Health & Fitness Blog
23 Jul 2024
The Importance of Staying Hydrated
Keeping well hydrated is key to ensuring that you’re looking after your wellbeing; benefits include improved concentration and digestion, plus drinking enough water can even help to maintain a healthy weight. This is particularly important during the summer months, as heat can mean you’re losing fluids more quickly.
It’s recommended that adults drink 6 to 8 glasses of fluids per day, ideally from water and sugar free drinks (e.g. herbal tea or sugar free squash). For something different and refreshing over the summer months, why not try adding cucumber, strawberries or mint to your water & refrigerating overnight – a great way to kick start your mornings.
In addition to ensuring you are taking in enough fluids, the NHS recommends drinking caffeine and alcohol in moderation only, as both can cause dehydration. Mild dehydration can lead to symptoms such as headaches, tiredness, and lack of concentration, which can be easily resolved by increasing your fluid intakes. One great way to boost hydration is to switch out hot beverages such as coffee to green tea, which contains high levels of antioxidants and can help support wellbeing and brain health when consumed regularly. Check out BBC sounds, for insight on the benefits of drinking green tea – an easy way to boost your health & hydration!
As our teams at LivingWell know, working out can increase the amount of water lost from the body via sweat, meaning it is especially important to stay well hydrated during workouts and classes; LivingWell clubs are well prepared to support this. Whether you’re swimming or taking part in a class, we recommend bringing along a reuseable water bottle with you to the gym, that can be filled up at our water stations while you’re at our clubs. Those who work out vigorously for 60 minutes or more may also want to use an electrolyte supplement as well, these can be easily added to fluids. Speak to your club manager for more tips and advice on getting the most from your work outs.
