This month is National Kidney month, and today just happens to be World Water Day. Living in a dry climate like Central Otago, it’s really important to make sure we’re all hydrated enough- adults and kids alike! There’s so much confusion out there about how much water we ‘should’ drink, and most people are under-hydrated.
As adults, we’re aiming for somewhere around the 2 litre mark of water (about 8 small cups). Drinking coffee? Then you’ll need to increase your water intake on top of that, as coffee is a diuretic (makes you pee/ lose water).
For kids, the general aim is about a cup of water per day per year of their age while they are younger than 9yrs old. I.e. if your kid is 5, ideally you’ll be aiming for about 5 cups of water. 9 years old and up- keep the aim for about 8 cups per day.
Looking for some reasons to chug that water down?
80% of your brain is water. Poor hydration leads to poor brain function. Poor memory anyone? This is a super important reason for hydrating our kids while they’re developing!
Moisturises and increase elasticity of the skin. Goodbye wrinkles and scaly dryness!
Decreases constipation. This comes with a whole host of other benefits….
Helps eliminate toxins, and promotes healthy kidney function.
Promotes healthy weight loss.
Lubricates your joints! Feeling tight and stiff?
Carries nutrients and oxygen to you cells. Kind of important, really.
Helps regulate body temperature.
Reduces incidence of headaches.
As well as making sure you’re drinking enough, it’s important to be sure you’re maintaining your balance of electrolytes as well. Drinking heaps of water isn’t always helpful if you’re diluting the amount of salts in your body that are necessary for regulating nerve and muscle function. If you’re sweating a lot, that compounds the loss of electrolytes, so it’s important to replace them.
You can buy ready-made electrolytes at the shops. Some are good, some are just full of rubbish. Our favourite store-bought electrolyte is the PURE sports nutrition range. We take it hiking as it’s easier than homemade for that activity. We recommend staying away from some of the more well known brands- like Gatorade or Powerade- because they’re usually full of additives and other rubbish that isn’t super great for you.
If you’re hanging at or close to home, make up a batch of your own mixture and whack it in an environmentally friendly drink bottle, and share with your kids. (One of the best kid-proof bottles we have found is the Pura range). You can also double-up on the following recipe and make it into sweet ice-blocks… perfect for those hot summer sunshine days!
Lime and Lemonade
1.5-2 Cups filtered water or coconut water
1/4 Cup lemon juice (ideally freshly juiced)
1/4 Cup lime juice (either freshly juiced, or try to buy the stuff from the supermarket with no additives or preservatives in)
2 tsp to 2 Tbsp raw honey (depending on your desired level of sweetness)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp Pink Himalayan Rock Salt (this has got your mineral balance in it)
Shake it all together in a pint-sized mason jar, and it’s ready to drink! It’ll keep for about a week in the fridge. Alternatively, pour it into some popsicle moulds and keep in the freezer.