The elixir of life and why the bleep aren't we getting enough of it?

On my way back from South Africa, I had an 11 hour flight to Frankfurt and it really made me realize how  truly chronically dehydrated everyone is!  My co-passenger didn’t get up ONCE to go to the bathroom. To me this is crazy, mostly because of the large contrast between my use and his. I went at least 5 times plus again after I landed. The funny thing is I actually drank a little less than normal because I slept almost half the time. I casually observed the bathroom use after my nap (I was seated at the first row of economy so half the plane had to pass me to go)  and the ratio of passengers to bathroom use was very low even thought there were messages constantly displayed reminding everyone to drink liquids and stretch during the flight to avoid dehydration and uncomfort. Although it mayy seem weird that I was observing bathroom habits, it's really something of an issue in our society and after all I am a sociologist in training!

It's especially worse in planes because the air is so dry and being in that sort of closed environment is taxing on the body (and if you don’t like airplane food, actually a great time to do a little fasting). This means that if you don't drink water on a flight, especially a long one, you will feel worse for wear afterwards and even worse if you add jetlag to the mix. So why not just drink down a few botttles of (free) water in flight and avoid all that?

Although we're constantly reminded that drinking water is vital to good health, most people find it a chore to drink their recommended 8 glasses (or 1.2 liters) a day and frankly even that isn't enough. Everyone has some sort of excuse. But how about this: water is life. It's what we are principally made of and without it we cannot possibly expect to be at the peak of our health! So drinking that water (and really, the only other good source of water is fruit and veg, soft drinks and coffee don't cut it) will make you feel and look healthier, will help you lose weight and improve your everyday life.

Small changes makes big differences and everyone has their own pace to make the changes for better health and everything that comes with it. To help me drink water throughout the day I carry around a metal bottle that I constantly refill, I carry it even when I'm at home. It becomes second nature after a while and now I'm consistantly drinking well over 2 liters a day, On a good day over 3!

So get guzzling people, trust me it's allll worth it!