Photo by Lisa Fotios
Drink plenty of water every day, it is important for your health and well-being. How many times have we all heard this? It’s extremely common, albeit as a bit of general advice. Yet we hardly pay attention to it and barely drink enough. Many of us don’t even know how much is enough!
Whenever we are told about drinking enough water, we tend to pay attention to how much we drink for a little while and then we ignore it in the long run. But worry not, it is about time you sit back, read along and understand the actual importance of water for your body and its organs, why it is necessary to drink good amounts for a healthy life, as well as some suggestions on how you can increase your intake.
Water – An Essential to the Human Body
Water enables all the systems and processes in the body to function properly. It performs a lot of tasks when inside the body, including carrying oxygen and nutrients from one cell of the body to another, flushing out toxins and bacterias from your body, normalizing blood pressure and stabilizing the heartbeat, maintaining and regulating temperature and many more.
How Much Water Should You Drink?
You must have heard about the concept of drinking 8 glasses of water in a day, but do you really need to drink 8 glasses of water? The answer is a big no! The quantity of water you should drink in a day depends on multiple factors including the environment you stay in, your physical activity in a day, your age and even your diet (apart from any illness).
Your body is bound to lose much more water if you live in hot and humid locations, work out daily, have bouts of illness, or if you are elderly. As a result, the requirement for water can vary for each individual. It is up to you to determine your water requirements and try and fulfill them.
Some common ways to determine how much water you need include checking the color of your urine – yellow color means a dehydrated body and immediate need of drinking water, light yellow means just about enough water and you should drink some sooner rather than later, while clear, uncolored urine signifies hydrated body and no more immediate requirement of water. Additionally, if you are feeling thirsty, that’s the most easily recognizable factor to determine additional water requirements by the body.
How does Water Improve Skin Health?
Water is renowned as one of the magic drinks for glowing skin. When you drink enough water in a day, all the skin cells in your body get hydrated as the water passes through the blood. All the toxins and impurities from the skin, which is also the largest gland in the body, get flushed, resulting in a fine skin tone. There are many more benefits that the skin derives from water. Some of the most common ones include:
Prevents Premature Aging: Water increases skin elasticity and keeps it moisturized for longer. The increased elasticity prevents the skin from getting sagged and ensures you don’t see wrinkles and lines prematurely.
Reduces Puffiness: Our skin can often get puffy when it does not get much water. By staying hydrated, you reduce puffiness and swelling from the skin and decrease the chances of its recurrence.
Decreases Chances of Acne: Acne is one of the worst, yet most common diseases of the skin, affecting around 40 to 50 million people in the United States. When you drink a lot of water, it balances the oil and water content and prevents excess secretion of sebum, the primary cause behind acne.
Prevents Itching: When your skin doesn’t get much moisture and is dehydrated, it tends to get dry and itchy. Besides, flakes and cracks can also develop that can cause various issues. But if you drink enough water and keep your skin moisturized and hydrated, there are fewer chances of dryness and itching.
Encourages Glow by Maintaining pH Balance: Drinking enough water each day helps in maintaining the pH balance of your skin. Balanced and hydrated skin is free of blemishes and spots, and generally glows and stays healthy for longer.
Can Water Aid in Digestion?
Water and gut health are directly connected. When your gut stays healthy, the food gets digested easily and you stay clear of common issues such as heartburn, acidity, constipation, etc. Drinking plenty of water benefits the mucosal lining of the intestines and fosters the growth r of good bacteria in the gut, ultimately making the digestion of food much easier.
Additionally, water helps in diluting waste and flushing out the toxins from the gastrointestinal tract. It combines with fiber and helps in bulking and smoothing the stool, making it easier to pass and clearing the gut completely.
Not drinking enough water during the day also results in losing out on essential electrolytes, which can further lead to diarrhea or even vomiting. But by drinking a good quantity of water each day, you can keep your electrolytes in check and avoid possible digestion issues.
Another way in which water helps your gut and aids in digestion is that it doesn’t allow gas and prevents bloating.
The Connection Between Water and Body Weight
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You will be surprised to know, but it is a well-established fact that drinking more water can help in losing weight. We must clarify that water doesn’t reduce your weight on its own, but it helps in regulating it through various ways.
Firstly, water is 100% free of calories, meaning you can drink as much without worrying about gaining calories.
Many studies have confirmed that drinking water helps in weight-loss, and around 30-59% of adults in the US adopt this strategy of drinking more water to help reduce their weight. People tend to drink more water before meals, which reduces their appetite and intake and eventually leads to weight loss. A study determined that drinking water before meals for 12 weeks resulted in nearly 4.4 lbs weight loss in adults.
Though much is said about drinking hot water for gaining more benefits, it is cold water that can be much more beneficial when it comes to weight loss. When you drink cold water, the body uses extra calories to make it as warm as your body’s temperature. Studies conducted on obese people who drank cold water daily for a few weeks found that there was a significant reduction in their BMI, body fat percentage, as well as waist circumference.
Alkaline Water and Its Benefits As An Alternate Solution
The regular water we drink has a pH level of 7. Alkaline water, on the other hand, comes with a higher pH balance, above 9. Due to its alkaline characteristics, it is deemed by experts to be a better and more beneficial alternative to regular water.
The biggest advantage that alkaline water is renowned to bring is that it can help fight acid reflux that can have a severe effect on both your physical and mental health. It does so by inactivating Pepsin, an enzyme that is the primary reason behind acid reflux.
If you want to completely swap your regular water with alkaline water, you can try the DYLN Bottle. It comes with a VitaBead Diffuser that can convert regular water into alkaline water within minutes. The bottle comes in different sizes and colors and you can mix and match according to your personality!
Conclusion
We are aware that drinking more water helps the body in multiple ways. Be it your skin health, gut health, or overall physical health through weight management, water has a crucial role to play in keeping all these aspects at an optimum level.
You should keep a balanced approach and drink the necessary amount of water each day by gauging your body’s requirements. By keeping yourself well hydrated, you are bound to avoid regular problems and live a healthy life, something we all dream about!
