We all know that drinking plenty of water is good for our health, but actually getting around to drinking enough of it is another story. Let’s face it: sometimes water tastes boring!
A few ways I’ve been able to up my daily water intake is by adding a little bit of fresh squeezed citrus, like lemon, lime or orange to my water, or by drinking sparkling water — or a combination of the two!
This citrus season I’ve been making sure I keep plenty of good oranges on hand. I squeezed half an orange with a hand juicer, then sliced the other half in disk shapes and added everything to a jar with some sparkling water. At this point it probably wasn’t considered water anymore, but it also wasn’t as concentrated as juice. Comparatively, the juice of one orange contains about 40 calories, whereas a cup of orange juice contains around 110 calories.
According to research from Harvard Medical School, a few of the benefits of drinking plenty of water are that it:
- carries nutrients and oxygen to your cells
- flushes out bacteria from your bladder
- aides digestion
- normalizes blood pressure
- cushions joints
- protects organs and tissues
- regulates body temperature
They recommend that most healthy people need to drink 4-6 cups of water per day. If you’re sweating a lot you’ll need more, and depending on certain medications you take you may need less.
In my experience, drinking more water helps me keep headaches and muscle tension at bay, prevents me from feeling lightheaded and overall makes me feel much better! I especially feel the need for more water when I’m fighting a cold or spending a lot of time outside with my kids in the summer.
So if drinking more water — and less boring water — is a goal of yours, head over to our market and pick out some citrus items to add to a glass of cold sparkling water. Enjoy!