Our bodies contain a large amount of water, in fact about two thirds of our body weight is water. However, we need it all - losing just one percent of our body weight due to fluid loss can cause dehydration and any more than that can lead to serious medical complications.
We are constantly losing water, by sweating or urinating, so by drinking water were keeping our supplies topped up.
How can I tell if I am dehydrated?
The easiest way is to look at the color of your urine. If it is pale, you're probably ok. If it's any darker than the color of straw, you're probably not drinking enough.
Symptoms of dehydration include headaches, loss of concentration and tiredness, dry skin and eyes. Ongoing dehydration can cause problems with, among other things, your kidneys, liver, joints and muscles. Many people are unaware that they are dehydrated, they simply become used to not feeling 100%. You should drink throughout the day, rather than when your body cries out for liquid.
From a vanity point of view - hydrated skin looks younger as its plumper, dehydrated skin looks sallow and older. Just by drinking more water could make you look years younger.
How much do we need?
The Food Standards Agency and The British Diabetic Association recommend that people living in the UK (or a country of similar climate) drink six to eight glasses of water every day. That's about one and a half to two liters, or a big bottle of water. Children will not need as much water as adults.
This is based on an average day in Britain, when the weather heats up, or you have done a lot of exercise, you will need to drink more. Remember to stick to the daily recommended limit, as drinking too much water can be just as damaging. Too much water could lead to water intoxication, which could be fatal.
To find out a more accurate water intake, try Water Aid's online hydration calculator. It calculates the amount of water you need to drink, based on your weight and amount of exercise you do each day.
What if I don't like water?
The most effective way to drink enough and stay hydrated is to drink plain water, a fizzy drink only contains about 65% water.
If you really don't like water, try diluting it with a little pure fruit juice. The Food Standards Agency also recommends drinking semi skimmed milk.
If you're also drinking tea and coffee, it's worth remembering that the caffeine in them acts as a diuretic, which means you will want to urinate more, so drink a little more to compensate. As for alcohol, this does not count, as it dehydrates you. So if you like your booze, you will need to top up your water intake.
How can I drink more?
Start each day with a glass of water, adding a squeeze of lemon or lime to give your digestive system a boost. Keep a bottle of water with you, in your bag / briefcase. Keep a bottle of water on your desk and drink as you work. Eat more fruit and vegetables; they have a higher water content, than most other foods. Drink a glass of water at set points during the day, one before lunch, one before you leave work, one as you get home etc... Have a glass of water every time you have a cup of tea or coffee and every time you eat.
Plumbed in water cooler, Bottled or tap water?
Plumbed in water coolers and bottled coolers, is big business these days. Many of us find that the water that comes from the taps does not taste very nice, so using a water cooler or buying bottles, seems like a logical solution. So a good option is to invest in a water filter. The filtering process lowers the lime-scale content of the water, plus it reduces other substances that can effect the smell and taste of water, such as chlorine.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Fish Oil Supplements
Fish oil supplements are the fastest growing form of ingestible omega 3 fatty acid nutrition available on the market. Fast, convenient and in-expensive, practically everyone is a candidate for starting a regiment. Available at most all grocers and health food stores, it has never been easier to integrate the heart-healthy benefits of omega 3 fish oil into your diet.
Taking omega 3 fish oil through dietary supplements offers many benefits over simply eating fresh fish. For starters, to obtain the proper amount of omega 3 fish oil intake, one would need to consume fish for at least 5 meals a week. Anyone who has eaten seafood at a restaurant lately knows that fish is not necessarily one of the cheapest entrées on the menu. Even at national chain restaurants, a typical fish dinner can cost the consumer between ten and twenty hard-earned dollars. While it may be slightly more cost effective to prepare your fish from the comfort of your home, this can have its disadvantages as well. Fish can be a difficult entrée to prepare properly and can be very time consuming. In addition, to obtain all of the benefits of the omega 3 fish oils, the fish must be purchased fresh and has a relatively short shelf life. Finally, seafood is not always receptive to peoples' tastes and can interfere with allergies.
Thankfully, omega 3 fish oil retains all of its nutritional and health benefits when absorbed into the bloodstream as a dietary supplement. Taking fish oil supplements also allows the consumer to avoid other dangers of eating fresh fish, such as mercury ingestion. The knowledge that some fish contain high levels of chemicals such as mercury and nitrogen is nothing new. While much improvement has gone into minimizing these levels in ocean and fresh water fish, it is not unusual for fish with higher levels to make it to the market. These levels are much easier to sustain in farm raised fish, however, the flavor is simply not the same.
In addition to providing a safer alternative than consuming fresh fish, taking dietary omega 3 fish oil supplements allows a person to correctly dose to his or her needs. While no studies exist which point to a danger in consuming too much omega 3 fish oil, it has been suggested that different amounts will achieve optimum results for consumers of varying ages. This is especially true for those with specific health conditions. For instance, the American Heart Association recommends that patients with documented coronary heart disease should consume one gram of omega 3 fish oil per day, while those who look to lower their triglyceride levels should consume two to four grams per day.
Omega 3 fish oil supplements are available in grocery stores nationwide and through many on line retailers. These supplements are obtainable in capsule form, liquid tablets, powders, and are even contained in some enhanced multivitamins. With so many options, there is no reason you should not be enjoying the health and nutritional benefits of omega 3 fish oil supplements today.
Taking omega 3 fish oil through dietary supplements offers many benefits over simply eating fresh fish. For starters, to obtain the proper amount of omega 3 fish oil intake, one would need to consume fish for at least 5 meals a week. Anyone who has eaten seafood at a restaurant lately knows that fish is not necessarily one of the cheapest entrées on the menu. Even at national chain restaurants, a typical fish dinner can cost the consumer between ten and twenty hard-earned dollars. While it may be slightly more cost effective to prepare your fish from the comfort of your home, this can have its disadvantages as well. Fish can be a difficult entrée to prepare properly and can be very time consuming. In addition, to obtain all of the benefits of the omega 3 fish oils, the fish must be purchased fresh and has a relatively short shelf life. Finally, seafood is not always receptive to peoples' tastes and can interfere with allergies.
Thankfully, omega 3 fish oil retains all of its nutritional and health benefits when absorbed into the bloodstream as a dietary supplement. Taking fish oil supplements also allows the consumer to avoid other dangers of eating fresh fish, such as mercury ingestion. The knowledge that some fish contain high levels of chemicals such as mercury and nitrogen is nothing new. While much improvement has gone into minimizing these levels in ocean and fresh water fish, it is not unusual for fish with higher levels to make it to the market. These levels are much easier to sustain in farm raised fish, however, the flavor is simply not the same.
In addition to providing a safer alternative than consuming fresh fish, taking dietary omega 3 fish oil supplements allows a person to correctly dose to his or her needs. While no studies exist which point to a danger in consuming too much omega 3 fish oil, it has been suggested that different amounts will achieve optimum results for consumers of varying ages. This is especially true for those with specific health conditions. For instance, the American Heart Association recommends that patients with documented coronary heart disease should consume one gram of omega 3 fish oil per day, while those who look to lower their triglyceride levels should consume two to four grams per day.
Omega 3 fish oil supplements are available in grocery stores nationwide and through many on line retailers. These supplements are obtainable in capsule form, liquid tablets, powders, and are even contained in some enhanced multivitamins. With so many options, there is no reason you should not be enjoying the health and nutritional benefits of omega 3 fish oil supplements today.
Losing Weight is Achievable for Anybody
We make losing weight so hard for ourselves. However we are not entirely to blame for this situation.There is so much contrasting information regarding weight loss,that it is easy to lose track of what is actually going to work.
These three factors will help you to lose weight. So why is it that so many people find it so hard to lose weight? One of the major problems is that if we behave in a certain way for a certain length of time, then those behaviours become habits. Habits can be notoriously difficult to break.
Any type of lifestyle regardless whether it is good or bad will become a habit. In order to change that habit you must work on it, not just with physical changes, but more importantly you must work on it with mental changes. Anything that you achieve or want to achieve first begins as a desire in your mind. Your mind creates your reality,look around your room and you will realise that everything you see first started off as a desire and idea in somebody's brain. Add vision and action to your desires and you have a blueprint of success.
Just the desire to lose weight does not guarantee weight loss,I have desires but nothing will come of them unless I take action. If it was then nobody would have issues with weight. If you want to lose weight you would normally follow this pattern. You start changing your diet and you become more active through exercise or other means. Things go well for a time and you may even think that it's working. Then things start getting a little harder, you begin to find it more and more difficult to stick to your weight loss plan.
Eventually it gets so hard that you give up and sink back into your old habits. This is a common problem for many people who want to lose weight. There are mainly two reasons as to why this happens. The first reason is that too many people rush into losing weight by trying to lose too much too quickly. They do this by making too many sudden changes to their diet, and try to do more exercise than their bodies can handle at that time. Your body will help you change as long as you don't try to put too much pressure on it.
Try to change too much too quickly and it will just be a matter of time before you are back to square one. Every part of you will start to rebel against what you are trying to do. It is neccessary to make changes in small steps if you want to succeed in changing your behaviours. This is the only way that you will successfully lose weight in the long term. It takes time for the human body to change, time for it to move away from what it is, to become something different.
Think of it this way; you need to wean a baby off milk to introduce it solid foods; you don't start stuffing food into the baby's mouth out of the blue. A drug addict has to be weaned off drugs, an addicts body would find it extremely difficult to stop straight away. It takes years for top athletes to prepare their bodies so they can compete at the highest levels; you are not going to be able to tackle a marathon after a couple of weeks of jogging.
Too many people set goals within a short time frame,this is not only unrealistic,it is a recipe for failure. It took time for their bodies to become overweight, so it's logical to expect that it will take time to lose that weight. The second reason why so many people fail to lose weight is because they don't change the way that they think, when they are trying to lose weight. They cannot stop thinking of themselves as anything but fat.
This way of thinking does not match the changes that you trying to make physically. You need to start thinking of yourself as a person that can easily lose weight.
It doesn't matter what your eyes tell you, but it does matter what your mind tells you. Continue thinking that losing weight is difficult and you may not have the strength of mind to achieve it,well you don't need to be a genius to workout the outcome? You are telling you brain that weight loss is unschievable for you. If your brain thinks it cannot do something,it stands to reason that you won't be successful?
You need to start sending different messages to your mind, you need to start telling yourself that weight loss is easy, tell yourself that you can easily change your eating habits, that you enjoy the challenge of exercise, and that you will have no problems of reaching your weight loss goals. Tell yourself this several times a day, everyday. Whether you believe what you are saying is irrelevant in the begining. We all know the adage that if you tell a child that he or she is stupid often enough, it is only a matter of time before that child starts to believe it. Sooner rather than later these messages will start to become facts in your mind.
If your brain believes something to be true,then it actually becomes your reality. So many of us underestimate how powerful our minds are regardless if the mind focuses on the negative or the positive.
Give it a go for a few days,it doesn't take long,and see if you spot any changes in your thinking,no matter how small? If it doesn't work for you then it has not cost you anything, but just think if it does work, you will be well on your way to successfully losing weight.
These three factors will help you to lose weight. So why is it that so many people find it so hard to lose weight? One of the major problems is that if we behave in a certain way for a certain length of time, then those behaviours become habits. Habits can be notoriously difficult to break.
Any type of lifestyle regardless whether it is good or bad will become a habit. In order to change that habit you must work on it, not just with physical changes, but more importantly you must work on it with mental changes. Anything that you achieve or want to achieve first begins as a desire in your mind. Your mind creates your reality,look around your room and you will realise that everything you see first started off as a desire and idea in somebody's brain. Add vision and action to your desires and you have a blueprint of success.
Just the desire to lose weight does not guarantee weight loss,I have desires but nothing will come of them unless I take action. If it was then nobody would have issues with weight. If you want to lose weight you would normally follow this pattern. You start changing your diet and you become more active through exercise or other means. Things go well for a time and you may even think that it's working. Then things start getting a little harder, you begin to find it more and more difficult to stick to your weight loss plan.
Eventually it gets so hard that you give up and sink back into your old habits. This is a common problem for many people who want to lose weight. There are mainly two reasons as to why this happens. The first reason is that too many people rush into losing weight by trying to lose too much too quickly. They do this by making too many sudden changes to their diet, and try to do more exercise than their bodies can handle at that time. Your body will help you change as long as you don't try to put too much pressure on it.
Try to change too much too quickly and it will just be a matter of time before you are back to square one. Every part of you will start to rebel against what you are trying to do. It is neccessary to make changes in small steps if you want to succeed in changing your behaviours. This is the only way that you will successfully lose weight in the long term. It takes time for the human body to change, time for it to move away from what it is, to become something different.
Think of it this way; you need to wean a baby off milk to introduce it solid foods; you don't start stuffing food into the baby's mouth out of the blue. A drug addict has to be weaned off drugs, an addicts body would find it extremely difficult to stop straight away. It takes years for top athletes to prepare their bodies so they can compete at the highest levels; you are not going to be able to tackle a marathon after a couple of weeks of jogging.
Too many people set goals within a short time frame,this is not only unrealistic,it is a recipe for failure. It took time for their bodies to become overweight, so it's logical to expect that it will take time to lose that weight. The second reason why so many people fail to lose weight is because they don't change the way that they think, when they are trying to lose weight. They cannot stop thinking of themselves as anything but fat.
This way of thinking does not match the changes that you trying to make physically. You need to start thinking of yourself as a person that can easily lose weight.
It doesn't matter what your eyes tell you, but it does matter what your mind tells you. Continue thinking that losing weight is difficult and you may not have the strength of mind to achieve it,well you don't need to be a genius to workout the outcome? You are telling you brain that weight loss is unschievable for you. If your brain thinks it cannot do something,it stands to reason that you won't be successful?
You need to start sending different messages to your mind, you need to start telling yourself that weight loss is easy, tell yourself that you can easily change your eating habits, that you enjoy the challenge of exercise, and that you will have no problems of reaching your weight loss goals. Tell yourself this several times a day, everyday. Whether you believe what you are saying is irrelevant in the begining. We all know the adage that if you tell a child that he or she is stupid often enough, it is only a matter of time before that child starts to believe it. Sooner rather than later these messages will start to become facts in your mind.
If your brain believes something to be true,then it actually becomes your reality. So many of us underestimate how powerful our minds are regardless if the mind focuses on the negative or the positive.
Give it a go for a few days,it doesn't take long,and see if you spot any changes in your thinking,no matter how small? If it doesn't work for you then it has not cost you anything, but just think if it does work, you will be well on your way to successfully losing weight.
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