I'M SOOO PARCHED!!! I NEED WATER!!!

A article from familydoctor.org is the perfect article to Why is it so important to stay hydrated.  My two cents is at the end.  Enjoy..

Your body depends on water to survive. Every cell, tissue, and organ in your body needs water to work properly. For example, your body uses water to maintain its temperature, remove waste, and lubricate your joints. Water is needed for overall good health.

Path to improved wellness

You should drink water every day. Most people have been told they should drink 6 to 8, 8-ounce glasses of water each day. That is a reasonable goal. However, different people need different amounts of water to stay hydrated. Most healthy people can stay well hydrated by drinking water and other fluids whenever they feel thirsty. For some people, fewer than 8 glasses may be enough. Other people may need more than 8 glasses each day. If you are concerned that you are not drinking enough water, check your urine. If your urine is usually colorless or light yellow, you are well hydrated. If your urine is a dark yellow or amber color, you may be dehydrated.

Water is best for staying hydrated. Other drinks and foods can help you stay hydrated. However, some may add extra calories from sugar to your diet. Fruit and vegetable juices, milk, and herbal teas add to the amount of water you get each day. Even caffeinated drinks (for example, coffee, tea, and soda) can contribute to your daily water intake. A moderate amount of caffeine (200 to 300 milligrams) is not harmful for most people. This is about the amount in 2 to 4, 8-ounce cups of coffee. However, it’s best to limit caffeinated drinks. Caffeine may cause some people to urinate more frequently, or feel anxious or jittery.

Water can also be found in fruits and vegetables (for example, watermelon, tomatoes, and lettuce), and in soup broths.

Sports drinks can be helpful if you are planning on exercising at higher than normal levels for more than an hour. It contains carbohydrates and electrolytes that can increase your energy. It helps your body absorb water. However, some sports drinks are high in calories from added sugar. They also may contain high levels of sodium (salt). Check the serving size on the label. One bottle usually contains more than one serving. Some sports drinks contain caffeine, too. Remember that a safe amount of caffeine to consume each day is between 200 and 300 mg (milligrams).

Energy drinks are not the same as sports drinks. Energy drinks usually contain large amounts of caffeine. Also, they contain ingredients that overstimulate you (guarana, ginseng, or taurine). These are things your body doesn’t need. Most of these drinks are also high in added sugar. According to doctors, children and teens should not have energy drinks.

If staying hydrated is difficult for you, here are some tips that can help:

• Keep a bottle of water with you during the day. To reduce your costs, carry a reusable water bottle and fill it with tap water.
• If you don’t like the taste of plain water, try adding a slice of lemon or lime to your drink.
• Drink water before, during, and after a workout.
• When you’re feeling hungry, drink water. Thirst is often confused with hunger. True hunger will not be satisfied by drinking water. Drinking water may also contribute to a healthy weight-loss plan. Some research suggests that drinking water can help you feel full.
• If you have trouble remembering to drink water, drink on a schedule. For example, drink water when you wake up, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and when you go to bed. Or, drink a small glass of water at the beginning of each hour.
• Drink water when you go to a restaurant. It will keep you hydrated, and it’s free.

Things to consider

Recognizing signs of dehydration is important. They include:

• Little or no urine.
• Urine that is darker than usual.
• Dry mouth.
• Sleepiness or fatigue.
• Extreme thirst.
• Headache.
• Confusion.
• Dizziness or lightheadedness.
• No tears when crying.

Don’t wait until you notice symptoms of dehydration to take action. Actively prevent dehydration by drinking plenty of water.

Some people are at higher risk of dehydration, including people who exercise at a high intensity (or in hot weather) for too long, have certain medical conditions (kidney stones, bladder infection), are sick (fever, vomiting, diarrhea), are pregnant or breastfeeding, are trying to lose weight, or are not able to get enough fluids during the day. Older adults are also at higher risk. As you get older, your brain may not be able to sense dehydration. It doesn’t send signals for thirst.

Water makes up more than half of your body weight. You lose water each day when you go to the bathroom, sweat, and even when you breathe. You lose water even faster when the weather is really hot, when you are physically active, or if you have a fever. Vomiting and diarrhea can also lead to rapid water loss. If you don’t replace the water you lose, you can become dehydrated.

i make life a little easier, go to https://www.calculatorpro.com/calculator/water-intake-calculator/ and use the calculator and see how much water that your body should have to be hydrated.  Also, put an app on your phone as a reminder of when to drink water.  I know I forget but the water chime, reminds me.  Crazy but necessary.

DETOXING

This is old but still helps

Detox Spirit & Detox Body, a necessary Balance

Toxic attitudes, behaviors, and cultural influences that you allow into your life put your soul in danger. You can’t avoid contact with such toxins in this fallen world, but you don’t have to be contaminated by them. You can detoxify your soul and start experiencing the pure life that God wants you to enjoy. Here’s how:

Realize that everything counts. Absolutely everything that you allow into your mind and life has on impact on how you grow or don’t grow spiritually. The little choices that you make every day add up to a significant effect on your soul. So take your everyday decisions seriously.

Identify the lies that have deceived you, and replace them with the truth. Examine your life for toxic: behaviors (what you do that harms your spiritual effectiveness or distracts you from God’s purposes for your life), emotions (feelings that lead you away from God’s truth), and consumptions (media you consume and people you spend time with). Ask God to give you the wisdom you need to discern which of all of those are toxic to you.

Clean up your thoughts. Since spiritual battles are ultimately either won or lost in the mind, it’s crucial to pay attention to what thoughts you focus on. Your thoughts shape what kind of person you become. If you think unhealthy thoughts, you’ll become an unhealthy person. But if you think healthy thoughts that reflect God’s truth, you’ll become more like Jesus, as God intends you to become. Regularly pray for the ability to view the situations you encounter as God sees them so you can have the right perspective on them. Every day, ask God to show you which thoughts that enter your mind are unholy and displeasing to Him. Whenever you identify wrong thoughts, take action to replace them with right ones. Choose to focus only on thoughts about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. Spend time meditating on God’s wonderful qualities; the more you think about God, the more peace will enter your mind.

Choose positive words and avoid negative words. Recognize the incredible power of words to bring about either good or evil. Positive words create and heal, while negative words harm and destroy. So throughout each day when you’re speaking or writing, choose to communicate positive words to others as much as possible. When you hear the words that other people communicate to you, carefully analyze them to determine whether or not they actually reflect what’s true – and if so, embrace them, but if not, reject them. Pay attention to your self-talk as well, and ask God to help you say positive words to yourself in your mind.

Uncover your hidden sins. No sin is ever hidden from God, no matter how much you may deny it in your life or try to hide it from other people. God knows all of your sins and chooses to love you anyway, and He is always hoping that you will confess and repent of your sins so you can keep growing spiritually. So regularly confess your sins (to God and other Christians) and repent of them so you can receive forgiveness and healing.

Dig up bitter roots from your soul. When you allow bitterness to take root in your soul, it poisons you and blocks you from experiencing the grace God wants to give you. So get rid of bitterness by following God’s command to forgive people who have hurt you. You can rely on the strength that God will give you to forgive.

Get rid of envy. Envying people who have what you want but don’t have will only poison you. So stop comparing yourself and your life with other people and their lives. Instead, make a daily habit of noticing the many blessings that God brings into your life, and thanking God for them. Ask God to help you be content in all circumstances and trust that, in His great love and wisdom, He will always give you what’s best for you.

Express anger productively rather than destructively. It’s fine to feel angry, as long as you don’t sin because of the way you express your anger. Pray for the wisdom you need to discern the difference between constructive and destructive anger, and for the self-control you need to let go of destructive anger (anger that causes you to sin by hurting yourself and others). You can control your anger by making choices such as carefully listening and thinking to messages others are communicating to you before responding, so you calm down and respond without sinning. You can also redirect your anger by using anger as Jesus did: to fight injustice and work for righteousness. Ask God to make you angry about what angers Him, and then to use that anger to help bring about justice in the world.

Break free of fear. Whenever you feel afraid, remind yourself that fear never comes from God; it comes from evil. God gives you a spirit of power, love, and peace – not fear. Rather than placing your faith in all the “what-ifs” of life and feeling afraid of what may or may not happen, place your faith in God who is in charge of your future and wants what’s best for you. Pay attention to specific, persistent fears in your life, because they reveal the areas in which you’re trusting God the least. Pray about each area you identify as a problem, surrendering each one specifically to God and asking Him to help you trust Him more with it. Then be diligent about seeking God so you can consistently grow closer to Him. The closer you become to God, the less you’ll struggle with fear.

Get rid of toxic influences on your life. Break free of materialism and look to God (instead of money and possessions) to meet your needs for happiness, significance, and security. Whenever you consume media of any kind (from television shows and songs to Internet articles and books), honestly ask yourself: “Am I being entertained by sin?”, Is this pleasing to God?”, and “Does this lure me away from Jesus?”. Then stop consuming media that you recognize is toxic to you. Since bad company corrupts good character, set boundaries to protect yourself from being influenced by unhealthy people, and cut off unhealthy relationships with people who are dangerous to your spiritual growth but won’t change. Ask God to show you when religion is corrupting the purity of the Gospel in your life, and to help you focus not on external behavior to try to earn God’s love, but on responding to the love that God has already given you by trusting Him in every part of your life.