You Should Be Drinking More Water

When I first started thinking about writing this tip about drinking more water, it was prompted by the significant heat that we have experienced this summer. But drinking a healthy amount of water is important all year round. Most of us don’t drink enough water and we also drink too many unhealthy drinks. Unfortunately, our bodies suffer from both of those choices. So, let’s talk today about why drinking more water is important for your health.

Your body is about 60% water, and it needs water for virtually everything that it does. Every body function or process relies on water as a key ingredient. Your body is also constantly losing water throughout the day and night. This happens mostly through urination and sweating, but also through other regular body functions such as breathing, digestion, tear production, and others.

• Temperature regulation – Water in body cells acts as a buffer against sudden temperature changes. Blood, which is largely composed of water, moves toward vital organs when the body needs to conserve heat, and toward the skin and extremities when the body is in danger of overheating. Sweat evaporating from the skin and lungs helps cool the body.
• Kidney function – Adequate water intake helps your kidneys filter waste from the blood and excrete it through urine. It also helps prevent kidney stones.
• Maintaining a healthy weight – Drinking water, before and between meals, can increase feelings of fullness and decrease hunger. Research shows that people who drink more water eat fewer calories and less sugar. Drinking water can also boost metabolism. And recent research indicates that it may help suppress the release of a hormone linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome (a precursor to diabetes and other diseases).
• Maintaining energy levels and maximizing physical performance.
• Brain function – Brain cells require adequate water to function at their best. Proper hydration improves concentration, memory, and other cognitive functions.
• Mental health – Proper hydration helps balance mood and emotions, which can help improve depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
• Digestive function – Water lubricates your digestive tract, helps to prevent constipation, helps the gall bladder to function properly, and decreases the risk of developing gall stones. The gall bladder aids in digestion, especially for foods containing fats.
• Maintaining healthy skin – Adequate water intake improves the skin’s appearance, reduces dry skin, and can prevent wrinkles.
• Preventing headaches – Mild chronic dehydration is an underlying cause of many headaches.
• Joint and Spine health – Proper hydration helps to lubricate your joints, keeps cartilage healthy and less prone to damage, keeps the discs in your spine plump and less prone to damage. It helps to get rid of toxins that can cause joint or spine inflammation. Water also helps prevent gout attacks. I really like this statement I found on the website of the Arthritis Foundation, referencing the benefits of water for arthritis: “If there’s a magical elixir to drink, it’s water.”
• Sleep – Proper hydration improves the quality of sleep. This happens through many of the functions I mentioned above, like regulating body temperature, improving brain function and mental health, etc., but I thought it was an important thing to mention because sleep is so important!