By Amy Howarth

Staying hydrated seems like such a simple and easy thing to do but more than 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated. Drinking water does not seem hard but we are all very busy students and sometimes we get so distracted by our busy lives that we forget to take time to care for ourselves and pay attention to our health. Sometimes instead of drinking water we will go for a caffeinated or sugary beverage like coffee or soda and our diets, especially as Americans, are already filled with a large amount of sugar. These factors are how we become dehydrated without even knowing it. So in order to prevent ourselves from becoming dehydrated here are some tips on how to drink more water:

1. ALWAYS keep a water bottle with you during the day

  • whether it’s in your backpack, car, purse, hand etc.
  • We always have our phones with us and we always use our phones, so trying this with water is definitely logical

Water bottles

2. FRUIT

  • Eating lots of fruit is a great idea because the juices in it are a great way to refresh your body
  • You can also add fruit in your water to flavor it (because sometimes water just is not that exciting)

fruit bowl

3. ATHLETES (and anyone who exercises or sweats)

  • Always drink water after you work out and sweat a lot
  • When we sweat our bodies lose a lot of liquid and salt so it is important to replenish our bodies with water

running2

4. BUT IT’S NOT HOT OUTSIDE??

  • The fact that it is not blazing hot outside right now can trick us into thinking we don’t need to drink as much water or we are not thirsty
  • But you should always be drinking water in hot or cold weather, winter or summer, no matter what the season is