There’s nothing better than opening a cold beverage on a hot summer day or drinking a glass of wine after a stressful week at work, but what’s even better than these too is drinking a glass of water.
Water is vital for almost every single living being on this planet, and it is especially important for us, humans. It does not provide calories or any other nutritional benefits, but we simply cannot live without it. Dehydration is quite rare in today’s world because most of what we consume and drink already has enough amounts of water.
However, just because you are consuming enough fluids to survive, does not mean you are drinking enough to keep yourself healthy. Of course, this does not mean you will have to be drinking seven or eight glasses of water every single day, that’s just a way to guide people into drinking more throughout the day.
But, this does not mean you have to give up from drinking it often. You might not need eight glasses, but you will still see numerous benefits and improvement in your health if you increase your daily intake.
The human body loses huge amounts of water every single day which means you have to constantly replenish what you are losing. The more active you are, the more you will have to consume. For example, if you are under the sun throughout the entire day, then you will probably be sweating a lot which means you will have to hydrate as often as possible.
Once you reach a level where you are losing fluids more than your intake, then you have a problem. This is when dehydration occurs and you start to see health problems.
If you want to be healthier then drinking water should definitely be one of your priorities. Here are some of the main benefits of drinking it.
The Balance of Bodily Fluids is Vital
According to the Journal of Biological Chemistry, up to 60 percent of the human adult body is made from water. The most vital organs of the body are made from more than 50 percent of water. For example, the brain and heart are more than 70 percent while the lungs are more than 80 percent. This just shows you just how hydrated you have to stay to keep all of these organs active and healthy.
You also have to take into account a bunch of other things like producing enough acid in the stomach to process food, the creation of saliva to help dissolve food, fluids to transport the nutrients through your intestines and so on. Hydrating also helps to maintain body temperature. It works in a similar way as liquid cooling is used to cool down the engines of vehicles.
The amount you intake will also amount to how much urine you need to remove from your body. Urination is a type of filtration for your entire system, especially for your kidneys. Your kidneys are the filters, but they need to be cleaned too. So, the more you drink, the more you will have to urinate, cleaning your kidneys and all the toxins that try to enter your body.
If you want an even healthier solution for your kidneys, we recommend you start drinking alkaline water which is less acidic than from the tap. You can find pitchers for alkaline water in this article.
When your body starts getting low on fluids, that is when the mind activates the mechanism for thirst. This is a feeling that all of us have to respect. So, whenever you feel thirsty, you should always listen to it and hydrate. Keep in mind, if you do not have access to water in that exact moment, you can replace it with something else such as milk, coffee, fruits, or freshly squeezed fruits. All of these products will prove to be enough to hydrate yourself while delivering a bunch of other nutrients to your body.
We advise you to avoid alcohol when you feel thirsty because it alters the communication with your kidneys and brain, making your body think that you should urinate more frequently. Frequent urination can lead to dehydration. This is why a lot of doctors recommend having a glass of water every time you are consuming alcohol. Especially if it is highly concentrated alcohol such as vodka, whiskey, bourbon, etc.
Helps with calorie intake
For those that are having trouble following a certain diet and eating too many calories in a single day, water can actually help with your control. The whole idea is that you replace all of your high-calorie liquids with this liquid that does not have any kind of nutrients or calories. This substitution will help you create a habit of avoiding everything that is high calorie.
Low calorie hydrating not only helps for substituting other liquids but with foods too. Every time you start feeling hungry, drinking a glass of liquid will make you feel food and your need to eat will reduce. Make sure you have a glass of water every time you eat a meal, you will feel full a lot faster which will make you avoid eating too many calories.
It makes your skin look good
The skin is considered to be the largest organ because it covers the entire body and it is made from several layers of different tissue. And just like any other organ in the body, it is made mostly from fluids.
So, if you do not keep your skin hydrated properly, you are increasing the chances of wrinkles or dry patches to appear. In a way, it replaces the role of moisturizers. Keep in mind, hydration can’t make all of your wrinkles magically disappear. This is something that comes naturally with age, but new wrinkles can appear because of dehydration.
Tips to drink more
To help you hydrate more often during the day, here are some tips.
- Always have a drink next to you while eating a meal
- Keep a beverage in your bag no matter where you are
- Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of fluids, so make sure you eat them often.
