You must have often heard all the elders telling you to drink water frequently and at regular intervals. There are a few people who go at a stretch of 3 to 4 hours without water and have to be reminded to drink it. If you too are one of them, who needs to be given a wakeup call to drink water, you should know that drinking adequate water is the best and the cheapest way to keep yourself healthy. Do not be surprised, it is true. Yes, something as simple as water can also help you stay fit. It is not a choice that you should be giving yourself, rather take it as a habit to drink water regularly. 22 March is celebrated as World Health Day, let us take the chance on this day to know about benefits of drinking water. If you still do not believe that water can keep you away from quite a number of diseases, read the below points.
1. Drinking water keeps you alert: have problems concentrating, paying attention or trying hard to memorise something but can’t, dehydration can be the reason. According to the study of Loughborough University states that, if a person is dehydrated, he is most likely to make twice the number of mistakes compared to a normal person, due to mental fogginess, which is again due to dehydration. So having at least 8-10 glasses of water every day is mandatory for you, whether you like it or not. You should not take dehydration lightly, it can have dangerous effects on your body.
2. Drinking water boosts your productivity: one thing that is crucial for a healthy gut is, removal of toxins and waste products. And water does it best. It takes away all the toxins and wastes, improving the bowel system. An adequate amount of water taken every day also ensure you do not suffer from the problem of constipation. To add some more advantage of drinking water, add some salt and sugar to it, this helps your brain to work better and also helps you to fight tiredness. With the proper supply of water, your productivity level will increase.
3. Drinking water reduces the risk of heart diseases: according to the studies, if you are having enough amount of water, it will reduce the risk of heart problems like coronary heart disease. This is probably because a good quantity of water in your body keeps the blood viscosity low.
4. Drinking water helps in losing weight: water is known to increase your metabolism which will help you get thinner. Another logical thing that people usually miss to understand is, having water at regular intervals, will make you feel full. Feeling full will keep your craving away to eat something at short intervals. This means that having lots of water will keep you away from wanting to eat more and help you stay fit.
5. Drinking water also prevents some cancer: according to the studies and researches it has been proven that if a fully hydrated body has a lesser chance of being prone to colon cancer and breast cancer. Studies have also shown that the more amount of water you drink, the lesser the chances of you having bladder cancer. The logic behind this can be that the more water you have, the more you will use the restrooms, which means that more urination will wash the bladder carcinogens, keeping you away from bladder cancer.
6. Drinking water is the healthiest liquid for your body: many doctors suggest to have more and more of water to kidney stone patients and migraine patients. Yes, it is true and the experiments have proven it that having around 400ml of water will instantly give you relief in migraine attacks, that too within 30 minutes. Another advantage of having ample amount of water daily is, it will not only get rid of a kidney stone of it is already existing, but also help in the prevention of formation of the stone at all. But the condition attached to kidney stone flushing out and prevention of forming of new stone is, you will have to take in a minimum of 2 litres of water every day.
7. Drinking water gives you healthy skin: if you want your skin to look healthy and glowing, prevent dehydration. And to prevent dehydration, have lots of water. More intake of water flushes out toxins and bacteria, which helps to fight against dry skin.
So now you know that how having more water can actually help you stay healthy. But as it is said extreme of anything is harmful. Many times this question is put up that exactly how much amount of water should one drink? Well, the amount can differ from body to body and it also depends upon the climatic conditions of the region you are living in. Until now no perfect amount has been specified by the modern science, as even today reaching a consensus on this matter is difficult. But the general suggestion given is, do not wait to feel thirsty and then drink water. Because of you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. So drink before you are thirsty. However, in an attempt to answer this question, Dr AshwiniSetya, a Gastroenterologist and Programme Director in Delhi’s Max Super Speciality Hospital, says, “Drink about 40 ml of water per kg body weight by an apparently healthy person with a sedentary lifestyle. An extra allowance of 10% and 20% respectively to be added for moderate and strenuous activity.”