The Importance of Drinking Water Is Like Drinking the Value of Gold in Liquid Form

*Photo by Jong Marshes on Unsplash

Water is one of the most important and healthiest things you can put into your body. However, water is often one of the easiest things to overlook.

Living with bipolar disorder, I am constantly reminded of treating my mind and body with the respect they deserve. To function at an optimal level, it is imperative to make my mind and body as healthy as possible.

Let’s face it: You probably have a lot on your plate already and a lot that you include in your daily routine, whether you notice it or not. For example, you brush your teeth in the morning —​ you don’t even really consider when or how you just know that you need to do it. Before bed, you likely turn out all the lights as well — again, another thing you do as a routine without much thought.

But what about drinking water? Do you do that enough, and is it part of your routine without a thought? For too many people, unfortunately, it’s not part of the routine. They might drink a little water, but probably not enough, especially when they consider what their body is made of — mostly liquid.

How To Drink More Water

So how do you change your routine and make drinking water something you do as regularly as brushing your teeth? The following graphic explains it: (I would like to give a shout-out to Health Perch for providing me with the graphic.)

Focus On The Daily Basics

For those of us living with bipolar disorder, or any mental illness, we tend not to take care of ourselves in healthy ways. For example, generally speaking, we have a harder time maintaining consistency, exercising, making healthy eating choices, drinking water, and more.

The daily activities of hygiene and taking care of ourselves are much more difficult compared to those without bipolar disorder or other mental illnesses.

This makes sense if you think about it. Yes, bipolar disorder is a mood disorder. It also directly impacts a person’s energy level, motivation, and functionality.

Now, back to the importance of water…

Many of the medications we take require a greater amount of water consumption. Otherwise, they can become toxic in our system and cause a host of other nasty negative side effects.

This is a good time to reinforce the point: please speak with your doctor about questions regarding your medication and treatment. As I mentioned, the concentration level of some medications can increase or decrease based on your hydration. It is important to consider how much exercise you are getting, your sodium intake, and anything else impacting how much you perspire.

Increasing your daily water intake helps to flush out the toxins in your system. This is extremely important, especially if you take multiple medications.

Last Thoughts

Consume larger quantities of water throughout the day.

Drink water first thing upon waking.

Set phone reminders throughout the day.

Invest in a reusable water bottle and/or water diffuser.

Diffuse water with fruit and vegetables.

Use a water logging app you can download to keep track of your daily water intake.