WATER - THE ELIXIR OF LIFE IGNORED BY HUMANITY

“Water is life’s matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.” ― Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Summer is at its peak now. We all know that feeling of parched throats, high rates of perspiration and dehydration during summers, and what do we quench our thirst with? Everything except water!!

It's amazing to see that there are plethora of advertisement and endorsements from soft drinks, sodas to other beverages - which claim to quench thirst, but no one talks about importance of drinking water.

In terms of composition of human body, the foundation of our bodies is laid on water - almost 70% of human body is water, 75% of brain and heart is water!!

Summers are the peak time when dehydration hits the body and can have severe impact on our nervous, urinary and endocrine system.

In this context, water is truly the elixir of life - besides being essential for maintenance of human body water does many other miracles. To think of it, water boosts mood by aiding of release of hormones like serotonin, dopamine, helps in detoxifying the body and performs various other important roles.

It is disheartening to see that despite being so essential to the body, water is the most ignored nutrient. in fact, not many of us drink the required amount of water daily. well simply because we take hydration for granted.

Did you know you're already dehydrated when you start to feel thirsty?However, thirst isn't a helpful indicator of hydration. In fact, when you're thirsty, you could already be dehydrated, having lost as much as 1 to 2 percent of your body's water content.

However, as the adage goes its better late than never! Following are some of our tried and tested techniques to drink more water and improve hydration

• Always keep a water bottle - it acts as a constant reminder to drink water. Make sure its not single use plastic, rather go for glass, stainless steel or other sustainable packaging.

• Infuse the water - Try adding lemon or other fruits to sweeten your drink. It will add extra nutrients to your sip, which can boost your bill of health beyond hydration.

• Eat water-dense foods. - go for raw foods such as watermelon, berries, celery and cucumbers can be a main source.

• Many sips and small gulps - rather than going for big gulps, go for multiple small sips. Make it a routine to take a sip of water before a meeting, work , meal or whenever you start a new activity throughout the day.

Lastly always remember these golden lines which we at JAGRAT swear by "Don’t forget to drink water and get some sun. You’re basically a houseplant with more complicated emotions.”