Between the presidential election, the wars, the gun violence, and everyday financial and familial stress, most Americans are maxed out right now. This stress affects our sleep cycles, digestion, and moods and puts a strain on our relationships. But now is not the time to retreat into unhealthy eating habits. Did you know drinking alkaline ionized water can significantly help your body deal with stress? Here’s how.
Dehydration can cause stress, and stress can make dehydration even worse, creating a vicious cycle. If our stress response is to shut down and not drink enough water, this will create dehydration and even more stress. Remembering to drink at least eight ounces of water every hour will break this vicious cycle.
Did you know that your body has a rest and digest response? This is a message your brain sends to the rest of your body to calm down and digest your food. The trigger for this message is drinking water. If you don’t drink enough water, your brain won’t send the message to the rest of your body to calm down.
Drinking enough water is also connected to good mental health. A few different studies have shown that the stress that dehydration causes in our bodies leads to anxiety and depression. When we are already stressed out by everything that’s going on in the world, the last thing that we need is anxiety and depression caused by dehydration. So, if you drink enough water, you will feel better mentally.
It’s good to develop a mindfulness routine when drinking water as well. Water shouldn’t be something that you gulp down while driving to work or running from one task to another. Take five minutes out of every hour to find a nice, calming place to sit down. Take a few deep breaths, and enjoy drinking your glass of water. Let that five minutes be a time when all the other stress of the day is not allowed in.
If we take five minutes every hour to calm and hydrate our bodies, that calmness will last throughout the day. It takes a while for our bodies to ramp back up and get stressed again, so if you make a point to calm your body every hour, you will feel better throughout the day.
These are challenging times. Please don’t sacrifice your health. Drink a glass of alkaline ionized water every hour, and take a few moments to calm your body. If you can do this, you will reduce your overall stress, which will help you deal with the problems of the day.
