Tips to Increase Water Consumption

We all know the old adage that you should drink 8 glasses of water each day, but how do you do it?

Infused Water

Many people struggle to drink enough water because they just don’t like the taste of it. Infused water is a great option to add some flavor without adding sugar or caffeine. My favorite additions are mint, peaches, and strawberries, but most berries and citrus fruits infuse well, along with basil and cucumbers. Your produce can be added loose in the water, although there are many water bottles and pitchers on the market with special inserts to strain the water and keep you from drinking the solid sections of the produce.lemon-lime infused water

Use an App

There are some great smartphone apps that help you determine your proper water intake needs and will track and remind you to drink. My favorite is Hydro Coach (currently only on Android, but coming soon to ios). You can set your weight, lifestyle and current weather for the app to calculate how much water you need or override it with your own goal. You then set what time you are available to drink and want to receive notifications.  It tracks both your water intake and where you should be on a circular graph, so you can see where you stand for the day.

Hydro Coach ScreenshotGet Reminders

Sometimes you just need a reminder to drink, which you can get from apps like mentioned above. But there are also smart water bottles with built in reminders and Ulla, which can attach to any cup or water bottle. The smart detection sensors remind you to hydrate at least once per hour. The flashing light is annoying enough that you want to drink to turn it off.

 

What’s your favorite tip to increase your water consumption?