We often spend more money and attention to our car than we do to ourselves. Does that seem like your life too? And so what, you might ask…
Well, whether in our 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s or further along, we have a lot of control over our health and well being. The most common area of neglect that I too am guilty of, is under-watering our bodies. You’d notice if it the lawn or your garden or the radiator in your car was not watered. For us, unless we’re thirsty or have a really good reminder to drink some water, we only notice feeling a bit tired or maybe notice a slight headache coming on.
When we don’t drink enough water (and coffee doesn’t count!), we deprive our bodies of sufficient fuel to operate at optimum. It’s so easy to fix too.
The other part of fueling our bodies is the nouris
hment we take in. Providing our bodies with the nutrients we need to thrive; eating quality food, avoiding fast food or high sugar snacks like the doughnut shop offers. Supplements and vitamins provide the fine tuning to our nourishment that is not in or available in the food we eat.
Why is eating well and drink enough water hard to do? Eating well at any age is important. It’s more important the older you and I get. Our bodies are less tolerant of ups and downs, so sufficient protein, fats and carbs keep our bodies happy. The other more important point is that our brains grab the majority of nutrition that we consume.
While our brain is only something like 4% of our body by weight, it’s a hog when it comes to water and nutrition. It only takes 2% dehydration to affect your attention, memory and other cognitive skills. For example, ninety minutes of sweating can shrink the brain as much as one year of ageing, so make sure when it’s a hot day or you’re working out you need to continue to drink water. Some researchers believe that Alzheimer’s may be the result of long-term dehydration of the brain.
The important point from all this is DO NOT trust your thirst mechanism as a reliable indicator of when you need water. By the time you feel thirsty, its waaay too late and your brain has lost efficiency.
Let’s keep our brains powerful by drinking plenty of water. Are you up to the challenge?