If water makes up approximately 60-70% of our body weight in a healthy person doesn’t it make sense we need to keep hydrated?

Water is key to healthy metabolic activity and function in our bodies. It detoxifies, transports water soluble nutrients like vitamin C, is key to temperature regulation and hydrates our skin from the inside out leaving it more supple and able to care for itself. That’s a short list of the benefits of drinking water!

The Mayo Clinic recommends more than the familiar eight 8 ounce glasses per day but they also include juices, teas and other beverages as part of our intake. If we are dehydrated the body releases stress hormones which in turn increases inflammation, according to Jolene Hart in Eat Pretty, Nutrition for Beauty, Inside and Out.

As always, our advice to you is listen to your own body. Look for signs of dehydration (fatigue, dry throat, flaky skin). And, take it one step at a time: drink a few ounces more each day. Morning is a great time to have a glass of water. All of us are slightly dehydrated after hours of not having water. Make it fun! Choose a special, lovely water glass. Luahn monitors her daily intake of H2O using her favorite S’well water bottle.