Do you know the importance of water in our body? In an infant, the body is made up of 75-80% water which drops to 65% when they turn 1 year of age. An average adult male has about 60% of their body made up of water and average adult women have about 55% of their body made up of water. Thus you can imagine how much water our body needs to keep healthy and fit!
Drinking water throughout the day can help ensure the fluid quantity is maintained in the body, especially in summers. Read below how much water you must drink and tips to keep yourself hydrated every day.
- Each day you should drink 8 glasses of water to stay healthy. This accounts to about 2 liters or half a gallon of water each day.
- Carry a reusable water bottle every day.
- Add lime or mint to the bottle of water to change the flavor of the plain water.
- It is healthy to drink water before and after exercise to avoid any cramping of the muscles due to dehydration. Variate this as per your exercise as you might need additional water for longer workouts.
- If you feel hungry, you must drink water and the hunger sensation decreases helping you to maintain good diet.
- Drink water 1 hour before your meal and 1 hour after the meal.
- Do not drink water while having your meal.
- Schedule alarms if you need each hour to drink water for a few days, and you get into the habit of it later.
- Drink a bottle of water empty stomach when you wake up in the morning. Keeps your system clean and helps to avoid constipation.
- People living at an elevated area like 8000 + feet above sea level, must drink more water than usual to keep healthy.
- During fever, vomiting or diarrhea, the body is dehydrated after losing more fluid than usual; hence it is recommended to intake more water.
- People living in hot climate must have more intake of water every day.
- You must skip sugary drink as the fluid from soda or juice and alcohol have high calorie content which might not be the best for your health. Choose water over any other liquid always.
- Other good source of fluid is milk, pure fruit juices, green tea, broth etc.
- Drinking right amount of water helps in weight reduction too.
How does water help in the human body?
- Without enough water, the body and it’s organs do not function properly
- Water in the body helps to maintain the body temperature within a normal range.
- Water helps in lubricating and cushioning the joints in the body.
- Water protects the spine and other tissues and muscles in the body.
- Water helps importantly in removing the waste and toxins through your body via urine, sweat, and bowel movement.
- To look your best, you need enough water in your body (for healthy and hydrated skin).
- Water contains no calories; hence it is an excellent tool for your body.
- Water improves digestion and circulation.
- Drinking water is important for healthy hair as well. The water helps the body process and flush toxins which spoke about earlier, however this is the same reason that lets your hair grow a lot faster.
- If you have problems of acne or pimples, water helps in cleansing the cells in your body and moisturizes them. Accumulation of oil is as well removed by the water. Skin is made up of cells, thus once the cells are clean the skin remains acne free.
Symptoms of excess water content in the body:
Drinking too much of water may be dangerous to your health as well because of the below reasons.
- Extra water dilutes the electrolysis in the blood.
- Sodium level in the body decreases and leads to hyponatremia which has symptoms as below:
– Confusion, fatigue, body ache, uneasiness, vomiting, seizure, coma, muscle cramps or weakness.
Although this condition is very uncommon in people, but especially ones with smaller built or children have higher risks of developing hyponatremia. Even if you are used to doing rigorous exercise and drink excessive water in a short duration of time, you may be at risk of hyponatremia. Instead of water, drinking the sports drink which has good quantity of sodium and electrolyte helps here.
Food which has high water content:
There are a bunch of fruits and food that you must include in your daily diet as they have high content of water in them which helps you to keep hydrated throughout the day.
- Cucumbers
- Spinach
- Watermelon
- Berries
- Cauliflower
- Green pepper
- Radish
- celery
Water to drink during pregnancy:
- A pregnant woman should aim to drink 10 glasses of water each day which amounts to 80 ounces.
- Breast feeding mother must increase this to intake 104 ounce of water each day or you can call it as 12-13 glasses.
Although there are many different opinions of how much water a human must drink every day, the health authorities have recommended having about 2 liters of water each day. Fairly depends on individual’s needs and lifestyle as well as no single formula fits everyone. Water is used by the body in all the cells, organs and tissues thus loosing water sweat etc. causes dehydration which we must avoid. Thus the statement that life cannot exist without water!
