During Stressful Times, Reach for a Drink – Of Water

Stressed! That is the word I hear most when I enquire, ‘How are you doing?’

Many of us have never experienced stress and anxiety on such a scale before.

No matter where we live, we are all essentially feeling the toll of the myriad new rules we are expected to follow, the disturbing news reports, and the concerns for our family’s health.

Thankfully, we are being reminded to get outside for health-giving exercise and to fill our lungs with fresh air, but that is not all that we can do to help with stress levels.

One of the best pieces of advice we can offer is this: During stressful times, reach for a drink. A drink of water, that is!

Cortisol is a hormone released into your bloodstream by the adrenal gland. It has a direct effect on your blood pressure and heart rate. Under normal conditions, it is released when you get up in the morning or when you exercise.

Cortisol helps to regulate your heart rate and blood sugar levels. Each time your body perceives stress, your adrenal glands make and release cortisol into your bloodstream increasing your heart rate and blood pressure: the well-known ‘fight or flight’ response.

With the added stresses we experience today, it is quite possible that our bodies are producing cortisol on an almost continual basis. This puts a great tremendous on your body.

You may think, ‘I am not stressed, I am handling these strange times just fine’. What many of us do not realise, however, is that stress can manifest itself in many different ways. Here are just a few:

• Fatigue

• Irritability

• Headaches

• Intestinal problems, such as constipation, bloating or diarrhoea

• Anxiety or depression

• Weight gain

• Increased blood pressure

• Low libido, erectile dysfunction or problems with regular ovulation or menstrual periods

• Difficulty recovering from exercise

• Poor sleep

Remember, the human body is approximately 70% water, so staying hydrated is incredibly important. Interestingly, drinking plenty of water also helps to keep cortisol levels lower.

While it isn’t an exact science, the general formula for the amount of water we should take in every day is around 15ml (half ounce) of water for every 0.45kg (lb) of body weight.

This equates to a person weighing 90kg drinking 3 litres of water per day.

And no, soft drinks don’t count! Tea and coffee will contribute a little, but the best way to hydrate is simply by filling a large glass from the tap and sipping it.

It’s essential, too, that we consume water with minerals in it. Minerals are essential for water structure, which in turn helps us absorb the water we drink.

Drinking your recommended daily amount of water all at once would be a mistake. We feel that in order to reap the benefits, it is crucial to sip water throughout the day. Have a glass of water on your desk, by your favourite armchair, fill a bottle and take it with your in the car or out walking.

Sipping water at those times when you know you are under extra stress, at work, home schooling or trying to navigate the grocery shops, helps to increase your hydration when you really need it.

In our view, the type of water you drink is going to have a significant benefit in terms of your hydration. Tap water contains chlorine and other chemicals, which are added to the water during processing and, as a minimum, should be removed.

However, although most tap waters in the UK meet minimum standards set down by the World Health Organisation, there is no credible research to show the impact these very low levels of contaminants can do for the body.

We believe that healthy water is more than just the absence of contaminants. Certain filtration systems such as reverse osmosis leave the water devoid of all minerals which in our view is not what you find in healing waters found in nature. It is, in effect, ‘pure dead water’ and is slightly acidic.

Related: What’s the Healthiest Water You Can Drink?

When you have smooth-tasting, contaminate-free, health-giving water at hand, it is so much easier to drink the amount we need.

At Water for Health, we understand that healthy water should have an alkaline pH, it should have antioxidant properties and, critically important for absorption and cell health, it should have good structure.

We have focused on bringing all these properties together through cutting edge filtration and the use of advanced bioceramics to achieve this in the Energy Plus Water Filter System.

These properties truly set it apart from other filter systems on the market. The Energy Plus System is fitted under the sink to provide healthy water on tap.

Having pure water from all the taps in your home is now possible with our Whole House Water System.

A unique approach to improving water quality throughout the home, we are proud to introduce it following many requests to do so over the yeas. It not only removes contaminants but uses advanced mineral crystal bioceramics to improve water structure.

Not only is it important to have pure water for drinking, but also for washing and bathing also. Our public supplies may comply with statutory standards but no research is available to show the impact of chemicals and the chemical cocktail in the water supply, with pharmaceutical residues present at low levels.

Scientific research is now showing that the health of our cells is significantly affected by the cleanliness and structure of the water around our cells. Supplying the body with good, clean water that has got good structure is critically important for cellular health.

Water for Health Ltd began trading in 2007 with the goal of positively affecting the lives of many. We still retain that mission because we believe that proper hydration and nutrition can make a massive difference to people’s health and quality of life. Click here to find out more.