H2-Oh How Delicious Those 8 Glasses Can Be!

Tuesday, 20 September 2011 11:40 Written by Savvy Girl

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If you're the savvy girl who finds water too bland for your refined tastes, chugging down the recommended 8 glasses a day can be a bitter bev to swallow. First question: Do we really need those 8 glasses? The Mayo Clinic says yes.

Water makes up 60% of your body weight and every system in your body depends on it to flush, cleanse and act as a superhighway to get healthy stuff from one place to another. The clinic's recommendation is to replace what you sweat, breathe or urinate out (love those refreshing terms!) which amounts to about 2 liters a day, but can vary due to your activity level.

Eight 8-oz glasses (1.9 liters) is therefore the rule of thumb, but the surefire way to know you're in the clear is to check out the color of your urine (again!): colorless, with a very slight yellow tint (like a squeeze of lemon, perhaps?) is your goal.

How to get it all in: You may develop a taste for plain water after awhile, but let's not be shy about giving it a savvy flavor boost for fun, shall we? We've got a few favorite flavor tricks that help us get in those 8 glasses a day without too much whining and besides, once you're on the water train for good, you'll be surprised how much money you save when you give up pricey bottled beverages. Just slice, dice and cube any of these things at will for a flavorful boost to plain H2O.

Citrus: lemons, lime and oranges
Berries: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries
Melon: watermelon, honeydew
Vegetables: cucumbers, thinly sliced are a refreshing spa-worthy treat
Fresh Herbs: rosemary, mint is divine
Fruit Juice: a splash of cranberry can do the trick and won't add too many calories
Sparkling: can be rather refreshing with a squirt of lime and is a great non-alcoholic party sipper
Herbal Teas: chilled, caffeine free chamomile and mint are flavor faves and still count