Drink More Water- New Years Resolution Series

Through my Community Nutrition internship this past fall semester, I have seen a variety of nutrition presentations directed towards adults and the aging. I gave a presentation on high blood pressure, talked about food safety, worked a health fair table about MyPlate, taught proper portion sizes, and choosing better beverages. The presentation I enjoyed the most and thought the audience got the most out of was, Water-The Better Beverage Choice. After reflecting on my semester and presentations I have given, I thought that this was one of the most important topics I talked about.

Soda and sweetened drinks are everywhere. They are in the check-out line at Wegmans, sitting in the aisle at Home Depot, and at children's eye level in gas stations and rest stops. They are sweet, fruity, fizzy, and oh so addicting. BUT, soda and sweetened beverages are the common downfall of people's diets and healthy habits. I'm not saying that you need to cut out soda and sweetened beverages from your diet completely. I am asking that, maybe, you switch a few of your sodas or sweet teas to water. Better yet, let's make it fruit infused water.

It is proven that the human body cannot go more than 3 days without water, and it is true that we do get some of our water from foods we eat, as well as other beverages like milk, tea and coffee. But that doesn't mean that we are getting enough of it! The human body needs about 30mL/kg of body weight daily. Here's how to figure out how much you need-

Take your weight and divide it by 2.2 to find out your weight in kilograms
135/2.2=61.36 kg

Take your weight in kilograms and multiply it by 30 to get the ammount of mililiters you need
61.36 x 30= 1840 mL

Then divide that number by 240 (which the is amount of mL in a cup)
1840/240=7.67c

So, if you weigh 135 pounds, you need 7  2/3 cups of water each day to ensure that you are hydrated!

If you want to drink something more flavorful without sacraficing up tons of empty calories, cut up some of your favorite fruits and put them into your water! There are water bottles at stores like Target and Walmart that have special compartments in them to diffuse the fruit flavor into your water. The best part about this is, is that your getting all the antioxidants and vitamins from the fruit!

Here are some of my favorite infused water mix-ins
-cucumber and mint
-watermelon and basil
-strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
-orange, lemon and lime
-cherry and lime

You can use frozen fruit instead of fresh to cut cost, and keep your water cold
Get creative as you like! I've even seen someone out jalapenos and pineapple in their water! This will cut sugar and calories off your diet, and help keep you healthy!