Quick & Clever Ways to Hydrate

Yeah, yeah, yeah, 8 cups a day — we all hear it and we know we should be drinking more water. After all, our bodies are made up of mostly H2O and it’s essential for so many important bodily functions. Just to throw a few out there, this life-giving liquid energizes muscles, eases digestion, keeps skin looking luminous, and assists our kidneys in their crucial cleansing capabilities.

Ways to hydrate with type 2 diabetes

Even with these in mind, do you find yourself struggling to guzzle enough of the good stuff? Are you constantly hearing complaints from your partner or kids that plain water is “icky” or just “has no taste”? Check out these sneaky ways to trick yourself and family into hydration heaven!

Making hydration a priority

• Get a new water filter for your home, it might make that tap water more tempting
• Buy a pretty or cool water bottle for because if you like it, you’ll probably end up using it more
• There’s an app for reminders — check out Waterlogged or Daily Water Free for tech-savvy reminders to chug
• Buy a jumbo water bottle for your desk and using a sharpie pen, mark it with time-oriented goals
• Invest in a water carbonation machine. We add home grown blood oranges to our carbonated water and it tastes like pink lemonade. YUM!
• On weekends create a “hydration station,” where you can add fixins’ like blueberries, basil leaves, or orange wedges to your water and make up special mixtures

Hydration creation

Not the biggest fan of just chugging straight-up water? There’s tons of ways to perk it up so you can drink more water (and actually enjoy it)!

• Squeeze a little tangy lemon or lime juice in there
• Add some juicy berries, pineapple chunks, or cucumber slices
• Toss in a few refreshing mint leaves – and try growing your own in pot, it’s so easy and gardening can help you de-stress!
• Make ice cubes out 100% juice and mix ‘em in your water –just remember to count those carbs
• Fill half of you glass with sparkling mineral water
• Brew some tea—enjoy it steaming hot or stick it in the fridge overnight and add ice cubes for iced tea the next day
• Dilute 100% juice with water and fruit chunks and freeze into popsicles

Fluid-filled foods

Another simple method to sneaking in more H2O is to eat more foods that contain more liquid! Not only are these suggestions filled with mega fluids, they’re packed with nutrients, tasty as heck, and low in calories! PLUS, all of these foods boast a higher water content than watermelon; the infamous fruit named for it’s powerful hydrating properties:

Cucumber: 96% water – great as an afternoon snack
Celery: 95% water – easy to munch on!
Radish: 94% water – perfect with salads
Tomatoes: 94% water – delicious anytime sliced with a dash of salt and pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar
Cauliflower: 92% water –buy it riced, cook with a little olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper

Sensing a pattern here? These yummy crunchy veggies are delicious to the last drop. Make a big bowl of salad with ‘em and simply eat your water!