Ellen Wood of Questa is an award-winning author as well as an artist using the name, Maruška. The website for her books and paintings is www.NorthernNewMexicoArtists.com/ellen-wood. You may contact Ellen at ellen@howtogrowyounger.com