Benefits of Drinking Water
Jul 08, 2022
I love water and I do drink a lot of it but you really have to be intentional about it! Here are some benefits to drinking water. You can also watch the Facebook Live that I did about it here!
Did you know that more than half of our body weight is composed of water?
75% of your brain is water
83% of your blood and carries nutrients to your cells
22% of your bones
75% of your muscles
How much water should you drink? It is recommended that each of us to drink half our body weight in ounces. If you drink coffee or caffeinated drinks, you need to add 8 oz per caffeinated drink.
An easy way to get your daily water requirement is to measure it out first in the morning. You can get one large container and fill it up with the amount of water you need and then pour it into a glass and drink until it is empty. Or you can get 3 or 4 water bottles (or however many it takes to get the amount you need), fill them up, and when all the bottles are empty, you're done!
I also find that drinking my water through a straw allows me to drink faster. So give that a try.
You can add essential oils to the water for some flavor. I add lemon oil to mine, but you can also add fruits or lemon or lime juice.
Here are a few of the benefits of drinking water:
1. Cuts calories and helps with weight loss
If you drink 1-2 glasses of water before your meals, it will help you to eat less. It's better to drink before a meal than during or right after because it will dilute the stomach acid.
2. Detox your body
Water flushes out toxins in your body through your sweat and urine, reducing the risk of things such as kidney stones and urinary tract infections.
3. Healthier, better-looking skin
Water moisturizes the skin while preventing and treating scars, breakouts, and wrinkles. It does this by eliminating toxins in the body and restoring skin tissues, making skin look fuller, healthier, and younger.
4. Helps with headaches and migraines
Drinking water can help relieve headaches and migraines, which are indications of dehydration. If our brains are made up of 75% water, not drinking enough water will affect our focus and mind connections, impacting our mood, focus, and ability to think clearly.
5. Prevent muscle and joint pain
Aching muscles and joints can be a sign of dehydration. Drinking more water can keep the aches and pains away, and prevent your muscles from getting tired during a workout. Our muscles are composed of 75% water, so not enough, will cause leg cramps as well as poor performance.
6. Aids digestion and constipation
Drinking water helps the body break down food properly and improves the flow of our intestines, which is key to digesting food and preventing constipation.
According to Business.fit, approximately 75% of people are chronically dehydrated, even if they are not physically active. It doesn't take much to become dehydrated. The average adult loses approximately ten cups of water each day from sweating, eliminating waste, breathing, and other routine functions. We lose about two cups of water just by breathing alone. Even becoming mildly dehydrated (1 to 2% of your body weight) can affect your body's ability to function effectively.
It's important to identify chronic dehydration and take steps to reverse the condition. When the water in our body becomes scarce, the body limits the amount it loses through breathing, which includes the production of mucous, less frequent urination, decreased amounts of perspiration, and less frequent bowel movements and constipation. Other symptoms include:
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Headache, dizziness, or lightheadedness
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Dry, itchy skin
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Acne
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Nose bleeds
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Repeated urinary tract infections
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Dry, unproductive coughs
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Constant sneezing
Dr. Colbert wrote a great book called The 7 Pillars of Health, and in one of the chapters, he goes into great detail on the importance of water.
A person can survive only three to five days without water. Once the body is deprived of fluids, the cells and organs in the body begin to deteriorate. A person can go a long time without food, but water is much more essential.
Love yourself and your body, and drink some water.
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