Humans Need Water
Water is an essential nutrient because it is required in amounts greater than what your body can produce. It is needed for the body to function, but it isn’t always top of mind.
Beyond that, water isn’t always what we want to drink.
Aside from being essential for life, water, in the right amounts, has many other benefits such as helping with digestion, flushing the body of waste, and helping nutrients circulate throughout the body.
It helps regulate body temperature, keeps joints lubricated, and supports all organs in the body.
This includes the brain, and it can help you stay focused while warding off headaches associated with dehydration.
Like we said, it’s essential!
Do not wait until you feel thirsty; that is a sign of dehydration which can be of particular concern in the hot summer months, especially among pregnant and lactating women who can be at greater risk for dehydration.
Let’s Talk Pregnancy And Lactation
While carrying or feeding a baby is a critical time to stay hydrated. It's also a time that isn’t easy to remember to drink throughout the day.
It is a time when we tend to give up some of our favorite drinks - coffee, tea, sodas - all of which contribute to our water needs, but also give us unwanted caffeine, calories, sugar, and/or artificial flavors and ingredients.
Per the Institute of Medicine (IOM), pregnant women need to drink 10 (8oz) glasses of water per day.
During pregnancy, plasma volume expands due to significant increases in maternal red cell production. This leads to increased needs of iron and water, among other nutrients.
The recommendation increases to 13 (8oz) glasses per day during breastfeeding. Water, juices, and fruits all contribute to daily fluid intake.
So how can we maximize the benefits of water and the need for good hydration the best and easiest way possible?
Let’s combine electrolytes (essential nutrients that help lock water into the body) with our water and make it taste good! Oh, and don’t give me excess sugar and calories!
Electrolytes, Like Water, Need To Be Replaced Daily
Foods help – mostly fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, peaches, cantaloupe, oranges, and salad greens such as lettuce and cucumbers.
The water and electrolyte content will vary, and, of course, how much lettuce can be pound down at once.
This gets us back to the importance of drinking water and with a splash of electrolytes.
Why just a splash?
We aren’t talking recovery from athletic performance nor from running a marathon 6 months pregnant (which we would never recommend).
We are talking regular, daily, safe, tasty ways to replenish and stay hydrated.
Something you can do throughout your day without worrying if you are consuming too much electrolytes, sugar, or calories.
And you can also take it with a Prenatal vitamin (of course, with all supplements, check with your doctor before use).
Calcium And Magnesium - What Do They Do?
You know that calcium and magnesium support bone health and that, when pregnant, baby takes all the calcium it needs from mom.
But did you know that both of these nutrients are electrolytes too?
Like the challenge of getting adequate water, calcium is challenging to get enough in the diet to keep mom replete during a time that the demand for calcium increases (quick fun fact: pregnancy and teenage years require the most calcium).
U.Siip provides a level of calcium that can be consumed throughout the day to help lock water in and give mom back some calcium she is losing during this time.
But nutrients don’t work alone – they work together, thus Magnesium is in U.Siip as a partner electrolyte and supporter of the bones and immune system.
What About Sodium And Potassium?
Sodium and potassium are tied at the hip and work nicely together to regulate the body’s water balance while supporting muscle contraction, including our heart muscle and rhythm.
So, why does sodium get a bad rep and potassium a good rep when they are both essential to life?
It is easy to get too much sodium in the typical American diet, and it is difficult to get the potassium we need in the same diet, but both help lock in water in the body.
U.Siip provides a splash of sodium with 100mg of potassium per one serving. To put this in perspective – 2 servings / day provide the amount of potassium in ½ a cup of cantaloupe or about 50% of that found in a banana.
As found in nature, levels of sodium are naturally low in foods that are high in potassium and thus U.Siip mirrors this.
Electrolytes Have Many Functions
They are critical to all cells in the body to generate energy and yet they are lost regularly through sweat and urine, as well as in breastmilk among lactating women.
Combine this with hot temperatures, increased physical activity, forgetting to drink during the day, avoiding cues from our body such as thirst and headaches, and we have dehydration.
This can escalate quickly especially among those who are higher risk such as pregnant and lactating women, as well as children and the elderly.
Life Is About Balance
Water is essential to life - too much isn’t good, but rather a regular intake throughout the day with lower levels of key electrolytes supports this balance which supports proper functioning of the body and overall wellness.
What can make balance harder to maintain, are things that tip us in the wrong direction such as high sugar intake and calories.
This may increase our need for water but we may not notice our body’s cues.
High sodium intakes can create a greater need for potassium which is already hard to get in the diet and often high sodium foods are very low in potassium to begin with.
U.Siip intentionally doesn’t contain high levels of electrolytes but rather a ratio and balance of 4 electrolytes. U.Siip intentionally doesn’t provide artificial sweeteners for moms.
U.Siip is a clean, lean water replenisher designed for moms who are eating (and drinking) for two either during pregnancy or lactation.
At 20 calories a serving, U.Siip provides 4 grams of pure organic cane sugar for a slight sweet touch, to support energy but avoid excess calories.
Here To Support Mom’s Journey At The Most Basic Level And Beyond
U.Siip is designed to encourage moms to drink and optimize the nutrients they get from their diet. Staying hydrated keeps things moving in the body - delivering nutrients you need and getting rid of what you don’t need.
References
Dietary reference intakes for water, potassium, sodium, chloride, and sulfate. (2005).
nap.edu/catalog/10925/dietary-reference-intakes-for-water-potassium-sodium-chloride-and-sulfate
World Health Organization. Iron Deficiency Anaemia: Assessment, Prevention, and Control . World Health Organization, 2001.
National Institutes of Health. Office of Dietary Supplements Iron - Health Professional Fact Sheet (nih.gov)
Aggett PJ. Iron. In: Erdman JW, Macdonald IA, Zeisel SH, eds. Present Knowledge in Nutrition. 10th ed. Washington, DC: Wiley-Blackwell; 2012:506-20.