How Water Affects Your Mood
Hi Friends!
We’re changing things up here today and chatting a little bit about water. My friend and fellow RD Jenna from Fresh Food Perspectives is here to offer some info on how water intake can impact your mood. I think it’s super interesting and I hope you will too! Jenna is mom to two little boys and she’s been a great source of information and support during my pregnancy/new mom journey, which I really appreciate! Check out her blog for healthy recipes and nutrition tips!
—————–
Hey everyone! It’s so nice to meet you via this wonderful blog. I am a fellow RD blogger over at Fresh Food Perspectives where I like to share a fresh perspective on real-life healthy living. I’m a wife to a football coach, a mom to two little boys, and a working girl at both the University of North Florida and in my private nutrition practice/blog. Since my life feels a little crazy, I’ve started using the hashtag #MakeHealthyEasy on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and even made a Pinterest board for it. Join in by adding ideas, articles, recipes, tips, workouts or anything that makes healthy living easier for you by using the hashtag #MakeHealthyEasy. Read more about it at this blog post.
Today I’d like to talk to you about what you’re drinking and how it makes you feel. And no, I’m not referring to sugary drinks or alcohol. I’m talking about your water intake.
Yes, I said water, and please stick with me. This is isn’t your same old drink more water information.
I typically think of water intake as like a “Behavior Change 101” step. When I teach healthy living classes, this is one of the first things I start with: drink more water! We all probably know that this is an important step for being healthy.
But, have you checked in on this habit in a while? Do you really know that you’re drinking enough? Did you know that your water intake could be directly impacting your mood and brain power?
OK, that was a lot of questions, but hopefully you really thought about them.
I recently had to ask myself all these questions about my water intake because I just assume that I drink enough. What I found out though, was that I was not drinking as much as I thought and it was negatively affecting my mood, energy level and emotions.
What got me thinking about my water was a very interesting study I came across recently that looked at the connection between water intake, emotions, energy, and mental performance.
{Bear with me as I geek out on the science here for just a second…}
The study tracked changes in people’s mood when they went from either a restricted intake of water (1 Liter/day) to a high water intake (2.5 Liters/day) or vice versa. For a frame of reference, 1 Liter is about 4 ¼ cups and 2.5 Liters is about 10 ½ cups.
When participants went from a time of restricted intake (1 Liter) to elevated water intake (2.5 Liters), they experienced significantly less fatigue and sleepiness with improved brain power (less confusion). On the flip side, when participants went from a high water intake to a restricted intake, participants experienced a drop in “vigor”, contentedness, ability to stay calm and overall positive feelings.
{Geek out session is now over.}
**Editor’s note: If you’re a longtime reader you probably know that I (Lindsay) am a huge water lover. My giant water bottle makes an appearance in many of my meal pics!**
After doing a quick self assessment, I realized a few things: I am getting headaches more frequently, I am a lot more tired, I’d say my brain is running on about 50% these days, some days I feel more overwhelmed by motherhood than I am proud to admit, and yes, I’m not drinking enough water due to a variety of reasons. Hmmm. Maybe water intake isn’t so “101” level afterall.
In the past week, I have really put forth effort in drinking more water. (Yes, this is happening to me like right now). As I sit here typing, I am realizing I have had less headaches, my brain feels a touch sharper and I’m in a much better mood-place this week.
You and I both know that water is an important component to good health. But, as I’ve personally found, it’s easy to forget and easy to neglect in our day to day minutiae. In fact, let me take a brief moment to remind us all of something important about healthy living in general: It’s always good to do a check-in on your day to day behaviors, even if you think you’re OK.
When working with clients over the years, I have found that when life changes (in big or small ways) it’s important take a moment to make sure your normal healthy habits are still working for you. It can be frustrating when your typical strategies aren’t producing the same results anymore. But you know what, that’s pretty normal. I suggest pulling out a pen and paper and jotting down a few new strategies for accomplishing your goal. Being deliberate is the only way to make a change.
And sometimes, you just need a fresh plan of attack.
**Editor’s note: One of my favorite ways to keep my water intake up in the colder months- hot water with lemon and fresh ginger**
I’ve needed a new plan of attack for drinking more water. One of my ideas is to add dehydrated lemon slices to my water because it makes it just a little more delicious and fun. (You can read my blog post on how to dehydrate at home to do the same.)
So take a quick moment to really think about how you’re feeling these days, and how much water you’re really drinking. Maybe you’re need a little water check up and it could make a really big difference in how you feel too.
Wouldn’t it be nice for us all to feel better and have more brain power just by drinking more water? That’s certainly a way to #MakeHealthyEasy.
Come learn how water intake can impact your mood from @JbraddockRD and @leangrnbeanblog
Click To Tweet - Powered By CoSchedule
You can also connect with Jenna via the social media links below:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
————
Let’s chat:
Do you have any tips or strategies you have for drinking enough water?
