Today I’m sharing one of the most basic things you can do to boost your metabolism, increase your energy, and prevent cravings, headaches, constipation and dry skin. What is it? Drink enough water!

Drinking enough water is one of the simplest, least expensive things we can do to nurture our bodies and feel our best, but most of us don’t do it, so today I’m going to arm you with some knowledge and strategies to help you stay hydrated more consistently.

I’m currently planning out my episodes and guests for season 3 and I want to know what you’d like to hear more about! Are there areas you struggle in that you need quick hacks for or want to learn more about? Do you have questions about specific topics that there is a lot of conflicting information about and you want clarity? DM me on Instagram @joliverwellness and let me know. I love hearing from you!

Interested in working with Jeannie one on one? Schedule a 30-minute Coffee Talk here.

Check out the Jeannie Oliver Wellness website or connect on social: @joliverwellness

Questions about this episode or the podcast? DM me on Instagram

Music credit: Funk’d Up by Reaktor Productions

A Podcast Launch Bestie production

Products Mentioned:

Clearly Filtered water bottles (I recommend the stainless and glass):

https://www.clearlyfiltered.com/collections/filtered-bottles

LifeStraw Stainless bottle:

https://lifestraw.com/products/lifestraw-go-series-stainless-steel-1l

The ZeroWater Glass dispenser is my 1st choice for an inexpensive table top filter:

https://zerowater.com/products/40-cup-glass-water-dispenser?pack=2&freq=1

NOW organic monkfruit sweeteners: https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/70AC46B7-5C63-42F9-A751-BF4B468EC0FB?ingress=2&visitId=b2a40322-e61d-44be-8dcb-927c520a5559&ref_=ast_bln

 Resources:

Spigt, Mark et al. “A randomized trial on the effects of regular water intake in patients with recurrent headaches.” Family practice vol. 29,4 (2012): 370-5. doi:10.1093/fampra/cmr112

Stookey JJ. Negative, Null and Beneficial Effects of Drinking Water on Energy Intake, Energy Expenditure, Fat Oxidation and Weight Change in Randomized Trials: A Qualitative Review. Nutrients. 2016;8(1):19. Published 2016 Jan 2. doi:10.3390/nu8010019

Bracamontes-Castelo G, Bacardí-Gascón M, Jiménez Cruz A. Effect of water consumption on weight loss: a systematic review. Efecto del consumo de agua sobre la pérdida de peso: revisión sistemática. Nutr Hosp. 2019;36(6):1424-1429. doi:10.20960/nh.02746

Hey everyone.

Welcome back to the Nutrition Edit podcast.

I'm so glad you joined me today.

Listen, I had a lot of messages and reactions to last week's episode

about semaglutide, so I wanted to follow up on that a little bit.

Before we get into today's episode.

One of the missions with this show for me is to arm you with the information

and the tools that you need to make educated decisions about your health.

And while there are definite benefits to taking semaglutide, I

still have some serious concerns.

So I just wanted to follow up a little bit and throw some things out there.

If you're listening to this show, you're probably someone who is more

interested in addressing the root causes of your health challenges

instead of seeking out quick fixes.

Most people who follow me are not looking for the magic pill, but the

allure of a drug like this that can deliver rapid weight loss is very

strong, and I understand how tempting that is, especially if you struggled

with your weight for a really long time.

It completely makes sense to me.

There are definitely people out there who have exhausted their resources

and need extra help to reverse insulin resistance or address the other

problems that Semaglutide can, and if that's you, I'm not as concerned

about you because you're more likely to be working closely with your doctor.

And they're probably monitoring you doing blood work, et cetera.

But for others, if you're going that d I Y route, I wanna throw some things

out here for you to think about.

So one of the concerns I discussed with Dr.

Pasek was emotional eating.

Now I think it's really, really cool that this drug actually interrupts that

sort of dopamine driven craving cycle and that people often don't want their go-to

sugar and addictive foods while using it.

And if you're taking the opportunity while on this to address any unpleasant

emotions that you may have been anesthetizing with food or sugar or

alcohol previously, you could really be on the path to positive and lasting change.

And I think that that's, A really exciting prospect.

However, my concern is that most people will not take that opportunity, especially

because the drug itself is so crazy expensive, that it may mean having to

choose between either the cost of the drug or the cost of the, you know,

therapy, um, that you might be doing.

So

there are also a lot of what ifs when it comes to relying on semaglutide long term.

So what if you don't wanna take semaglutide for the rest of your

life, or you can no longer afford it, or maybe it's no longer available.

I.

In those scenarios, it is very possible that you could find yourself right

back where you started because you haven't addressed the unresolved

trauma or emotional drivers of whatever eating habits may have helped

create a problem in the first place.

So that is a big concern of mine and there have been shortages of this drug

already for people who really need it for medical purposes because so many

people are using it for weight loss.

So if at some point the F D A or whatever body is controlling this,

decides, look, we're not gonna make this available any longer.

There are probably gonna be two routes.

A, you won't have access to it anymore, or people will only have

access to it, from dubious sources online, which is not a good idea.

So those are the what ifs that, you know, are, I think, important to think about

before you jump into this or at least have a plan for, should that be the case.

My other main concern is that if you're not diligently watching your

nutrition and tracking your body composition, meaning you're not losing

weight too fast, and that you're losing little to no lean muscle mass.

If you're not doing that, you can very easily end up losing lean

muscle mass and doing more metabolic damage than good, just like you

would on any calorie restricted diet.

And as you probably know, if you're listening to me, that is the kiss of

death muscle is your metabolic currency.

It really has everything to do with.

Not just metabolism and you know, insulin sensitivity, but your longevity.

How are you gonna age?

Are you gonna feel good?

Are you gonna maintain your mobility?

It's really, really crucial.

So we do not wanna be a losing muscle mass.

And, as you know, I am adamantly against calorie restricted diets

where we're just sort of trying to eat less and exercise more.

I just think that that is the quick road to failure in misery.

So, you, you're doing this.

Take it low and slow, go slowly.

Dr.

Pasek mentioned one to two pounds a week.

That's actually a really healthy, range, which is what I recommend

with my fat loss clients too.

No more than one to two pounds a week.

So another part of my mission in my practice and with this show is

to really help you to appreciate, nurture and respect your body.

And that is really not something that you learn by suppressing your

emotions or suppressing your appetite, denying your body the nutrition

it needs to function at its best.

And I know this firsthand because I tried to do that for two decades.

So, use the opportunity if you are taking semaglutide, ride that wave with

the lack of, you know, cravings for these sort of bsy, dopamine hit foods.

Anything that's surfacing for you that was previously being masked

by using those things really take this chance to address those things.

Lastly, you know, another really important aspect here is keep in mind

that if you haven't opened your detox pathways before starting this and before

starting to lose fat, you're gonna have these harmful toxins circulating and

potentially doing damage to your brain and tissues, and we really don't want this.

So this is why I believe so strongly that you should work with a practitioner

who really understands these things and can support you along the way.

It's also really important that you're being prescribed the drug from a reputable

pharmacy or compounding pharmacy and not getting it from a random source online.

because you really have no guarantees of what you're getting.

Is it safe, is it not?

I mean, this is something that people are injecting into their bodies.

You wanna make sure that you're getting what you think you are and that it's

safe and it's, What you think you're getting and what you're paying for.

Now, that said, not all of you're gonna have access to this kind of doctor, a

functional medicine doctor or somebody who really knows the ins and outs of this.

And if you are someone who can follow a serious detox protocol on

your own before starting the drug, if you can be disciplined about

eating nutrient dense food, getting enough protein, and maintaining your

muscle mass with resistance training.

I applaud you.

I think that that's fantastic and more power to you.

But you know, if, if that's not you, Then it's time to think about

getting some support around this.

and just jumping back too, like Dr.

Pasek said, you're likely gonna lose weight and feel a lot better just

by doing the detox protocol portion of what she was talking about.

So that's worth doing no matter what.

But if you've really struggled in the past to stick to a detox or a

nutrition protocol, that's when you should not try to go this alone.

I am not a doctor, but I absolutely can help you with prepping your body

and making sure that you're eating and exercising right while taking this.

So if you want some support around this, go ahead and book

a 30 minute Coffee Talk with me.

You can go to my website@joliverwellness.com.

Click the link in my show notes or go to the link in my bio on Instagram.

Um, you could also DM me there with questions, and then we can just chat

about your goals and challenges and see if we're a good fit to work together.

And of course, look, you don't have to work with me.

Just find someone qualified who you trust and feel comfortable with.

Just support and guide you through this so that you can take good care of your

body and soul and get the best outcome.

You deserve to feel good in your own skin.

Just make sure that you're treating your body with love and respect

it deserves in order to get there.

Okay, so now let's get into this week's quick hack episode.

So I've talked about this in my sauna sessions on Instagram, but it's such

an important subject that it's really hard to cover that in a short reel.

What am I talking about?

Hydration.

Drinking enough water.

And I'm giggling because I know that there are so many of you out there

that are just rolling your eyes and going, oh God, enough already.

I know I'm supposed to drink lots of water.

most of us do know that.

We know it's important to drink.

Plenty of water, but we don't necessarily know why or how to, especially if

we don't like water particularly.

So I'm gonna just start by saying that drinking enough water is probably the

simplest, least expensive thing that we can do to nurture our bodies and feel

better, but most of us don't do it.

So today I want to arm you with some knowledge and strategies to help

you stay hydrated more consistently.

you may be aware of some of the benefits of drinking plenty of water,

but I wanna list some of these.

just as a reminder, so water carries nutrients to our cells.

Big deal cushions are joints, so, It helps our bodies eliminate toxins and waste

moisturizes our eyes and skin, and it helps us regulate our body temperature.

It is also necessary for healthy immune and metabolic function.

And drinking enough water will reduce your risk of urinary tract

and infections and kidney stones.

it helps with cardiovascular function.

So if you're dehydrated, your blood will actually be thicker and your heart has

to work harder to pump the blood, which can result in arrhythmia or irregular

heartbeat and low blood pressure.

So if you're someone that experiences like dizziness upon standing,

that kind of thing, or your blood pressure is chronically low, then

you may need to really pay even more attention to your hydration.

So how do you know if you are dehydrated?

Well, some of the most common symptoms of dehydration are headaches.

Fatigue and constipation.

I'd say those are the top three complaints that I hear in my office, but also mood

swings, muscle cramps, body temperature fluctuations, so like hot flashes or

chills, dry mouth, bad breath, dizziness, like I mentioned before, decreased

mental and athletic performance.

So if you get brain foggy or you're having a hard time focusing or concentrating,

You might need water, and then also dry skin, hair and brittle nails.

Those are really big indicators of either dehydration and or poor fat absorption.

So, another really simple go-to way to tell if you are hydrated or not is

by looking at the color of your urine.

So if your pee is darker than a pale straw yellow color, or it's not

nearly clear, you need to drink up.

It should not be dark yellow.

It should certainly not be brown.

You wanna go for that kind of pale, pale hint of yellow.

that's kind of the sweet spot.

So pay attention to that and then definitely increase your

water intake if it's darker.

So two of the lesser known symptoms of dehydration are

sugar cravings and weight gain.

And I wanna dive into these too, because, you know, Especially after

talking about fat loss last week, this is one of the things that you can just

start with before you go spending, you know, hundreds to thousands of dollars

on a weight loss drug every month.

I think it's really crucial to start with the basic foundational pieces

and water drinking is the main one.

So dehydration triggers both thirst and hunger in the brain, which likely this

is tied to our innate drive to obtain water from our foods that we survive.

Right.

Also, if you're not hydrated enough, it's really difficult for your body

to metabolize glycogen for energy, so you'll end up craving sugar to

give your body a quick energy boost.

And so you don't wanna have to rely on that if you're, you wanna stay nice and

high hydrated so that your metabolic functions are all working optimally.

Another thing is being Dehydrated.

also leads to low serotonin levels.

So if your serotonin is low, this can trigger cravings and

prevent satiety, so you won't feel super satiated after eating.

And it can make us feel more impulsive.

So it's actually harder to say no to whatever it is that we're craving.

I have a personal little anecdote about this.

I was recently visiting my mom in California and it was really hot

down there, so I was drinking a ton of water and I thought I was

drinking plenty of water at home.

But after a couple days being there, I realized I wasn't having

any sugar cravings at all, and I hadn't even thought about it.

I don't eat much sugar, but I do love a few bites of dark

chocolate sometimes after dinner.

And when I was there, it just never even crossed my mind and I realized that it

was because I was drinking so much water and it was a really good reminder and

kind of a wake up call for me that like I'm probably not drinking enough on a

day-to-day basis because just drinking more now was completely eliminating

this desire for chocolate after meals.

So, that was a big motivator for me, and you can actually do a

little experiment with this too.

The next time that you're having a sugar craving, just drink a glass

of water and then wait several minutes before you act on that.

See what happens.

Most of the time that craving's gonna go away.

for some people it's not that quick.

So you can also track your cravings on a day-to-day basis, whether you're

just writing things down, keeping a food journal, or using an app to track.

Because then you can sort of notice the difference between your cravings

on days when you've had a lot of water and days when you haven't had as much.

That'll help you sort of connect the dots so that you can figure

out what's the sweet spot for me, and, you know, realize exactly how

much water you need to be drinking.

And I'll get to a simple formula a little bit later so you can figure that out.

So hydration plays a really, really big role in your body's ability to burn fat.

And even slight dehydration causes your body to storm fat more efficiently.

So here's the million dollar question that everyone asks.

Well, how much water do I need to be drinking?

And the simple answer to this is it depends on your weight.

So I recommend shooting for half your body weight in ounces of water.

That would mean that someone weighing 160 pounds would need about 80 ounces

of water a day or about 10 cups.

Now if you drink coffee, tea, or alcohol, these all have diuretic effects,

so you need to add more water in.

Typically about two additional cups of water for each cup of coffee or

tea or alcoholic drink that you have.

So if you're that 160 pound person that's shooting for the 80 ounces of water, You

have two cups of coffee in the morning.

You need to add an additional 16 ounces.

So that would bump you up to 96 ounces of water a day that you're shooting for.

That's gonna be that threshold that you wanna aim for.

and then just see how you feel.

You know, you might feel great and have, all the signs of being well hydrated.

None of the signs of dehydration at, you know, 80 or 84

ounces, something like that.

typically if you get close to that threshold, you're gonna be okay, but I

would just shoot for that as your minimum and then adjust accordingly from there.

During summer too, it's really easy to get dehydrated because it's hot outside.

We're sweating more.

Um, if you live here in the northwest, like I do, most of our homes do not have

air conditioning, so we are sweating more.

And then if you're doing outdoor activities, it's just really

easy to get dehydrated in summer.

And I know for many of my clients, And for myself, you know, we're not in our

regular routine at home or sitting at our desks all day, and it's easy to forget

about drinking water because we don't have those normal triggers or reminders.

Right.

often we're traveling during summer and travel is another thing that

can make it harder to drink enough water, especially if, like me, you're

trying to avoid plastic bottles.

So, What I do here is I use a refillable bottle that has a

built-in filter when I travel.

I just emp empty it out before security.

I fill it up as soon as I pass through, and then I refill it

again before I get on the plane.

Long haul flights are a little tougher because you know, you can't

just easily refill your water bottle and they're typically serving.

From a plastic bottle of some sort.

the last flight I was on, they actually had a water pitcher and they were

going around and, they had a filling station for water on the plane.

Even more important to have a filter on your bottle if you're gonna fill

that, because often those water tanks on airplanes can have molds and funky things.

And so, again, not ideal, but bottom line here is look, you

know, Do the best that you can and then don't stress out about it.

Try to avoid plastics as much as possible so that you know, when you can't avoid

them, it's just not that big a deal.

I really like the clearly filtered brands, stainless and glass bottles

because they filter out most of the common things that every filter does.

But they also filter out fluoride lead, which other brands don't.

So I'll include that link in the show notes, along with a

couple other options for you.

And I definitely wanna do a deep dive in a future episode into drinking water

specifically and water filter options.

But because I wanna keep today a short episode, I'll just say, try to drink

purified or filtered water instead of tap or out of a plastic bottle.

Whenever possible, buy yourself a nice glass or stainless steel reusable

bottle and carry it with you everywhere.

Or keep one everywhere.

So for example, I've got one in my car.

I've got one in my office, and I have a few at home because inevitably I will

forget to bring it with me, so I just keep them everywhere and then refill as needed.

I have a great, glass zero water filter here in my office, and so I just refill.

My bottle with that.

it's easy too if you have a water bottle that you know how many ounces it contains.

So for example, my water bottle I'm looking at here is a big old

40 ouncer stainless steel bottle.

And I know that if I get two of those in, I'm pretty much

hitting my mark for the day.

and that just helps me sort of measure it.

It's like, okay, have I gotten two of these yet?

Where am I at?

I'm at one and a half.

glass is a little easier.

That way because you can see how much of it you've had throughout the day.

the opaque stainless, I know for some people it's harder for

them to pay attention and know if they've been drinking enough.

So if that's, you go for one of the glass bottles, some of them have like a silicone

sheath around the outside, so if it knocks over, it's not gonna smash everywhere.

if you wanna use glass for travel, I definitely recommend

you get one of those options.

Um, and those can usually be taken off for cleaning.

So, That's my thought on the bottles themselves.

Um, another issue that I hear so often from people is that there are many

of you out there who just don't like water, and so you end up drinking

flavored or sugary beverages instead.

And this is pretty common, but I always joke that not wanting to drink

water is like not wanting to breathe.

Look, it may not be the most fun thing in life, but it is 100% necessary and you

have to do it if you want to feel good.

if you're one of these people though, here are a couple options

for you that you can try that will make drinking water more enjoyable.

So first one, try slicing.

Fruit or fresh herbs or veggies, like cucumber.

So you can do cucumbers, you can do lemons, limes, or fresh herbs.

Like I, my favorites are probably basil and mint.

And then put those into a glass pitcher of water and store it in your fridge.

It'll last longer.

and you don't want it to get funky, so definitely keep it in the fridge

and then you can just refill your water bottles from that pitcher

with your lovely infused water.

You're gonna have to change it out every third day or so, but

hopefully you're drinking it and going through it faster than that.

What I do to save time is I'll slice a bunch of lemons all at once.

Lemons are kinda my go-to just because I tend to have them on hand.

Um, Then I'll keep them in a sealed glass container so that they're ready to go

when I need them, and I can just, you know, grab a handful of them, throw 'em

in my glass pitcher, fill it with water, pop it in the fridge, it's ready to rock.

the caveat to that though is if you're using citrus, you don't wanna

drink citrus infused water before bed after you've brushed your teeth

because the acid from the citrus can actually damage your tooth enamel.

So you're better off doing that kind of, you know, during the day.

And, you know, not right after you've brushed your teeth, especially

before bed, if you do wanna drink that water after brushing, use

herbs or cucumber in it instead.

Okay.

Second option, you can try making caffeine-free herbal tea.

And drinking that either hot or chilled, whatever you prefer.

Again, here you wanna avoid caffeine or any diuretic herbs.

So like dandelion, parsley, and hibiscus can actually have diuretic effects.

You don't want that.

that's gonna cause you to lose water.

You wanna be hydrated, right?

So better options are chamomile tea, raspberry leaf, and tulsi or holy basil.

Those are really great options.

Now third, if you are a soda drinker or a diet soda drinker, I recommend

trying to transition away from that to sparkling mineral water instead of soda.

Bear with me here.

There are a couple ways to do this and make it easier.

getting off of soda is a tough thing.

It's highly addictive, and even the diet options that have no sugar can

really trigger sugar cravings for people because the brain thinks it's getting

sugar with this hyper, hyper sweet.

Sweetener product in there.

And so it's like, ah, we're getting sugar.

And that can actually increase insulin production and everything

for certain individuals.

So it is not ideal and it can really keep you on that sugar craving train.

So if you're trying to transition away from this soda by some mineral water

that you like the flavor of, and at first you may wanna add some flavored

stevia or monk fruit, I recommend some liquid organic stevia or monk fruit

look for one without erythritol, and then adding that to your sparkling

water instead of drinking the soda, now you can find these that are flavored.

So, they have different ones that are, you know, cola flavored root

beer, flavored, fruit berry, all different kinds of things out there.

And look like, you know, quote unquote natural flavors.

These things, they're not ideal, but we're going for better, right?

We're just trying to improve and move away from the artificial

sweeteners and the high fructose corn syrup or sugar in our sodas.

So this is still a much better option.

And then start by adding as much as you need to of that sweetener to the sparkling

water, and then just gradually decrease that maybe by one drop every day or every

other day until you no longer need it.

I guarantee if you went back to how much you were using

initially, it's gonna be too sweet.

Like your sweet tolerance is gonna decrease, so you're gonna need less

and less as you gradually decrease it.

Do it slowly.

That's okay.

My husband is a great example of this.

So he used to absolutely love root beer and he drank quite a lot of it.

I found a root beer flavored stevia that he started adding to sparkling

water, and he did the same thing.

He just sort of gradually reduced it, and now he just drinks plain, bubbly water.

If he wants something kind of fizzy and cold at night, he

doesn't really need to sweeten it so, I love a fizzy, bubbly water.

I love to make a nice mocktail, my favorite go-tos

that I haven't mentioned yet.

I love orange blossom water or rose water, and I'll add that to my

sparkling water and I might put a couple drops of organic monk fruit.

Um, if you're someone who doesn't like that aftertaste, that stevia can

have, monk fruit is a better option.

It doesn't have that.

It's subtler, it's not quite as sweet, so you might need a little more initially.

but that's what I prefer.

I think it's the now brand, organic liquid mon fruit that I use.

I'll link it for you guys, but yeah, I love to put that in a

sparkling water with a little orange blossom or rose water, maybe some

bitters and it's just delicious.

I might garnish it with a little slice of lime or something in a pretty

glass, and it, it's really special.

So that's something that you can do too.

To increase your water intake.

that said, don't rely on carbonated or sparkling water for your hydration.

Okay?

A little of that, you know, maybe one cup a day or something is fine, but the bulk

of your water needs to be non-carbonated.

Um, and yeah, you want to have the most hydrating.

Ideally, alkaline water and carbonated water is slightly acidic, so, Don't rely

on that for your sole source of hydration.

and then one last thought on this, don't substitute juices for water, fruit juice.

Is really high in sugar and it doesn't have any fiber in it

to kind of buffer that sugar.

So it's best to avoid it completely.

You know, if you're using unsweetened cranberry juice, you

wanna put a splash of that just to give your water a little flavor.

Okay, great.

But I really wouldn't use any sweet juices.

veggie juice can have less sugar, but you're still better off eating

a whole veggie than juicing it.

so definitely don't substitute juice for water or soda.

try one of the other tips.

So I hope you found that helpful.

Let me know.

I'd love to hear from you if you try any of these tips, if

you make any of these changes.

What did you notice when you were tracking your hydration and cravings?

Let me know.

Best way to get in touch with me.

Shoot me a DM on Instagram.

I'm at j Oliver Wellness, and you can put podcast or nutrition edit in the subject.

And that way I'll be sure I'll know that you're not spamming me and I'll check

it and get back to you as soon as I can.

But yeah, let me know what you try and how it works for you and what you've learned.

I hoped this was helpful for you and that you, have some good takeaways from this

and you're more motivated to drink water.

Also, I am currently planning out episodes and guests for season three of the

nutrition edit, and I would love to hear from you about, you know, subjects you

wanna learn more about, different guests you'd love to have on the show, or, Areas

that maybe you're struggling with or more quick hacks episodes you'd love to hear.

Do you have any questions about specific topics where there's a

lot of conflicting information out there and you just want clarity?

Let me know.

I'd love to hear from you.

Same thing.

DM me.

Instagram is the easiest spot to get me.

And yeah, just let me know.

Let me know what you wanna hear about and we'll put it together.

So I hope you enjoyed this today.

Thanks for joining me, and we will see you soon.