We always hear people telling us the amount of water we need to imbibe per day to keep our organs and body functioning well. It’s interesting to note though the volume that each person says is the right one. Some say it’s two litres, while others claim you should have up to eight litres per day. So what exactly is the right amount of water we need to consume in a day to be getting the right effects?
According to some experts, we require about three litres of water per day to keep our bodies hydrated and also to ensure we don’t suffer from ill effects such as constipation. To make things a little simpler and easier to measure, there is also the 8 glasses of water a day rule. Especially in warm and humid climates like ours, we tend to sweat a lot and lose much of our body moisture throughout the day. Drinking lots of water can help to replenish the lost fluids and keep us energised and functioning properly.
What are their benefits
Besides the basic benefits, consuming this amount of water can also help in leveling up our metabolism for awhile so if you are someone who is looking to lose some weight, having about 500ml of cold water 30 minutes before a meal has proven to reduce one’s appetite. Cold water helps to expand the energy to heat up your body to the right temperature and studies have shown that those who do this actually lose up to 44% more weight than those who don’t over a period of 12 weeks. Of course if you want to see significant weight loss, you will need to pair this drinking habit with a healthy diet.
Sufficient water intake also helps in keeping kidney stones at bay. Kidney stones are hard masses formed by solidified insoluble calcium compounds that can cause great pain and distress to whoever gets it. Water aids in keeping these stones soft so they can be passed out as waste material at the end of the day, keeping our kidney and other organs clean and toxic free.
And that’s not all. Besides cleaning out our insides, drinking enough water can also make us more radiant on the outside. Because water helps to flush out the nasty stuff within our bodies, it also contributes to plumper and clearer skin, in turn less acne and pimples. While there are no reports to truly confirm or refute this, anybody who drinks lots of water a day will know that it works. At the end of the day, everybody wants beautiful, glowing skin don’t they?
In the end though, all of us have a natural thirst alert in our bodies which is triggered when our bodies lack water. That’s when we feel thirsty and reach for something to drink. As much as keeping to a certain amount of hydration per day is good, there is really no need to be too meticulous about it. Drink when your body wants you to and you should be fine. As much as there are heaps of benefits to drinking lots of water, there are also a couple of negative points to note like water drunkenness. This happens when an individual over indulges in water and gets to a point of overhydration, causing an imbalance in the amount of electrolytes in the brain and making it lose its functionality. So far, there have been very few studies to prove that this is something to be worried about but it’s always best to err on the side of caution and consume water according to your body’s needs. Three litres, or eight glasses, of water a day is still very safe so go forth and drink away!
