Imagine making it through the next eight hours without taking a sip – of anything. No coffee. No orange juice. No milk with cereal. No water. No soda.
Most of us wouldn’t make it through the next hour without gulping something down. But how often do you wake up after six to eight hours of sleep and think, “Wow, I’m parched?”
The majority of us don’t ask this question, yet statistics from a survey conducted by Rockefeller University in Manhattan and the Bottled Water Association shows that the average American – as many as 75 percent of us – wakes up dehydrated and will do little to rectify this sorry state throughout the next 16 hours. And in our dehydrated state, we end up unnecessarily suffering from possible fatigue, headaches, dry mouth, dizziness, dry skin and muscle cramps.
We don’t help matters when millions of us start off the day by sipping a cup of coffee. It’s a bad move, as the caffeine acts as a diuretic that could dehydrate the drinker even more.
Now the easy part: To start your day in a better mood with less stiffness in your muscles and a more alert brain all you have to do is roll out of bed to the sight of a 16-ounce glass of water on the nightstand. Chug it down and then get on with the rest of the morning.
Steve Harp, a coach here at Carmichael Training Systems, believes wholeheartedly that water plays an integral role in starting his day on the right foot.
“I ride my bike to work every morning,” he says, “and I can attest that drinking just a glass or two of water when I get out of bed helps wake up my mind and legs for the commute.”
These good feelings apply to everyone, not just bike commuters or fitness enthusiasts who need extra fluids to replace water lost through sweat the previous day.
All of us need agua to flush toxins out of our muscles and keep our joints well lubricated and flexible for walking the dog, going for a 5-mile run at dawn, or simply going to work.
That day’s first glass of water is also going to help you digest breakfast faster and more thoroughly, and it’s an essential aid for many chemical reactions that support a finely tuned brain and a better memory.
Then there’s what one glass will do for your complexion: It restores and maintains the elasticity of your skin lost from overnight dehydration.
With all that going for H2O, drinking it first – before you break out the juice glass or coffee mug – is the best drink you’ll have all day.
Alicia Kendig is a sports dietitian for Colorado Springs-based Carmichael Training Systems. For more information on the latest in training, fitness, and nutrition go to www.trainright.com/newsletter.
