We all know that drinking water is good for our health. But what happens with your body when you replace all drinks with water? What are the benefits of water and what are the myths and facts about water?
We will try to answer these questions here in this article.
Water is a luxury that many people disregard, but there are a lot of people in the world with limited access to water. To be exact, according to water.org, 663 million people (1 in 10) lack access to safe water.
Water is great for so many things such as keeping you hydrated, flushing out toxins from your body, increasing metabolic rate, and helping reduce risks of many diseases and ailments.
Now, what if you only drank water for a month and nothing else, what happens to your body? This means cutting out all beverages such as caffeine, teas, sugary and carbonated drinks, and replacing those with water! The results can only be beneficial.
5 Benefits Of Swapping All Beverages For Water
1. Detoxification Benefits
There is also a clear link between drinking water and the detoxification of the body. Drinking water helps give nutrients to our cells, aids digestion, flushes our bodies of wastes and keeps our kidneys healthy.
Without enough water flowing through your systems, you are allowing for waste buildup in your body which is very unhealthy for your overall well being.
Kidneys are an important organ for the function of filtering waste. If the kidney does not receive the water it needs, these filtering functions cannot do its job, and in turn, can lead to rapid health deterioration.
2. Metabolism Benefits
A 2010 study demonstrates a link between decreased kidney function and low metabolic rates.
Drinking water can help with weight loss because it helps stabilize your metabolic rate; water is a natural appetite suppressor.
As mentioned before, when the kidneys don’t get enough water they can’t function properly, therefore the liver then takes over the function of releasing toxins from the body.
Now, the liver is responsible for metabolizing stored fat into usable forms of energy, but when the liver is doing the kidneys’ job, it isn’t metabolizing the fat.
This then leads to more stored fat. In this way, dehydration can cause many problems in your system which can then lead to other health issues.
The key is to keep your kidney hydrated so it and all the other organs in your body can function well.
3. Cognitive Benefits
There is a direct link between drinking water and brain function, as 70% of your body is composed of water.
Lack of water could cause symptoms such as loss of focus, memory, brain fatigue, headaches, and sleep issues.
Your brain is comprised of 85% of water and is the most important organ in your body, so it is important to keep your brain hydrated.
Brain cells need two times more energy than other cells in the body and water provides this energy. Daily hydration helps you think and focus and can help prevent attention deficit disorder.
A 2016 study evaluated school children who were given extra water throughout the school day compared to those who were not. Researchers noted that the children who drank water throughout the day had increased visual attention.
4. Hair and Skin Benefits
Similar to the rest of our body, hair and skin health depends a lot on what you put in your body. Just like other cells, hair and skin cells require hydration to function properly.
Proper hydration leaves your hair feeling strong and thicker, and leaves your skin feeling fresh, radiant and hydrated. According to UW Health, dehydrated skin can lead to dry, tight and flaky skin, which can then lead to wrinkles.
The water reaches all other organs before it reaches the skin, so it is important to take other measures to keep your skin hydrated along with drinking enough water, like applying moisturizers after you shower to lock in the moisture.
Water is the main source that keeps your organs running effectively and smoothly, so why not incorporate it into your daily diet more often?
Try eliminating all other beverages for thirty days, including coffee, tea, juice, and soda and substitute those with water. You’ll see the improvement in your cognitive abilities, your metabolic rate and hair, and skin health.
5. Aids Cognitive Skills
Considering the fact that 70 percent of our body is comprised of water, drinking it is certainly beneficial for the body.
Our brain is comprised of 85 percent of water and lack of water can impact your concentration, memory, brain fatigue, headache and can even cause sleeping issues. So, by drinking water, you fuel up our brain and it works efficiently.
Myths and facts about water
Before you ditch all beverages for water, you should first know exactly how much water to drink. Not knowing how to drink water might sound silly, but there are many myths surrounding hydration.
These are the most common:
You Need To Drink 8 Glasses Of Water Per Day
This is the most common myth about hydration. The amount of water that we need is different for every person according to their size, physical activity, and the way their body works. Because
Larger people might need more than 8 glasses and smaller people will need less. If you exercise and sweat a lot or you’re generally a heavy sweater, you’ll need more water than a sedentary person.
Avoid overhydrating yourself!
Don’t push yourself to drink more water than you can handle. If you overhydrate, your kidneys might not be able to get rid of the excess water, which leads to hyponatremia, a condition that dilutes the sodium in your body and makes you sick.
Drink water as soon as you wake up?
Waking up after 7 – 8 hours of sleep doesn’t make you dehydrated. While sleeping too, your body takes care of itself. So, not drinking water early morning shouldn’t bother you much.
Drink only when you feel thirsty?
Certainly not! Sometimes, you may not even realize that you are thirsty but your body might need hydration. When you replace other drinks with water, you are making sure to drink enough water.
Conclusion: Water id the most important liquid on our planet. As we see from all mentioned above it is very healthy and good to drink only water. It is the best way to detox our body and stay hydrated means better focus, a clear mind, and more energy.
So it is good to take as many liquids as you can but it is recommended to drink clear, pure water and remember to stay hydrated.