Why You Should Be Drinking Water | Health Benefits of Drinking Water

by | Mar 16, 2017 | Holistic Nutrition

Why You Should Be Drinking Water

More than any other beverage, water should be your number one liquid consumption throughout the day. Why? There are many benefits to drinking water.

Water is one of the most important substances on earth.

All plants and animals need it to survive. If there was no water on earth there would be no life. We can go for weeks without food, but only 3 days without water! It makes up two thirds of human body weight. Water can be a cure for many common symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, joint pain, constipation, indigestion, weight gain, fluid retention, dark and pungent urine, and their associated pathologies (colitis, kidney stones, bladder and urinary tract infections and much more.)

A mere 2% drop in our body’s water supply can trigger signs of dehydration: day time fatigue, fuzzy short-term memory, trouble and difficulty focusing. An estimated seventy-five percent of Americans have mild, chronic dehydration. 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

Did you know that: “One glass of water shut down hunger for almost 100%of the dieters” according to one University of Washington study.

Dry mouth is not the only indication of dehydration, it is the last sign. You need to acquire the habit to drink water even when you think you don’t need it and eventually your true thirst mechanisms will be reawakened.

All the cell and organ functions that make up our entire anatomy and physiology depend on water for their functioning.

 Benefits of Drinking Water

  • Water serves as a lubricant in digestion and almost all other body processes.
  • It also lubricates our joints and cartilages and allows them to move more fluidly. Less lubrication equals greater friction and that can cause joint, knee and back pain, potentially leading to injuries and arthritis.
  • Water is also essential for proper digestion, nutrient absorption and chemical reactions.
  • It transports waste material out of our bodies and helps to remove toxins from the body, particularly from the digestive tract.
  • Water is also essential for proper circulation in the body.
  • The levels of oxygen in the bloodstream are greater when the body is well hydrated. The more oxygen the body has readily available the more fat it will burn for energy. Without the presence of oxygen in the bloodstream, the body cannot utilize stored fat for energy efficiently. Not only does your body burn more of your fat stores when well hydrated, but the increased oxygen levels will give you more energy too.
  • Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in it can actually reduce fat deposits.
  • Consistent failure to drink enough water can lead to Chronic Cellular Dehydration. This is a condition where the body’s cell are never quite hydrated enough, leaving them in a weakened state and vulnerable to attack from disease. Dehydration weakens the body’s overall immune system and leads to chemical, nutritional and pH imbalances that can cause a host of other diseases.

Your body loses each day about 2-3 litters of water through elimination, urination, perspiration and respiration. However, this amount may increase during illness, high performance, exercise, pregnancy and nursing.

Sugary Drinks Don’t Hydrate You (Water Does!)

The beverages most people choose to consume are often counter-productive in promoting hydration.

Coffee, tea, alcohol, soft and sugary drinks are all diuretics and will cause not only the loss of water, but they will also diminish the body’s water reserves. In normal conditions, your body needs to replace the fluids it has lost throughout the day. Most fluids should be replaced by drinking pure water. The rest you should get from fruit, vegetables, and their juices.

It is difficult for the body to get water from any other source than water itself. Soft drinks and alcohol steal tremendous amounts of water from the body. Other beverages such as coffee and tea are diuretics and steal precious water from the body.

Moreover, there is no health reason to drink sports drinks: “Most experts agree that water works better than carbohydrates or sugared beverages for moderate exercise.”

Why You Should Drink Water Instead of Soft Drinks

  • Soft drinks are diuretics which takes away more water than it provides to the body. The high amounts of sugar in soft drinks causes “sugar crash” because your pancreas has produce an abundance of insulin. Chronic elevation and depletion of sugar and insulin can lead to diabetes and other imbalance related diseases.
  • The elevated levels of phosphates in soft drinks leach vital minerals from your body. Soft drinks are made with purified water that also leaches vital minerals from your body. Lack of minerals can lead to heart disease (lack of magnesium), osteoporosis (lack of calcium) and many other diseases.
  • Soft drinks can remove rust from a car bumper or other metal surfaces, just imagine what they can do to your digestive tract as well as the rest of your body!
  • Soft drinks severely interfere with digestion. Caffeine and high amounts of sugar shut down the digestive process. That means your body is not able to take in ANY nutrients from the food you may have just eaten.
  • Soft drinks lower your immune system making it harder for your body to fight illness.

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Reference from:
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/clark2.htm
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/glossary.htm#chronic-dehydration