by Fern Shaw | Apr 26, 2016 | Charity, Christian Aid, Water
We should all know the direct correlation between drinking sufficient water and keeping healthy by now (OK, well I should, I’ve researched and written about it often enough – maybe you shouldn’t), but quite surprisingly in spite of a plethora of information from just about everywhere, it seems we still need to be told about this pretty basic principle.
- To be fair (all about fairness, me) in this tech age, I may just be more easily convinced if I had some clever water bottle that glowed at me until I drank from it or;
- What about a water bottle that apparently dings at you when it’s time to drink up!
- Then, getting even more tech spec-ee, what about all these apps that alert you to the fact that you haven’t had your daily water as yet. Yep, there really are a variety of ‘drink water’ apps available for smart phones and for those that like to add cucumber or similar to their water, there is a water bottle / spiral slicer (yep, really) that slices your cucumber directly into your bottles water.
These inventions and concepts (as some are still at the conceptual stage) are quite amazing, clever and resourceful.
For me though, not having a smart phone (oh woe is me) and I’m guessing I’m one of many millions that also don’t have a smart phone, I still believe that it’s kind of up to the individual (unless you have a forward thinking team at work who realise that hydrated employees are happier, healthier and make for a more productive team) to ensure that you drink your water.
What’s even more amazing is that if you choose your drinking water from AquAid, a portion of the proceeds of your water cooler purchase is automatically donated to water projects around the globe – these being to Christian Aid and The Africa Trust.
Now, that’s pretty amazing!
by Fern Shaw | Apr 22, 2016 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Schools are back and summer is on the way. It’s always a concern that your child is getting enough water to drink during their busy school day. Fortunately, school water coolers are pretty much de rigeur in schools across the length and breadth of the U.K.
But what can you do, as parents, to help reinforce your children’s healthy hydration habits when they’re not with you during the day?
The amount of fluid a child needs depends on many factors including age, gender, weather and how much physical activity they get but generally children should aim to have six to eight drinks per day which should ideally be water (on top of the water provided by food in the diet).
Younger children need relatively small servings (e.g. 150ml per drink) and older children need larger servings (e.g. 250-300ml per drink).
Children should be encouraged to sip fluids at regular intervals throughout the day – a lot of children drink fluids at the end of the day when feelings of dehydration have already started to set in.
A few suggestions:
- Start good hydration habits at home by setting an example for your children. Make sure you drink enough water and you’ll soon get them into the habit – young children love to emulate what mom or dad is doing! Plus, of course, you’ll be doing not just your kids but yourself a favour too!
- Do a tour of the school yourself whenever your children start at a new school and make sure that there are sufficient water cooler stations with easy access for the children.
- Simple measures, like the addition of a bottle of water to the school lunchbox or backpack can always help to reinforce your children to keep hydrated. If straws are approved by the school and are appropriate for your child’s age, include a bendy straw, it will, without doubt, add interest to drinking the bottle’s contents, even if it is water!
- You don’t have to stick with just water, but be aware of the calorie count in other drinks such as fruit juices and soft drinks (in fact, perhaps try to stay away from soft drinks, or in fact, anything with fizz in it). Perhaps look at weak squash or diluted fruit juices.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 21, 2016 | Water
I was quite amazed and impressed with the extensive, almost unending list of one’s brain function and how something as simple as drinking water can radically affect how our brain function.
So impressed in fact, that I’ve written a Part II, because as we know, information is power and if we’re well informed, we empower ourselves to be able to take better care of our wonderful little selves.
So, without further ado, here are a number of examples of brain power and how drinking water keeps these operations functioning at capacity:
Memory
- Every time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new connection in your brain.
- Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection, and therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.
- While you sleep at night may be the best time for your brain to consolidate all your memories from the day. Lack of sleep may actually hurt your ability to create new memories.
Brain Function
- Your brain uses twenty percent of the total oxygen in your body.
- If your brain loses blood for eight to ten seconds, you will lose consciousness.
- While awake, your brain generates between ten and twenty three watts of power – or enough energy to power a light bulb.
- The old adage of humans only using ten percent of their brain is not true. Every part of the brain has a known function.
Psychology of Your Brain
- You can’t tickle yourself because your brain distinguishes between unexpected external touch and your own touch.
- The connection between body and mind is a strong one. One estimate is that between fifty to seventy percent of visits to the doctor for physical ailments are attributed to psychological factors.
Who would’ve thunk it, as my mum says. A clear case then to encourage you to drink enough water to ensure that your wonderful, hard-working brain continues to be able to carry out its myriad functions at capacity.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 13, 2016 | Water
My brain (oh Pooh of very little brain) is wont to skip along from thought to thought not unlike a greased toboggan on a stretch of snow. On occasion though, it hits the tarmac or an unsnowed patch and sticks a little. And ….. then it’s off again.
One of these skippity thought processes snagged on the thought about the masters of maths, Pythagoras, as an example; or da Vinci? What about brainboxes such as Plato (a favourite of mine); Euclid and Einstein?
I wondered if one went back in time and we studied their dietary and hydration habits, if we would find out whether they were big on the hydration or whether they were more of the tortured genius unhealthy habits, staying awake for days on end type habits individuals.
I guess we’ll never know (unless you have the time to study ancient texts to establish what any of these of large brained people ate and drank?) but what I do know is that drinking water aids us in incalculable ways, not excluding:
The brain is one of the most important organs in your body to keep fuelled. It is approximately 85 percent water and brain function depends on having abundant access to water.
Water gives the brain the electrical energy for all brain functions, including thought and memory processes.
Studies have proven that your brain cells need twice as much energy compared to other cells in the body. Water provides this energy more effectively than any other substance.
Water is also needed for the brain’s production of hormones and neurotransmitters. Nerve transmission requires one-half of all the brain’s energy.
When your brain is functioning on a full reserve of water, you will be able to think faster, be more focused, and experience greater clarity and creativity.
Daily hydration not only helps with better thinking, it can help prevent attention deficit disorder in children and adults.
The reason why it is important to drink plenty of water throughout the day for optimal brain function is that your brain does not have any way to store water.
I found the last bit of information fascinating, I wasn’t aware that the brain cannot ‘store’ water – it makes it all the more important to ensure that in order to have your brain function at optimal levels, you need to drink sufficient water.
I may not have the brain capacity of the fathers of maths, but at least now I know how to keep my brain happy, functioning and healthy – all I need to do is drink the original energy drink – water.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 8, 2016 | water cooler
Here’s a true tale for you to relate at your next water cooler gathering. Please feel free to relate your own ‘you’ll never believe what happened to me as a sprog’ story too! I recently wrote a blog about loves of my mine that started in childhood – the first one being a fascination with Lego which led to a love of architecture.
This love started when I was around four years old. Never having been much of a girlie girl while growing up and, having an older brother, I was more interested in playing with cars – two favourites that I remember were a Renault 16 and some type of Jensen. The Dinky Renault in particular as all of its doors opened and the car name was stamped across the back. It was a beige-ee cream colour; which now that I think about it, is not dissimilar to the beige colour of a few of the Fords and Fiats I’ve seen around (which I really like!).
My love of miniature cars almost cost me an eye though, and not in a typical sibling hurling projectiles manner either – this was of a far more unusual circumstance!
I grew up on a plot in the countryside. We had a raised patio made of slasto (slate) connected by concrete strips – these were the ‘roads’ for our cars. At the edge of this raised patio, there were low brick window box type planters, usually planted with a selection of daisies, their stems and leaves hanging over to the level of the paving.
One bright Sunday morning, my brother and I were playing cars. At some stage during play, my brother went inside. I continued to drive my car along the concrete road towards the window box. The next thing I knew, a dark grey snake had risen up and spat at me. The venom landed in my eye. My parents, who were in the breeze way, came rushing out, picked me up and took me into the kitchen. My quick thinking mom, as calm as could be, rinsed my eye out with milk (not water, as one would think). My dad was outside busy disposing of the snake. Of course it helped that I was wailing (in fright, I wasn’t bitten) like a banshee and had most probably washed out most of the venom by the time I got to the kitchen. A quick visit to the local hospital (that specialised in dealing with snake venom), a check from the doctor (who commended my mom on her milk rinsing idea) and back home I went, a little shaken and with an increased wariness about low, overhanging shrubbery.
I can’t say that this visibly reduced my interest in playing cars, but I did come away with a healthy new interest in playing indoors vs. playing outdoors. I suppose it’s a little strange to think that whenever I see toy cars I always think about that incident.
What’s your childhood ‘I can’t believe I’m still here’ start of the week story for around the water cooler? Please feel free to share, we’d love to hear from you.
Vroom, vroom, have a good week!
