World Water Day - Use Less and Drink More

Water is considered the most important resource on the planet - creating life as we know it.  It’s hard to imagine a life without access to clean water for our daily needs.  The CDC estimates that globally, more than 785 million people did not have access to at least basic water services* and more than 884 million people did not have safe water to drink.

Your body uses water for almost everything it does. It’s important for healthy skin, hair and nails. It also helps regulate body temperature, lubricate joints, flush waste and reproduce cells. In fact, water makes up approximately 60% of the adult human body.  

It is a true gift that we live with access to clean water and water facilities.  So how can we use less water and drink more of it? Today, on World Water Day, we look at the benefits of staying hydrated, its importance for type 2’s specifically and express our gratitude for clean public water services. 

Use Less

Volusia County in Flordia compiled a bunch of great tips and tricks for saving water this year! Here are our top 5 favorite water saving tips:

1. Shorter showers - A typical shower uses five to ten gallons of water a minute. Limit your showers to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rise off.
2. Install water-saving shower heads or flow restrictors - they are easy to install yourself and can cut your consumption down by half!
3. Check your tank! - Put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the coloring begins to appear in the bowl., you have a leak that may be wasting more than 100 gallons of water a day.
4. Wash dishes smarter - If you have two sinks, fill one with rinse water. If you have only one sink, first gather all your washed dishes in a dish rack, then rinse them quickly with a spray device or a pan of water.
5. Is your grass actually thirsty? Watering on a regular schedule doesn't allow for cool spells or rainfall which reduce the need for watering. Step on some grass. If it springs back up when you move your foot, it doesn't need water.

Drink More

The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is: About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men. About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women. But this can be a difficult number to reach especially for people who don’t love the natural taste of water.  

Add natural flavors by adding fruit, vegetables and fresh herbs to your water.  If you let this sit overnight in a pitcher or fill your water bottle at the beginning of the day, you can enjoy deliciously flavored water all the time! Fruit / Vegetables we love to add include: strawberries, lemon, lime.  For fresh herbs try some mint, or basil!

If you want even more variety there are so many caffeinated and non-caffeinated teas that are herbal or fruit based! These are great for type 2’s because they are naturally calorie free and 100% water! Your body will thank you.

We also get fluid from the food we eat, especially from fruit and veg. Load up each meal with plenty of vegetables (half of your plate) to stay hydrated and get the important vitamins and minerals you need!

Water importance for Type 2’s

People with type 2 diabetes should be avoiding sugary drinks of all kinds and even diet sodas making water and tea our number one choice for hydration.  Drinking water helps to rehydrate the blood when the body tries to remove excess glucose through urine.

A 2011 study suggested that when water intake is increased, this could prevent or delay the onset of hyperglycemia and subsequent diabetes. Participants that consumed more than one liter of water per day had a 28 percent lower risk of developing new onset hyperglycemia, compared to those drinking less than 500ml of water per day.

Get involved this World Water Day!

UN Water has made the theme for this year's WWD Groundwater - Making the Invisible Visible. The theme focuses on the importance of groundwater especially as we battle climate change. If you want to get involved this WWD you can participate in their one minute challenge by making a short video! 

Shoot a 60 second video and share… How does groundwater affect your life? Is there enough? Is it safe? What needs to be done to protect groundwater? Share your groundwater story!

Make your film…

• One minute max.
• Landscape orientation.
• Civil and truthful.
• In English or with English subtitles.

Don’t forget to include the hashtags #MyGroundwaterStory & #WorldWaterDay, upload to YouTube or Vimeo, and send the link at mygroundwaterstory@un-igrac.org. You can find more details on the website and feel free to share your videos to our free diabetes support group: Winning Type 2 Diabetes Together to share what water means to you! Try to incorporate some of our water saving tips into your home and enjoy the three liters you drink every day!