How Much Water Should You Really Drink? The Truth Behind 8 Glasses a Day
Like oxygen, water is the primary substance for human life, water is the basis of life. Water is involved in almost all processes on earth. Sources provide different data, but they all agree that the water content in the body is more than half of the human body weight. Without food, a person can last from a month to two, and without water only a few days. With a loss of water in the amount of 2% of the body weight, a person experiences severe thirst, a loss of more than 10% of water leads to the death of the body.
The water content in the body directly affects the state of health, human performance, the ability to recover from physical, intellectual and emotional stress, and to resist stress.
Consequences of dehydration
Since time immemorial, in the traditions of Eastern medicine, the main cause of most diseases was considered to be a lack of water in the body. That is, a person simply drank little water. Lack of water leads to disruption of all organs and systems.
The body signals a lack of water and the following symptoms appear:
- feeling of thirst, dry mouth;
- poor digestion, constipation, increased acidity of gastric juice;
- weight gain;
- sand in the gallbladder and liver;
- sand in the kidneys;
- dry hair, skin, nails;
- joint crunching;
- salt deposition;
- deterioration of vision;
- headache, migraine.
Lack of water primarily affects the functioning of the brain, its regulatory and cognitive functions, since this organ consists of 80% water.
According to some doctors, diseases caused by dehydration include:
- obesity;
- cardiovascular diseases – atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease;
- diabetes mellitus;
- dry cough, bronchial asthma;
- allergy;
- drying out of the lens of the eye, cataract;
- depression;
- senile dementia.
What are the rules for how and how much water to drink to maintain health at the proper level? Not only the amount of water is important, but also the mode of its consumption. We will tell you about everything in detail in this article.
9 Healthy Rules for Drinking Water
1. The body needs water
Drink 2 liters of water per day. No other liquids, such as coffee, tea, juices, soups, milk, juicy fruits will replace water. The amount of liquid consumed is affected by some diseases, as well as body weight – the larger the person, the more water you need to drink.
2. A glass of water after waking up
It is necessary to drink a glass of water approximately 1.5 hours before breakfast, after waking up and getting out of bed. Water washes out the gastrointestinal tract, activates and prepares it for work, eliminates the lack of moisture after a long break for sleep. According to Eastern healers, such cleansing and preparation of the entire digestive system for work is no less important than washing and brushing your teeth. You can also drink water closer to the morning, when you wake up to visit the toilet.
Recommendations. In case of constipation, the amount of water in the morning should be increased. 2-3 glasses of water in the morning will replace the best laxative.
3. A glass of water before meals
Half an hour before each meal, you need to drink a glass of plain water. This allows you to prepare your digestive system for work. This is especially important for those who suffer from gastrointestinal diseases and their manifestations (heartburn, gastritis, duodenitis, ulcers, etc.)
4. It is better not to eat than not to drink
The need for water and food is very close in sensations, so it is easy to confuse thirst with hunger. Very often, an incorrect response to the body’s signal leads to obesity (food instead of water). Food does not quench thirst. Obesity is the main complication of dehydration.
5. A glass of water after meals
It is not recommended to drink water during meals and immediately after them. A glass of water should be drunk an hour (at least 40 minutes) after eating. This allows you to replenish the digestive juices spent on digesting food.
6. Water before bed
Half an hour before bed, you should drink a glass of water. During sleep, a person loses water through breathing, and water is released through the skin with sweat. People with kidney problems should drink all the necessary amount of water before 5-6 p.m.
7. Drink whenever you need water
Water should be of good quality, non-carbonated, without flavor additives.
8. Drink water before exercise
Water is needed for sweating and for metabolism; during exercise, metabolism speeds up.
9. Water and other liquids
Tea, coffee, alcohol are diuretic liquids, so when drinking them, you need to drink more water. Juices, milk are food, they will not replace water.
Additional information
A person must want to drink. If a person drinks very little water, and does not even have such a need, it means that his body is overloaded with toxins and waste and does not work properly, there was a failure and diseases are not far away.
A person who drinks enough water excretes almost colorless urine (excluding dyes from medications or food) and odorless. If the body feels a lack of water, the urine becomes bright yellow with a characteristic odor; with severe dehydration, the color of the excreted fluid becomes orange. The exception to this rule are those who take diuretics. In this case, the urine is colorless.
Insufficient water in the body leads to additional burden on the kidneys, they have to excrete a large amount of toxic substances in a limited volume of water. As a result of water deficiency, the body is not cleansed as it is necessary to maintain health. The body is poisoned, which leads to constant fatigue, illnesses begin.
By drinking water instead of other drinks, you can not only improve your health, but also lose weight. First of all, when you give up sweet drinks, the caloric content of food decreases, when drinking tea, coffee, there is a desire to eat something tasty and sweet, and water does not provoke this desire. Also, slags and toxins are removed, metabolism improves, for which water is simply necessary, and as a result, body weight decreases.
Not drinking enough water can lead to a heart attack, studies have shown that people who drink 2 glasses of water a day are much more likely to have a heart attack than those who drink at least 6 glasses a day.
Satisfying the body’s daily need for water is a preventative measure against many diseases and disorders in the body, and helps reduce the risk of developing cancer, such as colon, breast, and bladder cancer, by up to 50%.
Drink water, wash away illnesses and fatigue, nothing can help until a person starts drinking water in sufficient quantities! Water is the elixir of youth, health and beauty!
