You know what, we can’t stress enough how important hydration is for you. It essentially means hydrating your body by drinking liquids such as water, juices, coffee, tea, soups, etc., but healthy hydration does NOT include bottled/canned juices, coolers, or other drinks (soft or hard) with added sugar – they’re only sugar I swear.
Although almost all of your body’s hydration needs can be fulfilled by water alone, you can also take other beverages – hot or cool to substitute for some glasses of water – an average woman requires to drink roughly 11 cups of water a day while a man requires up to 16. As a thumb rule, you must drink at least 8 glasses of water a day irrespective of your gender and that should be enough. Keeping yourself hydrated has tonnes of benefits, to be honest, one of my colleagues even mentioned once that her perfect body shape and glow was due to the fact that she drank a glass of water every 60-70 minutes. She had installed a mobile app that reminded her to do the same, maybe you can do something similar. But it really does help. As weird as it is, we don’t really follow a practice merely by listening to our moms about it, we have to read it on a legitimate website on the internet with proper science backing it to believe it. Correct me if I’m wrong?
Dehydration
Dehydration occurs due to loss of fluids in the body and is a very natural process, which is usually accelerated by regular day-to-day activities, high external temperature, or exercise. It is therefore that you need to keep up your fluid intake so your body keeps replenishing. Constant or frequent dehydration may alter kidney and brain function and/or lead to kidney stones.
We have a list of some ‘science backed’ and obvious reasons you must keep yourself hydrated and drink at least 8 glasses of water and/or tea, coffee, or juices a day. Check it out:
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Hydration is Important to Prevent Dry Mouth
Needless to say, fluids like water hydrate your mouth as well as throat and prevents your lips from getting dry. The dry lips characteristic of winter are particularly due to the fact that we reduce water intake. A hydrated mouth can help you prevent bad breath, which is often caused by a dry mouth, and an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Moreover, drinking enough water can mostly rinse your mouth and prevent cavities.
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Fluids Cool your Body Down
How much your mother advises you to keep your body cool and how much you disobey her ‘you should include curd in your diet’ suggestions is all okay. If you don’t prefer curd, beverages can fill in. Beverages inherently contain water, which is a coolant as it is. If you doubt it, sprinkle some on your desk and let it evaporate; you will feel the drop in the surface temperature. Although not exactly the same, water plays a similar role in your body by releasing the heat by expanding blood vessels close to your skin’s surface, which means more blood at the surface and hence more heat dissipation into the air.
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Hydration is key to Kidney Function
Do you know how kidneys work? Well, if you know osmosis or diffusion, you will be able to understand how exactly kidneys work. Basically, there’s a diffusion, which is an exchange in electrolytes that happens at the kidney cells where the metabolic waste from blood are excreted on the basis of the concentration gradient. This means, that well-hydrated blood when comes to kidneys, water with dissolved waste, being in higher concentration, goes out to the excretion tube and flows out through the urine. Therefore, on the days you drink less water or fluids, you still urinate, but the urine is much more concentrated than it is supposed to be, and therefore has a very evident change in colour.
Moreover, as the concentration of minerals in kidneys gets diluted, there’s less chances of them clumping or crystallizing, thus preventing or reducing the occurrence of kidney stones. Talking about kidney function, proper hydration can also reduce your risk of urinary tract infections.
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Water Helps Prevent Acne and Keep your Skin Glowing and Radiant
The primary reason drinking water helps keep your skin glowing and radiant is the fact that it cleanses your blood and body. You can find many testimonials on the internet that say that water indeed helps preventing acne and keep the skin clearer. If you have dull, dry, and/or acne prone skin, you must try this water hack and let us know. Remember, we follow the #ForeverInMotion formula because water helps you make headway everywhere!
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Water can Aid Weight-Loss
I wanted to directly jump to this one point but I was kind of building the suspense. I thought it would help, so, has it? Losing weight couldn’t be easier than drinking plenty of water. To back this claim, we even have scientific studies and research evidence that suggests that increasing the amount of water you drink in a day can increase your metabolism, and thus aid in weight loss.
However it is to be noted that the timing of drinking water is important as well. Water intake at least half an hour before meals is the most effective, which in a way makes you feel fuller and reduce the calories you consume.
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Water Helps in the Functioning of your Brain and Body
Having talked enough about the skin, beauty, and the body, it’s time we discuss something real and more important – your brain. Hydration plays a huge role in the proper functioning of your brain. To explain that these aren’t merely just claims, we indeed have some studies that suggest that even mild dehydration can impair brain function.
A pro tip: I was once advised by a sane, older teacher to drink water before interviews, I haven’t failed in one since then.
Conclusion
The easiest way to keep yourself hydration-motivated is buying a super cool tumbler, bottle, cup, or mug that you can flaunt while on your way to the office, the gym, meeting your friends, or on an adventure trip and back. It will be so in sight, it will never be out of mind.