What do you, the trees and animals have in common? Failed to guess? You all need water. Every living thing needs water to survive, whether they get it from the ground, a little river fountain or in a bottle we all need water.
Without water, our bodies would cease to function properly. Water makes up more than half our body weight, and a human being cannot survive a couple of days with it. While we may not typically need eight glasses a day, there are many reasons to why we should drink water. In fact drinking water or in the form of other fluids is essential to your health.
Water is a nutrient that the body needs, regardless the form it is consumed in, it makes plays an essential part to replacing the large amounts of water lost every day. When your water intake becomes less than output you’ll suffer from dehydration.
Below are health reasons to ensure that you are drinking enough water and other fluids each day.
- Drinking enough water helps maintain a balance of fluids. Body fluids enable; digestion, circulation, absorption, transportation of oxygen and nutrients, maintenance of body temperature and the creation of saliva.
- Water helps control calories. Dieters drink plenty of water for their weight loss ambitions. While water doesn’t exactly work wonders on weight loss, substituting it for higher calorie drinks can go a long way.
- Water promotes heart health. Drinking water helps lower risk of heart attack. A study conducted in 2001 and published in the American journal of Epidemiology found that those who drank at least 5 glasses of water a day were 41% less likely to die from heart failure.
- Water provides energy. Dehydration can dream up all your energy and leave you tired. If you’re thirsty then you are already dehydrated, and it can lead to fatigue, dizziness, weakness and other symptoms.
- Water reduces the risk of cancer. Drinking a good amount of water has been found to reduce the risk of colon cancer by up to 45%. Drinking a good amount can also reduce the chances of bladder cancer by up to 50% and also reduce the risk of breast cancer.
- Drinking enough water promotes healthy skin. Water can cleanse up your skin and leave you with even glow. Although this won’t happen overnight, but a week of constant water supply will leave you with smooth clear skin.
Forming the water habit
Now that you’ve noted some health benefits of drinking water, it will also be equally important to form a water drinking habit.
- Carry a bottle- fill up a good plastic water bottle and carry it around with you every day. When empty, fill it up again
- Set a reminder- set your watch to beep after every hour so you don’t forget to drink water
- Substitute water- if you normally take a soda, coffee or alcohol, try substituting them with water. You can even go for sparkling water during social functions.