The word "hydrate" should be a catchphrase. Are you drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water a day? Not having enough water has many side effects, but the way we drink water is also important to consider. The following are some of the correct ways to drink water to keep yourself better hydrated and reap the benefits of that.
Don't underestimate the water. Water makes up about 60 percent of your total body weight. Your body depends on water to keep your vital organs working properly.
Water is chemical energy, which means that it is a universal solvent. Water exists in the body as plasma, cytoplasm, serum, saliva, runny nose, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, and sweat.
It transports essential nutrients to your cells and keeps the membranes of your nose and throat moist. Dehydration occurs when you don't drink enough water for your body to perform at optimal levels, resulting in lethargy and fatigue.
The best ways to drink water are to drink it directly and often, especially during exercise.
Correct way to drink water
Considering how essential water is to human life, here are some useful but important tips for drinking water.
Drink water when you wake up
Your body worked all night to pack up yesterday's waste. This is why you often have to use the bathroom first thing in the morning. To ensure your body cleanses itself, drink warm water immediately after waking up.
Don't wait 15, 20, or 30 minutes after waking up because then the debris will be kept instead of being disposed of. Some of the water this morning may not be absorbed, but the point of drinking so much water at once is to encourage a proper bowel movement.
You can place an electric kettle next to your bed and turn it on when you get up. Add a pinch of mineral salt to the glass of water in the morning. In summer, drink water at room temperature.
Drink 8 to 12 glasses a day
Along with food, water is the fuel that powers your workouts. As you sweat, you are literally losing water, and you have to replenish it as you go. Try to drink a glass or two of water before exercising, and drink between half and a glass of water every 15 minutes while exercising.
If you are sweating very hard, or if you are in the heat, you may need more: listen to your body.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a 54-pound person needs to drink 8 glasses of water a day, while a 86-pound person would need 12 glasses a day. Drink only a maximum of 16 glasses a day, and no more trying to keep your urine clear.
You also don't need to obsess over hitting a certain number of glasses a day, but it can help to get into the habit of drinking more regularly throughout the day.
To make sure you're hydrated, carry a refillable water bottle with you throughout the day so you can drink constantly whenever you want. The best way to measure your daily water intake is by how your body feels.
Drink little by little throughout the day
You should take a sip of water slowly, two to three ounces at a time, throughout the day. If you drink too quickly, you run the risk of thinning your blood, which can cause rapid excretion of water by the kidneys. It will have the effect of slowing down the hydration process, that is, the opposite of what you wanted to happen.
Also, drinking slowly will lessen the stress on your heart (especially if you have heart disease) and give your body more time to absorb.
Drinking too much water causes an imbalance, and fluid moves from the blood into the cells, causing them to swell. It is true that you would have to drink a large amount of water for this to happen.
To be exact, it would take at least a gallon of water to drink within a few hours for symptoms of hyponatremia to occur, according to a 2013 study.
Don't wait until you're thirsty to drink water
By the time you feel thirsty, you are probably 2 glasses below your normal water needs. Older people are also less sensitive to the body's need for water.
Unfortunately, thirst is not always a reliable indicator of the body's need for water, especially in children and older adults. The color of your urine is the one that will tell you more precisely if you need it: light colored urine means that you are well hydrated, while a dark yellow or amber color generally indicates dehydration.
If you wait until you are thirsty, you are likely letting your body slide into a mild state of dehydration.
Water is essential for human life: it forms the basis of all body fluids, including blood and digestive juices; helps in the transport and absorption of nutrients. And it helps remove debris.
If you are an average adult, every day you lose more than 10 glasses (about 2.5 liters) of water simply by sweating, breathing and eliminating waste. You also lose electrolytes, minerals such as sodium, potassium, and calcium that maintain fluid balance in your body.
Drink water, not soda, alcohol or coffee
Some experts believe that tea, soda, and coffee can be potentially dehydrating. On the other hand, the high content of phosphorus and sugar in cola drinks can lead to diseases such as osteoporosis and diabetes.
Drinking too much soda can cause a variety of negative effects on your body, even if you drink diet soda. Carbonated sodas do not contain any beneficial nutrients, but they generally add excess calories and sugar to your diet.
If you only drink soda as the beverage of your choice, you may risk gaining weight. Consuming 3,500 extra calories leads to a pound of weight gain. For example, if you have five 100-calorie sodas a day for a total of 500 calories, you can gain half a pound in a week.
Start by exchanging one soda a day for a glass of water. This removes about 700 calories from your diet per week, which can help you lose weight if you continue to cut out sodas.
Water contains no calories
Since water is calorie-free, you can drink as much as you want without worrying about gaining weight. Spice up your water with fresh mint leaves, lemon wedges, or orange slices. These ingredients add a lot of flavor to your water, but they contribute few, if any, calories.
The high levels of caffeine in some sodas can lead to dehydration. Caffeine is a natural diuretic and causes your body to excrete fluid through urine.
Since caffeinated sodas can make you need to use the bathroom frequently, don't use them if you're exercising or if you live in a hot climate. You are more likely to suffer from the effects of dehydration, such as thirst and fatigue.
Water has the opposite effect. Pure water keeps you fully hydrated so you can drink it while exercising or playing in the sun.
Drink more when it's hot
Our body works best within a certain temperature parameter, and when it is too hot, it will need to cool down. There are about two ways your body manages to cool itself down.
First, the blood vessels dilate to increase blood flow to the skin. This allows excess heat to radiate away from your body. Then you also start to sweat. The evaporation of sweat cools the skin, which in turn helps cool the entire body.
Now, the problem is that excessive sweating can lead to dehydration.
You sweat more in hot weather, especially if you work or exercise in the heat. Water helps to replace fluids lost from excessive sweating. If you don't get enough water, you can become dehydrated and the combination of high temperatures and dehydration can lead to serious heat-related illnesses.
Correct way of drinking water for pregnant women
Getting plenty of water is essential during pregnancy. It helps carry nutrients through your body to your baby, helps maintain healthy levels of amniotic fluid, and can even help prevent bladder infections, constipation, and bloating, which are common symptoms during pregnancy.
For these reasons, it is important that you drink plenty of water and do not get dehydrated (especially late in pregnancy, when dehydration can cause contractions). To see if you are drinking enough, check your urine, it should be a light yellow color.
If you are urinating less than normal or your urine is very dark yellow, then you could be dehydrated and should increase your fluid intake.
Keep a bottle of water on your desk at work, or wherever you go so you can always take a sip. You can also try having a glass first thing in the morning (as long as it doesn't make you dizzy) or after brushing your teeth as another way to make sure you're getting enough.
A Keto diet is low enough in carbs and protein and high enough in fat to force the body to burn stored fat instead of consumed carbohydrates for energy. To trigger ketosis, a diet typically must contain a maximum of only 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. (A slice of whole-wheat bread, for example, contains about 15 grams of carbohydrates, and a medium banana contains about 29 grams of carbohydrates.) Overall, carbohydrates contribute fewer than 10% of calories in a keto diet.