HYDRATION GAME CHANGER: Adding in a Lovely Lemon Drink to your Morning Rhythm
This is a beautiful Ayurvedic morning practice of drinking hot water with lemon. When I had two young children under two years of age, I would forget to drink water but with this daily rhythm I no longer feel dehydrated. These days, it feels weird if I don’t have my lemon water! I have to take lemons with me when I am away overnight. It’s a great way to get a head start on your hydration for the day.
This is especially important you are enjoying coffee or tea as part of your morning ritual then remember these drinks are diuretic, and so they dehydrate us. Therefore, it really wise to hydrate before you caffeinate
Instructions:
Half fill your favourite jar/drinking vessel with water and add a good squeeze of lemon juice to taste and top up with boiling water.
Sip away throughout your morning. If you like, repeat with a different herbal tea/tonic herb option in the afternoon. Plain hot water is delightful and quite underrated and should make up most of the water we drink.
How much water do we need?
That depends on a few factors such our exercise levels, time spent indoors with heating e.g. Autumn, Wintertime. If we are sweating a lot, we will need to up our water levels.
The type of foods we are eating also plays a part too. There is a difference in the hydration levels of the foods we eat and this will determine how much water we need to consume. We will need more water if we are eating dry foods such as cereals, biscuits, crackers and breads (these foods take water from us) compared to foods that have been rehydrated such as cooked legumes and grains and also soups and slow cooked foods.
Fruits and vegetables are naturally rich in water as well as vitamins and micronutrients - fruits and vegetables, this makes them perfect bursting with nutrition additions to your hydration levels. These foods are also so much more more nutrient dense, nourishing and satiating.
It is recommended that we drink approximately 8 glasses of water (or 2L) but if we are enjoying juicy fruits and veggies, soups, soupy curries etc and you are feeling hydrated then you are drinking enough.