How much water is healthy?
Introduction
We all know that water is very important to survive, but not many people know how much water to drink daily. Excessive water can be bad for your health. In recent articles the benefits of water have become highlighted very much and celebrities/models state that one should drink unlimited water for health benefits. However excess of anything can be injurious. While water is essential to survive, there are limits to how much water one should drink.
Why is water essential?
Water is the main fluid in our bodies. Much of our body is water. Water detoxifies the body and enables waste and toxic substances in leaving the body. It enables essential nutrients to reach the required areas of our body. It is essential to keep the basic machinery of our body running. It also enables oxygen to play its role in the body.
How much water is essential?
Women should drink 2.5 liters of water daily and men should drink3 liters of water daily. The figures may vary slightly from person to person depending on height, weight and health. Some experts say that drinking ample water makes the skin glow and enables a person to loose weight. This is true, however drinking water above the prescribe levels can have harmful effects.
You can get dehydrated in winters too
It is true that you can get dehydrated in winters also. What happens is that during winter, you don't tend to sweat much and therefore you don't feel thirsty. As a result you don't drink enough water. Many people drink less water in winters and increase their intake of tea, coffee and alcohol. This can lead to dehydration. Room heaters can increase the amount of dehydration. Therefore one should make it a point to drink ample water in winters too. How do you know that you are dehydrated? the symptoms include dryness of the mouth, dryness of the skin, not passing enough urine, giddiness and even fainting.
Ensure that you drink enough water
Those with heart problems who have got new valves, stents etc inserted can face serious problems if they don't drink enough water as this can lead to malfunctioning of the valves/stents thereby leading to a heart attack. The danger is more in patients who have recently got stents/valves installed.
Dangers of drinking too much water
Drinking water can make your kidneys work harder, overburdening it. Similarly there is a danger to the heart too. Drinking excessive water can soften the digestive juices, making digestion weaker. One should not drink lot of water along with meals for this reason. It is best to not drink any water at all for a few minutes after a meal. Drinking more than one liter of water in the morning on an empty stomach can burden the eyes and cause damage to it.
Try to stick to the recommended limits
Our body can survive without food for three weeks but cannot survive for more than three days if it does not get water. If you are a male try to drink 3 liters of water per day and if you are a woman try to drink 2.5 liters of water per day. Not all at once! the idea is to keep sipping bits of water throughout the day and by nightfall you should have taken 2.5 to 3 liters of water in your body. Another point to note is that Try not to drink any water for 1 hour after a meal. The time in between meals is the best time to drink water. Water has zero calories so you don't need to worry if you are trying to loose weight. In fact water will help you in loosing weight by flushing out toxins.
You can take watery fruits in place of water
Water and raw fruits have water in it. Eating these also supply the body with water. Green tea too has some water in it. You can incorporate these foods to you diet to ensure that your body doesn't stay dehydrated. If you don't enjoy drinking water throughout the day, add watery fruits and raw vegetable salads in your diet
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