When making changes to your diet, it is also a good time to increase your water consumption. Water is incredible for our health and when we are going through withdrawal, we need much more of it.
We could not survive more than a few days without water and this should make it clear how important water is.
Not only does an insufficient supply of water create problems with the functioning of the body and mind, it can also influence how we feel emotionally. Because Sensitive people are often on overload, from experiencing heightened emotions, our filtering systems don’t always work as efficiently as they should, and toxins stay in the body longer than they should. And, due to the fact the body is fighting with an excess of toxins, its equilibrium becomes affected. We need a lot of water. Water helps flush out the toxins and helps keep us balanced and emotionally stable. This is especially important when removing wheat and sugar from the diet.
The body is comprised of seventy-five percent water (some body tissue has ninety-five percent), so it should
come as no surprise that we need to drink lots of it to promote proper brain function, detoxify the body and stay healthy. When the body is out of balance through dehydration the brain is negatively impacted. Thoughts can become darker and one can become easily irritated.
Many are unaware just how dehydrated they are. An insufficient supply of water creates problems with the functioning of the body and mind. It also affects well-being and accelerates the aging process.
Breathing alone loses a quarter of the body’s water on a daily basis. If you allow yourself to get dehydrated you are more prone to suffering anxiety and panic attacks and you may have low-level energy.
It can be difficult to know how much water we should be drinking. Every person’s body is different, as is their water requirements, but aiming between six to eight pints a day is a good start (drank through the day, as opposed to the evening, so you’re not kept up at night with bathroom visits).
A sign that you are not consuming enough water, can be seen externally as wrinkly or tissue-like skin, dry mouth, lips and eyes. Mild dehydration can cause headaches, dizziness, brain fog and fatigue. It may also lead to muscle weakness and a lack of stamina. Ongoing dehydration causes constipation, problems with the functioning of the kidneys and liver, and muscle and joint damage.
Dehydration also causes emotional stress, something Sensitive people already have too much of. Drinking plenty of water whilst enduring any type of stress, significantly reduces its negative effect on the body and mind. Water also helps diffuse and dilute negative energy
picked up from others. It keeps the physical body strong and acts as a buffer to unpleasant energy.
Drinking water also helps ward off depression and low moods. Everyone should drink at least
six large glasses of pure water each day to replenish what the body loses through sweating and urination. The heavier you are, and the more you sweat, the more water you should consume. As a general rule, if you are thirsty you are already dehydrated.
In a bid to stay hydrated, it is necessary to keep an eye on our mineral levels. When we consume high amounts of water, or sweat profusely, sodium and essential minerals are flushed from the body. When increasing water consumption, we should also increase our salt intake. But all salts are not created equal, at least not those bought in the supermarkets. The only mineral rich salt suitable for safe human consumption is either unrefined rock or sea salt and they must be organic.
Organic, unrefined salt is crystalline in structure and can easily be absorbed by the body. This is because the blood has a crystalline structure. Unrefined salt is packed with essential minerals vital for good health. My favorite is Himalayan crystal rock salt, which has the full spectrum of 84 trace minerals and elements (regular table salt has only 4). You can safely add this to your food, or allow a small particle to dissolve on the tongue, before slowly drinking a pint of clean fresh water.
When you increase your water intake, you quickly see an improvement in your physical and mental well-being. You also find your natural thirst develops, which ensures you stay adequately hydrated.
By drinking lots of lovely water, it helps flush out anything that doesn’t get removed by the body being on ‘high alert’ – or on emotional overload – and thus aids in keeping the energy body strong. A strong energy body helps keep us protected from the emotional energy of others. It also helps keep the physical body strong, which in turn acts as a shield to any external unpleasantries.
Water not only feeds all the body’s cells but acts as a buffer and cleanser of negativity.
Apart from staying well hydrated, one of the easiest ways to see water’s powerful cleansing effect is to jump in the shower straight after coming home from work or after time spent in peopled places, and see the uplifting effect it has. For maximum energy-cleansing-benefits, make sure the crown of the head goes under the shower (which means getting the hair wet). If you’re not a shower person, a bath works equally well.
Water really is an easy elixir for all Empaths and HSPs. We need lots of the stuff to help us stay healthy, happy and grounded.
Drinking water also helps ward off depression and low moods. F. Batmanghelidj, M.D., author of ‘Your Body’s Many Cries for Water’,
says in his book:
“Pathology that is seen to be associated with social stresses—fear, anxiety, insecurity, persistent emotional and matrimonial problems—and the establishment of depression are the results of water deficiency to the point that the water requirement of brain tissue is affected
.”
He writes: “With dehydration, the level of energy generation in the brain is decreased. Many functions of the brain that depend on this type of energy become
inefficient. We recognize this inadequacy of function and call it depression.”
During stressful periods or times of change, such as starting a new exercise regime or changing your diet, it is even more important to keep your water levels high. Doing so will help keep you balanced and grounded and build a stronger defense against any overwhelm you may experience.