by Fern Shaw | Nov 13, 2019 | Water Boilers, Water Coolers
No, we are not referring to a dud car parked at the water cooler; we are referring to the lemon: the wonder fruit.
Lemons are mostly attributed as being a good source of vitamin C, (which they are) but that isn’t all they contain.
According to the USDA National Nutrient Database lemons contain everything from vitamin B6, vitamin A, vitamin E, folate, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid to minerals like calcium, copper, iron, magnesium and phosphorus. They also contain more potassium than do apples or grapes.
As we head into the shivery months, we look at the myriad health boosts, easily achievable through simply drinking a glass of warm lemon water every day (mornings are usually best):
Aids digestion*
Lemon juice encourages the liver to produce bile, which is an acid that is required for digestion. That’s important when you consider that a study showed that over 30% of men and women over age 60 had atrophic gastritis, a condition marked by little or no stomach acid. Drinking warm lemon water every morning can help kick-start your digestive system without overloading it.
Good for your brain*
They’re high in potassium, which research shows stimulates brain and nerve function. Just one lemon contains 80 milligrams of this essential mineral – which is also important for basic cell and muscle functions and maintaining your body’s fluid balance.
Boosts your immune system*
Lemons are high in Vitamin C, which is great for fighting colds. Not an old wives’ tale then – as Vitamin C has been shown to increase the production of white blood cells. White blood cells are the defender cells that attack bacteria and viruses. Vitamin C may also keep existing immune cells healthier and better able to produce enough of the kind of antibodies that attach to viruses and bacteria to mark them for destruction.
It clears skin*
The vitamin C in warm lemon water helps decrease wrinkles and blemishes. Lemon water purges toxins from the blood, which helps keep skin clear as well. In addition to drinking it, lemon water can actually be applied directly to scars to help reduce their appearance.
There are tons more benefits which will be detailed in upcoming blog – consider this your starter pack on your pathway to healthy hydration.
If you’re concerned about forgetting your daily power packed warm glass of Vitamin C every day, (you head into the kitchen, switch the kettle on, wander back to your workstation, and promptly forget you switched the kettle on), fear not, AquAid has the perfect solution. We supply a range of hot and cold water coolers and water boilers that keep your lemon water base at the perfect temperature throughout the day. Pour yourself a glass, squeeze in your lemon juice and you are set. Lemon up!
*Extracts from an article at La Jolla Mom
by Fern Shaw | Mar 7, 2019 | Water Boilers, Water Coolers
I always find it fascinating how certain words have certain connotations.
Take the word ‘ginger’. Go on, say it aloud – “Ginger!” What’s the first thing that comes to mind? The hair colour of a much-maligned set of people (with a rather amazing DNA sequence I might add)? Freckles sunburn and Children of the Corn type movies? Or does that word conjure up the spice and *horror for me* glacé ginger pieces and similar undeserving of the title of a Sweet?
Ginger in itself is a rather miraculous spice. Its health-giving benefits are myriad. It contains nearly a dozen antiviral compounds. Ginger is pain-relieving, antiseptic and antioxidant. It is valuable for preventing and treating colds, sore throats and inflammation of mucus membranes.
Ginger reduces pain and fever and has a mild sedative effect that will encourage rest. Drink a tea, or soak fresh ginger in hot water, take as a tincture and include it in your food. Ginger is also delicious in a fruit smoothie or in a healthy water drink combo.
The ginger plant itself: Zingiber officinale is a perennial which can grow to about 3 or 4 feet and produces clusters of pink and white flowers. Although the leaves are sometimes eaten, it is the rhizome or underground stem that is of medicinal and culinary interest. This stem is a chunky root-like thing with a thin brown skin and hard light flesh inside. It is often erroneously called ginger root since the rhizome resembles a root but this is actually not the root of the plant at all but an underground ‘stem’.
Despite it not being a favourite, I can attest to ginger’s stomach calming and settling effects, as well as its ability to both cleanse and invigorate the palate.
The versatility of ginger is such that you can steep it in hot water from your water boiler or let it infuse in cool water drawn from your water cooler and sip on it throughout the day – it’ll help to keep you shored up and resistant to all the workplace chills and summer and winter colds.
*updated from a 2014 blog
by Fern Shaw | Feb 11, 2019 | Water Boilers, water cooler
We often, somewhat mistakenly, assume that keeping hydrated during winter is less important than in summer. As it turns out, the opposite is true.
In winter, in an effort to keep warm, we rely on using heaters, hairdryers and hats which quite literally suck the moisture and oils right out of our bodies, skin and hair. When we’re outside, low humidity and gusty winds don’t help much either.
The good news though is that there are a number of easy hydration options available to keep you smooth skinned, glossy haired and properly hydrated internally too:
Wear layers
Trapping small pockets of air between layers is better than wearing one big chunky coat. A wool or fleece layer is a good idea, as it will be soft and lightweight, and warm air is more easily trapped in the fibres. Fabrics with a piled, terry or textured finish will also be effective at trapping air.
Exercise and keep hydrated!
The urge to hibernate when it is cold is understandable, without the sunshine outside enabling us to soak up Vitamin D; hibernation is a completely natural reaction. That’s why it’s especially important to keep active wherever you can, whether that involves brisk walks (weather permitting) and other alternate forms of exercise: yoga is a good example – it doesn’t have to be a gym.
Because you also need to keep drinking water when the temperatures dip, try to develop a routine at work where you sip throughout the day. One option whether at home or at work, is to use a smaller glass or water bottle. It may mean more trips to the water cooler, but if you’re walking more, that’s being active and when it’s colder, every step counts.
Body scrubs and oils
Frigid temperatures and dry indoor heat cause water to evaporate from your skin because there’s more moisture in it than in the air. Bundling up doesn’t help matters – all those layers keep skin from breathing. Fight back with a one-two punch of body scrub and moisturising lotion or oil. Once a week, exfoliate with a body scrub to help slough off dead cells that make skin look dull. You’ll also find that giving your skin a brisk scrub will warm you right up too. When skin is freshly exfoliated, lotion and oil are better absorbed. To maintain hydration, smooth on the lotion daily after a shower.*
‘Eat’ your water
Fruit and veggies are packed with water, that high water content adds volume and keeps you satisfied without the calories. Soups are also a great way to sneak in some extra water. At AquAid we offer a range of hot and cold water coolers and water boilers which allow you to make your favourite hot water drink while at work or at home.
Maintain a good drinking water habit
Drinking enough water, as boring as it sounds, is still the simplest route to maintaining good ‘external’ physical health. We need to be well hydrated in order to maintain supple skin and unfrizzed hair.
Being fussy can help
A lot of us just don’t like drinking water, period. Try adopting a different approach. Try drinking your water at room temperature. If you’re into branded gear (this isn’t just a children’s domain), then use your favourite cartoon character branded water bottle to drink from if it makes your happy. Figure out what appeals to you. And since your ability to recognise your thirst worsens as you age, today, early this New Year is a good a time as any to start to begin a ‘maintaining good hydration’ habit.
*updated from an 8 Jan 2015 blog
by Belinda Ollewagen | Feb 6, 2019 | instant tap, Water Boilers, water cooler
In less than two weeks winter will officially begin in the UK and while reclining in a warm sunny garden, cold drink in hand, might now be a distant memory, what we shouldn’t change is the drink in hand bit. The weather might have changed, but our basic bodily functions haven’t and we still need our daily intake of drinking water to ensure optimal health. That said, it’s not as easy to drink water in the colder weather and while pure water remains the healthiest of options, all liquids – with the exception of alcohol – do count towards your daily requirements. So, it’s a good idea to try and experiment with a variety of warm and tasty herbal teas to ensure your healthy liquid intake remains high.
While a water cooler will always be a necessity in the office, it’s at this point that water boilers and instant taps in staff kitchens or breakout areas became very handy. When it’s chilly and we’re all wanting a hot cup of something to warm us up, it can be very frustrating waiting in line for a kettle to boil. But with hot water taps there is a limitless supply of boiling water, ready at just the touch of a button. It’s the perfect opportunity to sample your way through a wild variety of herbal teas that not only hydrate you, but offer a host of other medicinal benefits too.
Peppermint tea
It can help relieve abdominal gas and bloating as well as relieve muscle spasms. It can also be used for nausea, heating up the body and making you sweat.
Ginger tea
Great in aiding digestion, it can curb nausea, vomiting or help settle an upset stomach. Adding lemon and honey can help your body fight off colds and flu, plus the honey’s powerful antioxidants can help eliminate free radicals.
Chamomile tea
Very helpful for insomnia, it has a gentle calming and sedative effect. It is also recommended for use with a cold or fever, and when used as a gargle it can help with inflammation of the mouth.
Rooibos tea
It is high in vitamin C and has many antioxidant properties which can help strengthen your immune system – it is also recommended as a topical treatment for skin irritations such as eczema.
Lemon balm tea
It can help lift your mood and is also said to help improve concentration.
Milk thistle and dandelion tea
Known as a gentle liver cleanser, it can help the liver regenerate and function more optimally. As with ginger, it too can aid digestion.
Rosehip tea
An excellent source of vitamin C, it can also help optimize your skin and tissue health, adrenal function and immune system.
by Fern Shaw | Jan 28, 2019 | instant tap, Water Boilers, Water Coolers
Sneaky because maintaining good hydration habits in winter can be just that: studies show that we can be up to 40% less thirsty in winter.
Dehydration is less noticeable in winter: During the summer in the UK, it’s far easier to equate how thirsty we are with how dehydrated we may be. Hot weather tends to make us sweat more, making dehydration much more noticeable. However, in winter, thirst isn’t as immediately apparent and perspiration turns to water vapour very quickly. As an example, when you step outside from a warm environment into a cold one and you can see your breath – that’s water vapour, which means you’re dehydrating.
Staying hydrated in winter helps us stay warm: Our bodies use water to help maintain our core body temperature. Dehydration can cause our core body temperatures can drop. Therefore the benefits of staying hydrated in winter are twofold: we stay hydrated and we keep warm when it’s cold outside.
… And gives your immune system a welcome boost: Our instinct in winter is to hibernate, especially indoors. Modern life, however, makes this untenable: we’re in and out of doors on a daily basis and the radical changes in temperature can easily and negatively affect our immune system as our systems fight to bring our body to the right temperature. That’s why it’s important to make sure we don’t decrease our water intake during winter. A good hydration habit is one of the simplest and best ways to keep the immune system boosted and ready to battle common winter illnesses like colds and flu. Whether you’re at home or at work, installing a water cooler will help you to easily keep up your water consumption, with refreshing drinking water available at the touch of a button.
Weight maintenance and loss: The cold weather can often lead us to exercise less and eat more. Weight gain because of this is often further exacerbated by not staying hydrated through winter. Maintaining hydration enables our bodies to be more efficient at breaking down fats and converting them to energy.
A few tips to maintain proper hydration during winter:
- Keep water in your line of sight – keep a water bottle on your desk or put a glass next to the kitchen sink to remind you keep drinking. Remember too, AquAid have a range of desktop and counter top water coolers making them the best reminder there is.
- Set yourself a reminder – An alert on your phone can remind yourself to top up your water bottle.
- Eat water rich foods – soups, salads or fruit as mentioned in our series on water rich fruit.
- Plump up your plain H2O – Adding a slice or wedge of lemon, lime or even cucumber gives your water an extra refreshing burst of flavour.
At AquAid Water Coolers, we provide a wide range of water dispensers to a broad and diverse set of customers from small, medium and large businesses through to medical facilities, universities, colleges and schools.
With more than 20 years’ experience in the provision of the right water coolers, water boilers, Instant Taps and water fountains to more than 33,000 customers, you can be assured that we will have the right water cooler to help keep you properly hydrated, whatever the time of year. Speak to us, we’ll be happy to help.
by Fern Shaw | Jan 9, 2019 | Water Boilers, Water Coolers
Firstly, our very best wishes to all of you from all of us here at AquAid Water Coolers for this New Year of two oh one nine.
One of those wishes is that you, unlike me, don’t go through most of January scratching out ‘8’ on the date every time you write it.
I’ve noticed that resolutions for a new year don’t seem to be as prevalent or popular as they may have been in the previous decade of the 21st Century – not sure what that’s about – but I, for one, am frankly quite grateful – the reality being how many of us are there that actually get past Day 2 of our intended ‘good behaviour’ and then end up feeling awful about the lapsed resolutions?
If, however, you are one of those amazing souls who make resolutions and sticks to them past Week One, more power to you – you’re an example to us all.
Whichever category you fall into, there is one resolution I encourage you to implement and stick with. If you’re sceptical here are just a few good reasons why:
The health benefits are numerous.
Minimum effort equals great reward.
Increased concentration and productivity at work or at leisure.
Reduces lethargy, tiredness and dehydration.
Boosts the immune system.
It may seem like all these benefits from one source aren’t feasible, but I assure you, they are. This is a New Year’s resolution of the simplest sort – and the great reveal is:
Drink your water.
If you’re unsure about how much water you should be drinking, you can refer to our handy drinking water chart.
If you’re in need of a water delivery system, whether you’re at home, work or for your school, speak to us at AquAid – we have a wide range of high quality water coolers, dispensers and boilers.
Here’s to a guilt-free, easy resolution 2019 – cheers!
