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Some Great (and Not So Great) Sources of Water
Understanding how much water to drink daily is one thing, but knowing where to get your water is just as important. So here’s you’re absolute best source of water… The Best of All The Sources of Water...Water! Surprised? I hope not. Drinking water is the absolute best way to keep yourself hydrated – and by a wide margin. It’s a critical component to all of your body’s systems – good ol' H2O is your best bet. I personally keep a water bottle nearby at all times to make sure I’m getting enough of it. The taste of water isn’t the most exciting thing in the world – this is probably the main thing that turns people off from drinking it. It’s pretty bland and boring. No excuses! Here’s an easy fix: next time you go to the grocery store or market, pick up a few lemons and/or limes and squeeze some of the juice into your water. This technique can actually be pretty delicious! There’re also some lemon and lime juices that are easier to use (because you don’t have to cut or squeeze – just squirt it in!). Should you drink bottled water as opposed to the tap water? The fact is that bottled water is just filtered tap water that they dumped into a bottle and labeled as “Crystal Spring” to make it sound more pure. Companies like Brita produce inexpensive filters that you can attach directly to the faucet in your kitchen sink. Fill your water bottles from here and stop wasting money! Sources of water can be expensive - it's easiest to just grab some out of your normal water supply.
Sports Drinks I always see people that drink Gatorade or Powerade religiously – as if it were water! But, it isn’t. Granted, sports drinks do have some advantages of water if you’re physically exerting yourself, but it’s not something to turn to as if it were one of the main sources of water. Let’s talk about some of the disadvantages of sports drinks… Disadvantages of Sports Drinks As you know, these drinks are very tasty. This means they have tons of sugar and have lots of calories. So drinking lots of the stuff when you’re not exercising is a great way to gain weight. In fact, it has similar weight-gaining effects as drinking soda. What I’m trying to say is, sports drinks are not a replacement for water. The only real place they should have in your daily life is right after a workout when your body craves higher-glycemic items like fruits (and no, I’m not talking about simple sugars – no junk food!). Sports drinks are also very expensive. Do you really want to keep hiking up to the store just to waste another $10 on sports drinks you don’t need? Remember, the only time you might consider one would be during a workout or within 20 minutes of finishing a hard workout. Other than that, they’re not really necessary.
Advantages of Sports Drinks The only thing sports drinks can boast of the hydrating ability of water is that it contains large amounts of electrolytes such as potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium and chloride– the specific electrolytes that are normally lost with sweat. So the more you sweat, the more electrolytes you lose. With sports drinks, these electrolytes are replaced and a high level of activity can be maintained for longer periods of time. If you just drink water, you’ll just need to eat more often during this long workout. As a bottom line, sports drinks shouldn't be considered as one of the main sources of water. Although it has lots of water, it shouldn't be taken in the same amounts (this is where misunderstandings happen!) Juices Fruit juices do contain a significant amount of water, but, like sports drinks, the drawback is that they’re high in calories and sugars. Replacing water with fruit juices is another way to gain weight. This is sometimes confusing because people associate fruit juices (and sports drinks for that matter) with being healthy.
If you really love fruit juices, try to limit it to 1-2 glasses per day. You get lots of nutrients from them, so it’s not a bad idea sprinkle in a few glasses every now and then. As a final note, eating the actual fruit skips the middle-man processing plant that removes many of the nutrients from the final juice. In short, if you have a choice, go for the whole fruit! Choose the apple over apple juice, the pineapple over pineapple juice and the orange over orange juice. Tea/Coffee These are actually a few of the main sources of water for lots of individuals, unfortunately. Water is obviously the better choice. Replacing water with tea or coffee isn’t good simply because of the huge amount of caffeine you’ll be taking in per day. Coffee and tea do count into your 6-8 daily cups of water, but caffeinated beverages tend to be dehydrating (they make you feel thirsty!) and negates their hydrating effect. Thirst may also trigger your “hunger” signals, leading to overeating. As I mentioned with sports drinks, sodas and many carbonated beverages (such as energy drinks) contain huge amounts of simple sugars usually labeled as “high fructose corn syrup” or “sucrose”. In general, you should avoid any product with these ingredients near the top of the list. The problem is that they’re highly concentrated, especially sucrose. How? Sucrose is actually a disaccharide (2 sugar molecules connected together) – one sugar being glucose and the other fructose. The point is that if you take in 30g of sucrose is equivalent to 60g of simple sugars (30g fructose + 30g glucose)! Soda (including energy drinks) is one of the biggest problems we have here in the U.S. – people are drinking tons of it, gaining lots of weight, developing type 2 diabetes later in life and other chronic disorders related to weight gain. Please try and stay away from these! An occasional soda every now and then isn’t a bad thing – it’s just when we starting inhaling the stuff religiously when it becomes a problem. Too much soda = lots of sugar = weight gain. I'd suggest considering other sources of water. The presence of caffeine in sodas also contributes to dehydration (they make you feel thirsty). Remember, just because it's liquid doesn't mean it's a hydrating fluid! Furthermore, any carbonated drink will affect calcium absorption and bone density. The phosphate-containing compounds present in carbonated beverages interfere with the absorption of calcium. This may be particularly important for post-menopausal women who down tons of diet soda. The decrease in bone-density can moderately contribute to osteoporosis later in life. About that diet soda…this is better for you than soda, right? Diet Soda
There’re studies out there indicating that the consumption of artificially sweetened items can result in a greater weight gain than their normal counterparts containing some simple sugars. This link may seem confusing, but it makes sense when you think about it. When you consume a high-calorie, tasty food or beverage, your body naturally associates that with the intake of nutrients and energy. But, after you drink that diet soda loaded with artificial sweeteners like saccharin, Splenda and Aspartame in the absence of nutrients, your body loses the connection between “sweet” and “nutrients.” So, what happens? Your body will crave nutrients… To make a long story short (well, shorter), you’ll feel hungry more often. It seems that artificial sweeteners affect our ability to regulate our consumption of foods. Ever wonder how you can control your portion size? Try avoiding diet sodas, or other items with artificial sweeteners, and start drinking water! Understanding your sources of water can take you a long way - it's incredible how much marketing scams can make us "think" we're doing the right things for ourselves. Bottom line? There're only certain good sources of water. Just like anything else, there's not magic drink, gel, pill, or any other contraption that will hydrate you efficiently. Again, the best source is from is all-natural H2O. Are you getting enough?!
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Your Good (and Bad) Sources of Water
I tend to purchase maybe one case of water every six months – the only reason is that now I’ve got some bottles that I can fill and refill as needed. Others like to just have a water jug to carry around with them. Many people also own refrigerators that have the filtered water tap right on the front panel. How easy is that?!
But, if you do choose to have the sports drink, I would suggest purchasing the powdered versions of the same sports drinks (typically Gatorade). The advantage of this is that you can spend about 1/10 the money for the same product – just mix with water! You can also reduce the number of calories per serving by making a more diluted version.
Yes, it is healthy, but overdoing it isn’t as healthy! Any excess intake of sugar will result in weight gain if there’s no exercising being done. Check out my 
Carbonated Drinks and Soda
Well, diet soda isn’t much different. We all have good intentions when purchasing diet sodas to avoid those simple sugars and “empty calories.” Turning to diet soda to lose weight is a long road leading to a dead end. Since the invention of diet sodas, people have considered it as one of the better sources of water because "they don't have any calories." This couldn't be farther from the truth for a multitude of reasons, from the caffeine to the artificial sweeteners.