Drinking more water every day is a crucial step to maintaining kidney health long-term. With sufficient water intake, we reduce the concentrations of waste products in our kidneys, ultimately promoting healthy kidney function.
But with our busy lives, the trick is remembering to drink more water.
Many health resources recommend that adults drink about two liters (eight glasses) daily. If you’re not meeting this goal, there are a number of simple techniques to get you on track. Below, we’ve rounded up five of our favorite life hacks to make drinking more water easy, and even fun, every day.
Use a Marked Water Bottle
This is one of the simplest and most popular methods for drinking more water – all you need is a reusable water bottle and a permanent marker.
Let’s say you’re determined to drink two liters of water during the day, and you’re awake for 16 hours every day. That’s 125mL of water every hour. So for every 125mL on your bottle, write down a time target in permanent marker. (To visualize how this works, here are some examples from Pinterest.) Nalgene bottles work well because of their size, portability, and the fact that they come with volume markings already etched on.
Drink a Glass Before Every Meal or Snack
Most of us have a much easier time fitting snacks and meals into our daily routine than glasses of water. So all you have to do is tie them together. About to get up from your desk and grab a cookie from the break room? Don’t let yourself do it until you’ve had a glass of water first. About to head out for lunch? Don’t place your order until you’ve had your water. This technique only takes a few extra minutes of your time while adding several glasses of water to your daily intake.
Use Water Tracking Apps
Sometimes will power needs a boost. These are just some of the many water tracking apps out there that will help you stay on top of your daily drinking goals.
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- Waterlogged (free, iOS)
- Waterminder ($1.99, iOS and Android)
- iDrated ($0.99, iOS)
- Water Drink Reminder (free, Android)
- Aqualert (free, iOS and Android)
Compete with Friends
If you need a little extra motivation to stick to a new water routine, you can make it a competition with friends or family. Set daily goals for yourselves and track who hits his or her goal for the most consecutive days. The winner’s prize can be whatever works for your group – anything from being treated to dinner to the simple pride of achieving an important health goal.
Add Some Flavor
Let’s face it: drinking glass after glass of plain still water can get a little old. But flavored and sparkling waters also count towards your water intake, so why not take advantage? Here are some ideas to make your water routine more interesting and easy to follow:
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- Infuse your water with low-oxalate fruits such as strawberries, nectarines, or blueberries. Just chop up your fruit of choice and let it sit in a covered pitcher of water in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Try sparkling waters and flavored seltzers.
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- With these techniques, you’ll find that drinking more water will transform from a difficult chore to an easy routine. You should start to feel the results: higher energy and a more manageable appetite. You will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re taking a necessary step for happy, healthy kidneys in the long run.
By increasing your water intake while also following other kidney health measures, such as the low-oxalate diet, you can rest assured that you’re building strong, nutritious dietary habits that your body will thank you for.