Fill your glass to feel your best this holiday season
You may not fancy a tall glass of water on a cold wintry day, but your body does. Even though you’re not breaking a sweat or feeling parched, hydration is still essential.
You must “drink, drink, drink water regardless of the outside temperature,” says Los Angeles–based medical nutrition therapist Misti Gueron, M.S., RDN. “Your blood—your greatest transporter of nutrients for maximized energy, immunity, and health—is more than half water.” Plus, hydration is necessary for the proper function of cells, tissues, and organs, and to regulate your body temperature year-round.
Other benefits of drinking adequate water in winter? You will strengthen your immune system, boost your metabolism, flush toxins from your body, and keep your skin from drying out.
Refill your water bottle and read on to learn more about easy, tasty ways to stay quenched.
Eat hydrating foods. Bulk up on fruits and veggies. Make these the base of your winter plates as much as possible, as they’re made up of 70 to 90 percent water. Highly hydrating fruits and vegetables include cucumbers, celery, pears, strawberries, baby carrots, watermelon, grapefruit, tomatoes, spinach, and lettuce. (Salad, anyone?)
Add other liquids. Herbal teas, warm water with lemon or lime or other fruit garnishes, and broth-based soups (like miso, without too much added sodium) are good alternate sources of water, Gueron says.
Skip the fruit juice. “Juice does a lousy job of quenching thirst” because it isn’t absorbed into the body as efficiently as water, and it sometimes contains added sugar, Gueron says.
Go easy on the ’ades. Sports drinks can help hydrate, but Gueron green-lights them only if you’re exercising vigorously for more than 90 minutes. While they contain carbohydrates and electrolytes for energy, most of us do not need the added sugar, sodium, and calories.
Balance coffee, tea, and alcohol with more water. In cold weather, it’s tempting to curl up with a cup of hot coffee or tea, or a glass of wine by the fireplace. But “coffee, black tea, and alcohol require water to break down, so they rob water from your bloodstream,” Gueron says. You can still enjoy them, though, without the “dehydration drawback” by watering up, Gueron says: For every 8 ounces of caffeine or one serving of alcohol, drink at least 16 ounces of water.
Give yourself a ring. Have trouble remembering to take a swig? Set a hydration timer on your watch, phone, or computer.