June 22, 2016 · Written by Foodtolive Team
Why Drinking Enough Water is Crucial for Staying Healthy
Everybody knows that while food deprivation can last for weeks, it’s possible to survive only three days without drinking water. Water builds up the main part of your brain, your blood, and lean muscle. Up to 80% of a human body is made up of water and the necessary amount needs to be constantly replenished. So, it’s no surprise that drinking enough water daily is vital for your health.
Health Benefits of Drinking Enough Water
Water ensures healthy blood circulation and makes the blood liquid enough to flow through the vessels, carries nutrients and oxygen to your cells, and thus boosts your metabolism and helps your organism get rid of the waste products effectively. In addition to drinking a sufficient amount of water, it’s a good idea to diversify your diet with the best detox foods which will increase this useful effect.
Water also has a protective function. It’s crucial for proper movement as it lubricates the joints, makes muscles elastic, and moisturizes your skin which helps it resist weather changes and other kinds of stress. It covers your eyes and mouth cavity with a softening layer preventing it from drying.
As it was mentioned above, water builds up a significant part of a brain, so continuous dehydration can remarkably influence your mental health, cognitive abilities, memory, and mood.
Finally, water is a perfect temperature regulator as it helps you cool down through sweating when it’s hot.
Main Symptoms of Dehydration
Here is a list of some widespread symptoms that can serve as signals of this problem:
- frequent dryness in the mouth
- strong and constant thirst
- dizziness
- sunken eyes
- dry and cracked skin
- low blood pressure
- too rapid heartbeat
- headaches
- sleepiness during the day
- low level of energy
- increased level of irritation
- unconsciousness in the most severe cases
If any of these problems bothers you, it’s essential to try increasing your daily water intake. Also, remember that some of the symptoms can be caused by serious diseases. So, if you have the slightest hesitation regarding this, visiting a doctor will be the best decision.
What Can Cause Dehydration
Of course, the most common reason to be named is the insufficient water intake. However, drinking more water won’t always solve the problem. The thing is that your body doesn’t only need to get enough water, it also must process it successfully. It processes the water with the help of electrolytes and if you quickly increase the water intake, the necessity for more electrolytes will also rise. So, be sure to maintain a proper level of sodium in your blood if you start to consume more water. Otherwise, you can simply swell and get problems instead of benefits.
The risk of dehydration rises during hot seasons, in case of excessive sweating while being ill, taking some medications, food poisoning, and a high level of stress. Aged people, diabetics, people with kidney diseases, and endurance athletes are also more vulnerable to dehydration.
In order to avoid possible inconveniences and hazards and enjoy your life at full range you should follow several simple guidelines on how to stay hydrated and drink healthy.
Helpful Guidelines on Staying Hydrated
- Determine your daily healthy amount of water.
Although an average recommended amount is about 1,5 liter (0,4 gallons) per day, it can vary significantly depending on your personal features, constitution, metabolism level and so on. Note, that in summer you need more water to stay hydrated. If you have any doubts regarding the amount of water you should drink daily, you can always consult a professional nutritionist to figure it out. - Drink a couple of glasses of water in the morning.
Drinking some water right after you got up and at least 30 minutes before taking a meal will activate your digestive system and help you organism ‘switch’ to the daytime mode naturally and quickly. Develop a healthy water drinking schedule that will fit your needs as well as be convenient for you. - Always have a bottle of water with you.
Drinking at first demand is one of the healthy habits you have to develop. It’s important to drink as soon as you feel thirsty so taking a bottle of water with you wherever you go will help you avoid unpleasant symptoms of dehydration.
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- Choose the best water.
It’s better to choose bottled water but you can also use the tap water if it goes through a quality filter. - Flavor your water.
If drinking a lot of water doesn’t seem tasty enough for you, it’s a good idea to add some cooling or refreshing substances to your water like a slice of lemon or lime and a few mint leaves. In addition to making your water tastier, this will provide you with essential vitamin C and enhance detoxifying processes in your organism. - Drink enough water during workouts.
Exercises increase water loss even more so you’d better make sure that you drink sufficiently before, after, and during the breaks in your training. Having a meal rich with proteins and carbohydrates after your exercising will help you prevent water loss and stay hydrated. - Avoid drinking alcohol.
Alcohol has a couple of drastic effects on your organism including dehydrating. In addition, it ruins your brain cells and damages the functioning of the most essential organism systems. - Develop a special diet.
In addition to drinking enough water, you can benefit from including the fruits and vegetables that consist of 90% and more water in your diet.
Foods With a High Water Content
To stay hydrated and receive necessary vitamins and minerals at the same time, you should complete your healthy daily water intake with the diet based on fruit, vegetables, and greens.
This list includes:
- Fruit and berries, like grapefruits, strawberries, pineapples, watermelons, raspberries, peaches, etc.
- Vegetables and greens, like cucumbers, zucchini, radish seeds, tomato, lettuce, celery, spinach, etc.
Although they can provide you with only 20% of your daily need of water, it’s an essential amount because it comes with the valuable nutrients that enrich your organism and help it process the consumed water easily.
