Being well-hydrated helps all your organs and body systems function properly. In fact, every function in your body takes place in water. It’s the solvent that moves nutrients, hormones, antibodies, and oxygen through your blood stream and lymphatic system, and removes waste. And of course, it’s essential to your kidney’s ability to filter and eliminate metabolic byproducts and toxins—especially during weight loss when it helps remove toxins and other unhealthy substances stored in your fat cells. If you don’t drink enough water, your body is forced to recycle dirty water, diminishing the efficiency of every metabolic function.
Many decide to increase their water intake, but few stick with it. During the first few days of drinking more water than your body is accustomed to, you’re running to the bathroom constantly. It seems that the water is coming out as fast as it’s going in, and many decide that their new hydration habit is fruitless. Have courage! What is really happening is that your body is flushing itself of the water it has been storing throughout all those years of “survival mode.” It takes a while, but this is a great thing happening to you. As you continue to give your body all the water it could ask for, it gets rid of what it doesn’t need. It gets rid of the water it was holding onto in your ankles, and your hips, and your thighs, maybe even around your belly. You are excreting more than you realize. Your body figures it doesn’t need to save these stores anymore; it’s trusting that the water will keep coming, and, if it does, eventually, the flushing will cease, allowing the human to return to a normal life. This is called the “breakthrough point.”
Benefits of Water:
- Improves endocrine (hormone) function
- Increases metabolic function
- Decreases appetite (cheap, safe appetite suppressant)
- Increases fat used for energy
- Liver function improves
- Decreases fluid retention
- Increases natural thirst
- Reduce the negative fidgety-buzz that coffee can give you (drink before morning coffee)
- Suppresses the appetite and helps the body to metabolize stored fat
- Maintains proper muscle tone
- Promotes normal bowel function
Did you know that switching your daily dose of water (eight, 8-oz glasses) to ice water can burn an extra 74 calories per day? That may not seem like much, but it adds up to 7.7 pounds of fat per year. Not drinking enough water can lead to cravings, fatigue, irritability, and foggy thinking. Dehydration also slows down fat burning.
We actually lose nearly 12 cups of water per day. And in high altitudes, or dry environments, we lose even more. Your lungs expel between 2 and 4 cups of water each day through normal breathing—even more on a cold day. If your feet sweat, there goes another cup of water.
Some sign of dehydration may include:
- Excessive thirst
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Dry mouth
- Little or no urination
- Muscle weakness
- Dizziness
- Lightheadedness
Muscle Benefits: Water helps to maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract. You can lift weights until you’re blue in the face, but if your muscles are suffering from a drought, you won’t notice a pleasant difference in your appearance. Muscles that have all of the water they need contract more easily, making your workout more effective. And, you’ll look much nicer than if you had flabby muscles under sagging skin. Water also helps prevent the sagging skin—shrinking cells are buoyed by water, which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy, and resilient. Water flushes out impurities in your skin and can leave you with a clear, younger looking, glowing complexion.
Treatment for Fluid Retention: Drinking enough water is a great treatment for fluid retention. If the body receives plenty of water, the body will be able to release stored water (fluid retention). Remember, as your kidneys excrete water, it also takes away excess sodium which will also help reduce fluid retention.
Water can relieve constipation. When the body gets too little water, it siphons what it needs from internal sources. The colon is one primary source. When a person drinks enough water, normal bowel function can return.
Stay hydrated while exercising in the heat:
Tip # 1 – Drink enough water to prevent thirst. Tip #2 – For short-duration (less than 60 minutes), low-to-moderate-intensity activity, water is a good choice to drink before, during and after exercise. Tip #3 – Begin exercise well-hydrated. Drink plenty of fluids the day before and within the hour before, during and after your exercise session. Tip #4 – Avoid alcohol the day before or the day of a long exercise bout and avoid exercising with a hangover. Tip #5 – Consider all fluids, including tea, coffee, juices, milk and soups (though excluding alcohol, which is extremely dehydrating). The amount of caffeine in tea and coffee does not discount the fluid in them, even if they have a slight diuretic effect, according to the most recent report by the National Research Council’s Food and Nutrition Board. Tip #6 – Following strenuous exercise, you need more protein to build muscle, carbohydrates to refuel muscle, electrolytes to replenish what’s lost in sweat and fluids to help rehydrate the body. Tip #7 – You can also replace fluid and sodium losses with watery foods that contain salt and potassium, such as soup and vegetable juices. Tip #8 – To determine your individualized need for fluid replacement: During heavy exercise, weigh yourself immediately before and after exercise. If you see an immediate loss of weight, you’ve lost valuable water. Drink 3 cups of fluid for every pound lost; use this figure to determine the amount of water (or sports drink) you’ll need to drink before and during your next exercise session to prevent weight/water loss in the future.
Cold or not? This is debatable. Most experts lean toward cold water. It is absorbed more easily when cold. Some evidence suggests that drinking cold water can actually burn more calories. On the other hand, some people drink warm water more easily, therefore, may drink more of it. Do whatever suits you. Just drink it!