Does Infused Water Really Have Health Benefits?
There is no shortage of ideas out there to help you achieve your aims, whether this is weight loss, eating or drinking in a healthier way or boosting your metabolism. One that is getting a lot of mentions at the moment in infused water – but is it really a benefit to you?
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How much water do we need?
The first big question is how much water do our bodies need? A few years back it was all about ‘eight glasses of water a day’ but since then, this has been disproven, largely because it is too general. What you do changes how much plain water you need, the outside temperature has an effect and, like with everything else, we are all a little different.
The other thing that is often overlooked is that we get water from food – in fact, as much as 20% of our daily intake. So that means we need to get the remaining 80% from drinks but again, these don’t have to be just pure water.
Some estimates day that men need around 13 cups of water each day, so need to drink around 10.5 cups worth in one form or another. This decreases to 9 cups and 7 from drinks for women and increases a little if you are pregnant. It jumps up again for breastfeeding women to the same ratio as men.
But are there warning signs that you aren’t drinking enough? Yes, actually, the body tells you in a number of ways. Obviously, feeling thirsty can be a simple sign that you need to drink more. The colour of your urine can be another sign, though this one can be affected by medication you may be taking – darker may mean you aren’t getting enough water.
Health benefits of infused water
1. Maintain a healthy balance of body fluids
Because we are made up of so much water, we need to drink enough to maintain these levels. But what does the body use water for? Spit is one, keeping the mouth moist and clean while maintaining a healthy body temperature is another thing that we use water to do. The pituitary gland tells the kidneys how much water is needed and the rest is then dumped out as urine. So if you haven’t got enough eater in your system, your body will tell you to drink more to top it up.
2. Controlling calories
A glass of water doesn’t magically cause you to lose weight but it can help you to feel full and therefore reduce the amount of food you can eat. Also if you eat more foods that have a high water percentage, you reduce your calories intake and stay full longer – examples include broth based soups, fruits and vegetables.
3. Helps the digestive system work
Water is also crucial to get the digestive system to work by dissolving fat and soluble fibre. It is also helps to top constipation, which can happen when everything in the system is too dry. The colon grabs water from other parts of the body, everything dries up and things get difficult.
4. Makes muscles work better
Muscle needs fluids and electrolytes to work – these are substances that create a charge when in water and are crucial for the body to work properly. Included on the list of electrolytes are potassium, calcium and sodium. When we use our muscles, we need electrolytes to be replaced and water is important for doing this.
5. Water makes for healthier skin
Hydration is key to healthy looking skin though it won’t work as a miracle cure for lines or wrinkles. If you don’t get enough water, your skin becomes dry. The key to better skin is a combination of plenty of water and a moisturiser that locks the moisture in, boosting skin for longer.
6. Makes you feel better
Drinking water has been shown to make us feel refreshed and enlivened, therefore boosting our mood and overall state of mind. Mild dehydration can lead to bad moods and feeling unhappy. A lack of water can also make us feel tired and lacking in energy.
7. Helps avoid headaches
Dehydration leads to headaches so if you are prone to them, increasing your water intake could help stop the condition. And if you do find yourself with one of those nightmare headaches, then take in extra water and this might help ease the situation.
8. Improves alertness and concentration
Lack of concentration has been blamed partly on being dehydrated so if you feel like you can concentrate, then water may be a great solution. It can also boost your alertness and help improve attention span. Sugary drinks give that initial rush that makes you feel awake and alert but there’s the inevitable crash that comes. But drinking water with different ingredients in it can help boost hydration levels without the sugar issues being as severe.
What is infused water?
One of the best things about infused water is that you can use a whole host of fruits or herbs to create it, it is cheap and tastes good. You can buy some neat infusing bottles and jugs but it can easily be done in a jar or a plastic bottle so there is no special equipment needed to get started. If you plan to drink it quickly, a simple pitcher with water and ingredients in it can work perfectly. In fact, cold water transformed into flavored water is perfect for a hot sunny day!
Making it doesn’t take very long either, another benefit in our busy lives. I started with lemon infused water and filled my jug with tap water then added the lemons in sections. I left it out of the sunlight for 24 hours to get a good, strong taste and then transferred it to a glass bottle – I found leaving it in the jug didn’t work as the uncovered lemons started to rot quickly.
I’ve also tried adding lime which worked well and making one with apples that didn’t (doesn’t mean it wouldn’t for you, of course). Transferred into an air tight bottle or jar, it should last at least three days in the refrigerator.
What to infuse in water
Fruit
The classic option is to create fruit-infused water. The combination of water with fruit can be used in lots of different ways including for the nutritional benefits, as a detox water or just simply to increase water consumption. I’ve mentioned lemon water as a simple example but you can infuse almost any fresh fruits.
Vegetables
You can even test some vegetables and ingredients that you’d see more often on a salad plate. A really simple example is a cucumber water recipe – just sliced cucumber in the water. You can try different infused water combinations with this such as adding some citrus fruits to tip the flavour if you prefer fruit-flavored water.
Herbs
Using herbs is popular choice for infused waters, gaining all the benefits that different herbs contains. Place the clean and dry herbs into the jar or bottle and give them a bit of a muddle with a wooden spoon – this lets the oil in the leaves out into the water. You can add fruit as well if you like and some ice. Keep it somewhere cool and it will also keep for three days.
Creating combinations
There are plenty of ideas out there as to what you can put in your infused water. I like to keep it simple to start with, find out what works on its own then start adding more ingredients.
Look at herbs and fruits that are often paired together such as mint leaves and cucumber slices or strawberry and basil or that are complementary such as lemon with lemony herbs like lemon verbena or thyme.
Edible flowers are also used such as violas and pinks though I haven’t tried these myself. If you find the taste a bit sharp, you can add a little sugar syrup, a favourite sweetener or a touch of honey.
Conclusion
The thing about infused water is that it is easy to make, inexpensive and can have a range of health benefits, all the while giving us the water we are all told we should drink. To my mind, it’s a win-win situation – a tasty and refreshing drink in the flavours I like that could be working to help my body at the same time.
