Drink up!

If you are on a hair journey you must have by now heard or read that drinking plenty of water is good for your hair. It is said that we should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day (I am going by a 250ml glass for this post) but this is also subject to your level of activity (you drink more fluids exercising than laying on the couch watching TV), body size and other environmental factors among others; one tends to be thirstier in the hotter summer months than in the colder winter months.

Here are my tips for people who either do not drink water and want to start which you should or are struggling with drinking enough water;

• Start with drinking water with every meal, a glass at breakfast, a glass at lunch and another glass at dinner and work your way to more glasses from there. I always drink water with all my meals irrespective of whether there is another drink at the table or not.
• Get a one litre water bottle fill it up in the morning and try and finish half the bottle by 3pm. Finish the other half before bedtime.
• Infuse your water with slices of fruits like apples, oranges, lemons, pears, or any other fruit of your liking to make it taste better.
• Always have a bottle of water in your bag, car etc that way you have no excuse not to drink up. I always have a bottle of water with me that is the one thing you are guaranteed to always find in my bag. 

Plain water and water infused with orange slices

The good news however is that the recommended water intake is not limited to just water but all liquids, we need to replace lost liquid from the body, prevent dehydration and flush out toxins among other functions of liquid in the body. In essence all fluids drunk during the day count towards this total you must however use common sense in what fluids to drink. Two litres of soda or alcohol a day for example will do more harm than good for you while two litres combined of natural fruit juices, smoothies, milk, soups, coffee, wine and water is more beneficial for you and your health in the long run.

I have always been a huge water drinker regardless of the weather, my personal water drinking regimen on a good day goes something like this  half a litre in the morning, half a litre in the afternoon and another half litre usually more between early evening, bedtime and morning. I sometimes wake up at night to drink water so I always have a bottle of water handy by my bedside. It’s more like a sip or two in the middle of the night though not an entire glass. I know the amount I drink because I always have my water in a 500ml bottle which is half a litre.  I can leave home at let’s say 8 in the morning and by midday that water will be gone and I will have to refill it this refilled bottle will be gone by the time I am getting home let’s say around 6 in the evening and once again it will be refilled and I will have drank half of it by dinner time and drink the other half with my evening meal, refill the bottle and keep by my bedside. So in total without counting the bedtime water I will have consumed 1.5 litres of water in a day. I try to drink a minimum of one litre of plain water a day that way if I end up with other liquids like tea, coffee, wine or soda on that day I still have one litre of good clean water in my system. Drinking water alone is not enough to maintain a healthy head of hair and beautiful skin this must be coupled up with a good diet filled with fresh fruits and vegetables and plenty of exercise.

Go here for more information on water and drinks in relation to health.