What is the purpose of drinking water. What happens if you drink a lot of water? Is it good or bad to drink a lot of water? How much water can you drink per day

To drink a lot of water. Although most of us have heard this recommendation more than once, many people still have not instilled this healthy habit. But it can also serve as a way to treat many health problems.

In our article today, we will share with you 9 reasons for this healthy habit. To drink a lot of water- a simple and cheap way to take care of your health.

How much water should you drink?

Every person should drink at least 1.5 liters of water daily, this amount corresponds to 6-8 glasses. Of course, this number is very arbitrary. The fact is that the amount of water a person needs is influenced by such factors as:

• Age, sex and weight. In order to find out what your body needs, you can use the following formula: divide your weight in kilograms by 7 and you will get the number of glasses of water you need to drink daily.

Thus, a person whose weight is 70 kilograms should drink 10 glasses of water per day (2 liters).

• Climate and season: Residents of countries with a hot climate are advised to drink at least 2 liters of water daily.
• Physical exercise: When we sweat a lot, our body needs more water to maintain a normal balance of fluids and minerals.
• Diseases: Depending on the existing diseases, some of us need to increase our water intake. For example, this applies to people who have kidney stones..
• Nutrition: The food we eat also contains water. So, eating soups and salads is not at all the same thing as eating meat and potatoes.

How does water improve our health?

1. Less hunger

An interesting fact: Quite often, the hunger we experience is actually just plain thirst.

You must keep this information in mind. This will make it easier for you to drink more water throughout the day. This is especially true for those moments when we want to have a snack between meals.

This habit will make you feel less hungry and snack less.

2. Healthy skin without defects and wrinkles

Thanks to water, we manage to avoid the appearance of wrinkles. As you know, premature aging of the skin is directly related to such a factor as dehydration.

If we drink water, our skin remains moisturized, healthy and toned without the use of cosmetics.

3. Fills us with energy

It must be borne in mind that in some cases, the cause of fatigue should be sought in dehydration. This means that in order to replenish energy in this case, we will need not coffee and tea, but ordinary water.

If you start drinking more water, it will be easier for you to stay active and energetic throughout the day.

4. Combats swelling

Drinking water in small sips throughout the day is a habit that stimulates the elimination of fluid from the body. Thanks to this, it becomes easier for us in the legs, ankles and abdomen.

In addition, this habit improves kidney function and allows you to maintain a healthy balance of fluids in the body.

5. Helps cure constipation

In some cases, the appearance of constipation is due to a lack of fluid in the body. This is especially true for those people who carefully monitor their diet and eat a lot of food containing fiber. A characteristic symptom of this problem is the appearance of small and hard excrement.

In this case, increasing the amount of water consumed will facilitate bowel movements and solve the problem of constipation.

6. Prevention of kidney stones

To prevent the formation of kidney stones, doctors recommend drinking more water. This is especially important for people who have a family history of this disease or have already had kidney stones in the past.

Water is a simple and cheap treatment for kidney stones. Thanks to her, we manage to protect ourselves from more serious health problems.

7. Reduces the risk of developing hypertension

Water is directly related to our blood pressure. This is due to the fact that it reduces the amount of salt in the human body..

Thus, the habit of drinking more water naturally prevents us from developing hypertension without the need for medication.

8. Helps Lose Weight

As we have said, the habit of drinking water throughout the day helps us fight hunger pangs. In this case, we are satiated faster and we have no cravings for snacking.

In addition, drinking water speeds up our metabolism, causing our body to burn more calories.

Finally, water promotes the elimination of fluids and improves the breakdown of fats. It plays an important role in weight loss and allows us to easily lose weight without putting our body in pain.

9. Less toxins

Thanks to water, our body is better cleansed and more efficient, capable of harming our health and causing various diseases.

Water cleanses our body from the inside, bringing out everything that it does not need and can harm.

Both Western and domestic nutritionists unanimously assert: a person, regardless of the load and season, needs to drink plenty of water. It helps to improve the water-salt balance in the body. But is this statement true? It turns out that excess fluid can cause serious damage to internal organs.

How Thirst Occurs

According to biologists, the main reason why a person wants to drink is a change in the water-salt balance in the blood. On average, one liter of blood contains 9.45 grams of salt. Slight fluctuations in the content of this substance are possible, but only in hundredths of a gram. However, if the concentration of salt, for example, increases, then the activity of all cells of the body is disrupted, because they are supplied with blood. Its water component at such a moment decreases, and the blood thickens. And this, according to phlebologists, threatens with the occurrence of blood clots, which means that the nutrition of a particular area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe tissue or organ will be blocked. But this is in critical cases.

As a rule, already in the first moments of a slight increase in the concentration of salts, a person feels dry mouth. This is the first signal calling for an increase in the level of fluid in the body. This happens, for example, in the heat, when a person sweats and the liquid evaporates.

Drinking too much water is harmful

It turns out that it is better for the body to drink more liquid? Not at all. It is known that the more you drink in the heat, the more you want. The body at this moment sweats more abundantly, and along with an increased amount of evaporated moisture, more salt leaves the body. And in this case, the skin of the face and hands, as well as hair, are the first to suffer.

If a person deliberately accustoms himself to an increased consumption of water, then in normal cool weather this also harms many internal organs. Domestic gastroenterologists warn: heavy drinking seriously dilutes gastric juice, it ceases to be concentrated and harmful to microbes that enter the stomach with food. Water allows them to survive, which means that the risk of developing infections increases.

Some believe that drinking plenty of water helps improve kidney function. French nephrologist Pierre Ronceau explains in his scientific work how they actually function. In order to maintain the required level of fluids in the body, the kidneys reabsorb some of the water that has already been filtered. This provides a standard concentration of urine. But the more a person drinks, the less water the kidneys have to conserve water, and the tubules, designed specifically for reabsorption, deteriorate over time. If the body in hot weather finds itself without the usual access to water, then the kidneys will not be able to saturate it with the saved fluid, and dehydration will begin rapidly.

Excessive fluid intake soon fills the tissues of the liver, kidneys, they swell, and their functional properties weaken. Meanwhile, these organs play an important role in the excretory system, and when it fails, the body does not completely remove water from itself. The fluid is retained in the tissue cells, edema occurs, which provoke an increase in pressure in the walls of blood vessels. Then the headaches begin. The lymph nodes swollen due to increased moisture also do not cope with their task - immunity decreases, and a few hours remain before the development of gastrointestinal infections.

Does water help you lose weight?

However, many ladies, having increased the amount of fluid consumed, despite side effects in the form of small edema, declare a real weight loss. So, for effective weight loss, a lot of water is still needed?

At first, drinking plenty of water really improves bowel function, it increases peristalsis, the passage of food through the departments is faster, which means that digestion products are more efficiently excreted, weight decreases. But three months later, things have changed. The pancreas and gallbladder are saturated with water, and problems arise in their work. Food is not fully processed because the level of secreted bile and other secrets is reduced. Gradually, the intestinal mucosa also swells - more and more constipation occurs. This leads to a general slagging of the body and weight gain.

In addition, endocrinologists warn: cells of hormonal glands overflowing with moisture cannot fully participate in metabolic processes due to lack of energy.

Therefore, the burning of fat and carbohydrates slows down, and this does not contribute to weight loss.

How Much Water Do Athletes Need?

It turns out that ordinary people should not force themselves to drink a lot of fluids - this is harmful. Perhaps increased water intake is necessary for athletes. But this is not so either. Dr. Timothy Noakes, professor of sports medicine at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), in his book "Exercise Dehydration: Myths and Facts" proves that high saturation of the body with water does not improve athletic performance at all, but, on the contrary, worsens them and puts the body at risk hyponatremia (impaired water and electrolyte balance).

The professor claims that it is simply impossible to drink before the onset of thirst. This reduces the concentration of attention, the physical activity of the muscles in both athletes and ordinary people. And if we want to be vigorous and healthy, we need to drink liquids as much as the body physically requires.

The question of what is the benefit and harm of water, at first glance, may seem inappropriate. Indeed, without this chemical compound it is impossible to imagine the existence of any living organism. But what kind of water and in what quantities is better to drink in order not to get harm from the contaminated composition of life-giving moisture, it is especially important to understand today, in the face of deteriorating environmental conditions.

Benefits of water for the body

The health benefits of water are undeniable. Since 70% of the body consists of water, due to its deficiency, all biochemical processes are disrupted. This negatively affects well-being.

Improves digestion

For the normal functioning of the digestive tract, water is simply necessary. It has the properties of a solvent that helps to absorb various vitamins, salts, useful and nutritious elements.

Lack of water is harmful to the stomach, as it negatively affects the production of gastric juice, which is the cause of diseases such as bloating, constipation, obesity, ulcers and gastritis.

Advice! To speed up the digestive processes, it is recommended to add lemon juice to the water.

Improves the condition of hair and skin

Water nourishes the skin with moisture, prevents early aging and wrinkles. Since water is actively involved in the process of perspiration, it cleanses the pores of impurities, making the skin smooth, fresh and radiant.

Dehydration also damages the hair. The hair follicles do not receive useful and nutritious elements at all. If you drink enough water, thanks to its beneficial properties, the hair will regain shine and elasticity.

Promotes weight loss

Drinking plenty of water promotes weight loss. There are several explanations for this.

1. A glass of water with meals will help you feel fuller in smaller portions.
2. Water improves metabolism, starts metabolic processes.
3. The feeling of thirst can often be confused with the feeling of hunger: a glass of clean water will help tame the latter.

Removes toxins

The more fluid a person consumes, the more toxins and toxins are excreted by the body. This is due to the fact that harmful substances leave it with sweat and urine.

Relieves stress and fights fatigue

The harm from dehydration is that a person feels tired, drowsy and muscle weakness. Often, even dizziness can occur. This is because the lack of water provokes a decrease in enzymatic activity, cells do not receive nutrition and die over time, as a result, a person’s performance decreases.

Improves blood circulation

Water is good for blood circulation. Due to the maintenance of water balance, normal circulation and blood flow are maintained. Drinking plenty of water significantly reduces the risk of thrombosis, contributes to the proper functioning of blood vessels and the heart, and normalization of pressure.

Benefits of water for men and women

One of the main causes of aging is moisture loss. To prolong youth, keep the skin smooth and soft, women need to drink high-quality, well-purified water. Dehydration causes enormous damage to the skin and is one of the key factors in premature aging.

The benefits of water for the body of women also lie in the acceleration of metabolism, which is its useful property for weight loss.

For men, the benefits of drinking water are manifested in its ability to prevent the development of such male diseases as urolithiasis and bladder cancer. Men who drink more than 2 liters of water a day are less prone to these severe ailments.

What happens to the body when dehydrated

There are several stages of dehydration, each with its own symptoms and consequences.

			critical
Water loss - 3%. Serious harm and threat to life are absent.	Losses - 6%. Minor threat to life.	Water loss - 9%. Serious threat to life.	Losses - 10%. Possible death.
loss or decrease in appetite; Decreased amount of urine weakness and fatigue, fatigue, drowsiness; dryness in the mouth; Feeling of thirst the viscosity of saliva.	shortness of breath at rest; · tachycardia; an increase in body temperature; A sharp decrease in the amount of urine when abstinence from urination for 12 or more hours.	loss of consciousness, hallucinations and delusions; · nausea and vomiting; Critical dryness of the skin (when squeezing, the skin wrinkles and returns to its original state for a long time).	Violation of the work of all organs and life support systems; violation of the blood supply;

How much water a day should a person drink

Many sources claim the benefits of 2 liters of water a day. According to WHO, a person needs to drink 30 ml of water per day per 1 kg of body weight. Thus, with a weight of 60 kg, the optimal and useful amount will be 7 - 8 glasses.

A sharp increase in fluid intake can be harmful and provoke an exacerbation of chronic diseases. It is better to get used to this gradually, starting with 1 - 1.5 liters of water per day.

Herbal teas and carbonated drinks do not have the properties of pure water. Due to the diuretic effect, they only increase dehydration. Compotes, fruit juices, milk and coffee serve as liquid food.

It is important to remember that chronic dehydration dulls the feeling of thirst. The body suffers from a lack of water, but the person does not notice the need to drink.

Advice! To accustom yourself to drinking plenty of water, you should perceive it as a useful medicine and drink a certain amount strictly on schedule.

Is it good to drink water on an empty stomach

If you drink water in the morning on an empty stomach, the benefits for all organs will be simply invaluable. Entering the stomach that is not yet filled with food, water starts the metabolism and has a general strengthening effect.

The benefits of a glass of water in the morning on an empty stomach:

• restoration of water balance;
• normalization of metabolism;
• preparation of the digestive tract for work;
• removal of toxins and toxins;
• normalization of appetite.

Is it possible to drink water at night

There is no single answer to this question. Each person has individual characteristics. A glass of water before bed can be both beneficial and harmful.

The benefits of a glass of water at night

Water will help maintain water balance even during sleep. A person does not feel thirsty at night, but part of the liquid evaporates when breathing. To reduce the harm from dehydration, it is recommended to drink 100-150 ml of water 30 minutes before bedtime.

Harm of drinking before bed

• swelling in the eye area;
• frequent urination.

The cause of such problems can be diseases of the heart, kidneys and genitourinary system. For a healthy person, drinking water before bedtime can cause harm only in large quantities, so it is extremely important to observe moderation and not exceed the recommended daily amount.

What water is better to drink

Tap water is unlikely to have beneficial properties. It is considered undrinkable and can cause significant harm, because it contains chlorine, heavy metals, bacteria and viruses that can remain in the water, including after boiling. About what kind of water is better to drink, we will go further.

The benefits and harms of distilled water

On the one hand, distilled water is the purest, since it does not contain various impurities and other inclusions.

On the other hand, with the help of high temperatures, the distiller kills all microorganisms. Water after such purification does not have useful properties.

Distilled water has neither significant benefit nor harm. It only performs the main function of the delivery and excretion of substances.

The benefits and harms of filtered water

The use of water from the filter lies in its purification from harmful impurities during filtration.

Household filters do an excellent job with the chlorine contained in tap water. However, they are ineffective if the source water has a high level of bacterial and man-made pollution.

The benefits and harms of bottled water

The benefits of drinking bottled water directly depend on its quality. Before becoming potable, water undergoes disinfection and several stages of purification. When choosing, pay attention to the following properties:

• spill source;
• water compliance with SanPin standards;
• content of nutrients and vitamins.

These properties are usually listed on the product label by the manufacturer.

The benefits and harms of spring water

Before appearing on the surface, spring water flows through layers of sand and gravel. Such natural filtration allows it to preserve all the beneficial properties, natural structure and hydrochemical composition, so that the benefits of spring water for the body are obvious. But it can also be harmful.

The chemical composition of water from different springs varies, therefore, the healing properties will be very diverse. The benefits of water from one spring may be a beneficial effect on the nervous system. Water from the second source will have healing properties in the fight against hypertension. However, most springs contain ordinary drinking water.

It is important that the spring is clean. Next to it there should not be garbage dumps and industrial enterprises. Water in such cases may contain extremely hazardous elements: lead, nickel, arsenic, pesticides, nitrates, petroleum products and mercury.

Spring water can also cause serious harm if it contains bacteria, including E. coli.

How to purify water at home

Only pure water is beneficial for the body. The easiest and most effective way to clean it at home is to freeze it. Such. This method allows you to save all the beneficial properties of water, but at the same time get rid of salts and bacteria dissolved in it.

All you need is plastic bottles and a freezer.

1. Water must be bottled without topping up to 2-3 cm to the brim, as it expands when frozen and can damage the container.
2. Place the bottles in the freezer, checking the condition of the water regularly.
3. When two-thirds of the liquid freezes, the sediment must be poured out, since all mineral impurities remain in it.
4. The remaining ice must be thawed, after which the melt water will be completely ready for use.

Can water harm the body?

High-quality clean water can be harmful only if you drink it in very large quantities, significantly exceeding the daily allowance. This provokes the development of drinking disease, when the kidneys do not have time to pass all the liquid, and it penetrates into other organs, which swell as a result. It is worth remembering that healthy kidneys can pass through themselves only 0.8 - 1 liter of water per hour.

Drinking too much liquid can:

• lead to poor and restless sleep;
• cause kidney disease
• the most severe case is swelling of brain cells, the consequences of which include convulsions, respiratory arrest, coma and death.

Important! The use of chlorinated tap water leads to the development of various diseases of the nervous system, including Alzheimer's disease.

Conclusion

The benefits and harms of water directly depend on its quality. It is a vital element for a person, maintains health and prevents the risk of developing many diseases. But in order not to harm yourself, you need to drink water in moderation, no more than 2 - 2.5 liters per day.

Was this article helpful to you?

Both Western and domestic nutritionists unanimously assert: a person, regardless of the load and season, needs to drink plenty of water. It helps to improve the water-salt balance in the body. But is this statement true? It turns out that excess fluid can cause serious damage to internal organs.

How Thirst Occurs

According to biologists, the main reason why a person wants to drink is a change in the water-salt balance in the blood. On average, one liter of blood contains 9.45 grams of salt. Slight fluctuations in the content of this substance are possible, but only in hundredths of a gram. However, if the concentration of salt, for example, increases, then the activity of all cells of the body is disrupted, because they are supplied with blood. Its water component at such a moment decreases, and the blood thickens. And this, according to phlebologists, threatens with the occurrence of blood clots, which means that the nutrition of a particular area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe tissue or organ will be blocked. But this is in critical cases.

As a rule, already in the first moments of a slight increase in the concentration of salts, a person feels dry mouth. This is the first signal calling for an increase in the level of fluid in the body. This happens, for example, in the heat, when a person sweats and the liquid evaporates.

Drinking too much water is harmful

It turns out that it is better for the body to drink more liquid? Not at all. It is known that the more you drink in the heat, the more you want. The body at this moment sweats more abundantly, and along with an increased amount of evaporated moisture, more salt leaves the body. And in this case, the skin of the face and hands, as well as hair, are the first to suffer.

If a person deliberately accustoms himself to an increased consumption of water, then in normal cool weather this also harms many internal organs. Domestic gastroenterologists warn: heavy drinking seriously dilutes gastric juice, it ceases to be concentrated and harmful to microbes that enter the stomach with food. Water allows them to survive, which means that the risk of developing infections increases.

Some believe that drinking plenty of water helps improve kidney function. French nephrologist Pierre Ronceau explains in his scientific work how they actually function. In order to maintain the required level of fluids in the body, the kidneys reabsorb some of the water that has already been filtered. This provides a standard concentration of urine. But the more a person drinks, the less water the kidneys have to conserve water, and the tubules, designed specifically for reabsorption, deteriorate over time. If the body in hot weather finds itself without the usual access to water, then the kidneys will not be able to saturate it with the saved fluid, and dehydration will begin rapidly.

Excessive fluid intake soon fills the tissues of the liver, kidneys, they swell, and their functional properties weaken. Meanwhile, these organs play an important role in the excretory system, and when it fails, the body does not completely remove water from itself. The fluid is retained in the tissue cells, edema occurs, which provoke an increase in pressure in the walls of blood vessels. Then the headaches begin. The lymph nodes swollen due to increased moisture also do not cope with their task - immunity decreases, and a few hours remain before the development of gastrointestinal infections.

Does water help you lose weight?

However, many ladies, having increased the amount of fluid consumed, despite side effects in the form of small edema, declare a real weight loss. So, for effective weight loss, a lot of water is still needed?

At first, drinking plenty of water really improves bowel function, it increases peristalsis, the passage of food through the departments is faster, which means that digestion products are more efficiently excreted, weight decreases. But three months later, things have changed. The pancreas and gallbladder are saturated with water, and problems arise in their work. Food is not fully processed because the level of secreted bile and other secrets is reduced. Gradually, the intestinal mucosa also swells - more and more constipation occurs. This leads to a general slagging of the body and weight gain.

In addition, endocrinologists warn: cells of hormonal glands overflowing with moisture cannot fully participate in metabolic processes due to lack of energy.

Therefore, the burning of fat and carbohydrates slows down, and this does not contribute to weight loss.

How Much Water Do Athletes Need?

It turns out that ordinary people should not force themselves to drink a lot of fluids - this is harmful. Perhaps increased water intake is necessary for athletes. But this is not so either. Dr. Timothy Noakes, professor of sports medicine at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), in his book "Exercise Dehydration: Myths and Facts" proves that high saturation of the body with water does not improve athletic performance at all, but, on the contrary, worsens them and puts the body at risk hyponatremia (impaired water and electrolyte balance).

The professor claims that it is simply impossible to drink before the onset of thirst. This reduces the concentration of attention, the physical activity of the muscles in both athletes and ordinary people. And if we want to be vigorous and healthy, we need to drink liquids as much as the body physically requires.

Reading the questions and comments left on Instagram, I noticed that there are a lot of myths around the topic of water.

Some people can’t decide how much water to drink per day, others ask if tea and coffee count towards the body’s fluid needs, others wonder if it’s possible to lose weight by drinking water with lemon juice, and still others worry about toxins in bottled water. water.

“There is a lot of water around the water,” I thought and decided to answer all the questions in this article at once.

In this article you will learn:

It's time to wring out the water and dot the i's!

Pour a glass of water and get comfortable. Enjoy reading.

Why is it important to drink water

I think the understanding of why it is important to drink water in order to stay healthy and beautiful will come to us as soon as we see what role it plays in our lives. In the course of the article, we will see that its usefulness can hardly be overestimated. Let's go from the general to the particular.

How much water is in our body, how is it distributed, why do we need electrolytes

Water is the most important nutrient (nutrient) in our body. The body of an average adult contains approximately 38-50 liters of water (about 55-60% of the total body weight). All cells and fluids in the body are mostly water.

The main functions that water performs in our body:

• Improves oxygen delivery to cells;
• Carries useful substances (nutrients);
• Provides moisture (hydration) to cells;
• Humidifies oxygen to make it easier for us to breathe;
• Protects bones and joints;
• Absorbs shocks that fall on our bones and joints;
• Regulates body temperature (performs the function of thermoregulation);
• Frees the body from waste products;
• Removes toxins (internal and external (chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides);
• Moisturizes joints;
• Supports the natural healing process in the body.

Using metabolic processes, our body can produce water, however, in this way it replenishes about 8% (200 ml) of its daily water needs. The remaining 92% we get from food 28% (700 ml) and drinks 64% (1600 ml).

Although the amount and distribution of water is regulated within our body, the body cannot store water. That is why understanding how much water you need to drink per day is a prerequisite for maintaining health, prolonging youth and preserving beauty.

It is also important to maintain water balance because our organs use and pass through themselves a certain amount of fluid every day: the gastrointestinal tract (4%), lungs (12%), skin (24%), kidneys (60%).

How well water will be absorbed and the body will be hydrated depends on electrolytes.

Electrolytes are specific nutrients that perform a number of important functions in the body:

• Responsible for the osmolarity of blood plasma and, accordingly, the transport of water between blood vessels and tissues;
• Helps maintain pH balance
• Serve as cofactors necessary for optimal enzyme activation.

The difference between the two states - when you drink water and when you do not drink it - is simply huge. It is water that turns a sluggish mind into a clear one and makes a tired body energetic.

Water dilutes toxins in the blood, making it easier for the kidneys to remove them from the body. When you drink enough water, you help your kidneys do their job better.

Water is not only the medium for most chemical reactions in the body, but also a vital link in the elimination of waste products and metabolic by-products.

How does water help us stay young, slim and beautiful?

Hydration of the body largely determines the condition of your hair and skin. Dehydration makes them dry and can cause more visible wrinkles.

But if you maintain the right level of hydration, then you improve the functioning of the digestive and hormonal systems, support the body's natural detoxification, allow the blood to constantly renew itself, and the body to cope with stress of any kind faster.

How does water help us stay slim and lose weight?

Water is the most important nutrient in our bodies, yet many people don't drink enough water. This is especially true for those who are trying to lose weight. But here's the paradox: Drinking enough water (and electrolytes) will work to keep you lean.

For at least three reasons:

1. Water and satiety

Two glasses of water before a meal can, firstly, make you less hungry, and secondly, reduce the amount of food consumed.

Studies have shown that participants who drank two cups of water (0.5 L) before each meal lost more weight than those who did not. In fact, those who drank water before meals lost an average of 2.3 kg more weight over a 12-week period than those who followed the same diet but did not drink water.

2. Water and metabolism

Your metabolism can slow down even if you've gotten yourself slightly dehydrated.

Dehydration reduces blood volume, the muscles are less supplied with oxygen - all this leads to the fact that you feel tired, both physically and mentally.

It makes sense to try to be active while you're losing weight, but how do you do it if you're tired?

Enough water in the body also helps it burn fat. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2003 found that drinking 500 ml of water increased the metabolic rate by 30% in healthy women and men.

On the graph, we see how 10 minutes after drinking 500 ml of water, energy consumption began to increase. 60 minutes after drinking water, energy expenditure reached its peak and increased by 30% in men and 30% in women.

3. Water and toxic substances

Toxins (chemicals from the environment, household chemicals and cosmetics, carcinogens in the air, heavy metals in tap water (mercury, lead, cadmium), pet allergens, mold spores, pesticides) can activate harmful metabolic processes and lead to a set weight.

Water plays a key role in detoxification. When we drink enough water, it is easier for the body to effectively cleanse itself and remove the by-products of metabolism. Ironically, a well-hydrated body is less likely to retain fluid.

Symptoms that you are not drinking enough water

And although the universal answer to the question "How much water should I drink a day?" does not exist, there are markers and screening questions that will help determine that you are not drinking enough water during the day:

1. Do you often have constipation?
2. Do you have joint problems?
3. Do you often feel thirsty but ignore it?
4. Is it hard for you to concentrate?
5. Do you constantly feel tired?
6. Do you often feel hot or feel like you're overheating?
7. Are your lips, skin, mouth dry?
8. Do you often get sick?
9. Do you have dry and brittle hair?

Also consider whether the following symptoms are familiar to you:

• dry mouth;
• tension in the neck or jaw;
• Drowsiness;
• Rare urination;
• Dark yellow color and pungent smell of urine;
• muscle weakness, pain, spasms and cramps;
• Fatigue;
• Sense of anxiety;
• Irritability;
• Stress;
• Headache;
• Dizziness;
• Digestive problems (heartburn, colitis, constipation).

Note: dehydration is a much more serious problem than just "I forgot to drink water and now I'm thirsty." This means that you have already lost the optimal amount of fluid that allows your body to work properly.

Even when you lose 1% of fluids, your body temperature rises and it becomes harder for you to concentrate.

The thirst mechanism, as a rule, turns on at the moment when you have already lost 1-2% of water. Here it is also worth considering that the mind tends to ignore the feeling of thirst for a certain time if we are busy with business.

The loss of 10% of fluid in the body threatens with serious problems with the muscular, cardiovascular, immune and musculoskeletal systems.

Please note that if you constantly experience intense thirst that you cannot quench, this may be a sign of diabetes or a tendency to develop it.

As a result, you will be constantly thirsty, as your body will try to replenish the fluid that it constantly loses. If, along with thirst and frequent urination, you have blurred vision, poorly healing cuts and bruises, constant fatigue and hunger, please see a doctor to get tested and check your health.

Who is most likely to be affected by dehydration?

Of course, we are all prone to dehydration, but some groups of people are at particular risk due to age, health status or occupational characteristics:

• Children and the elderly;
• People with chronic illnesses or those recovering from surgery or a viral illness;
• Those who eat poorly;
• People with hormonal imbalances or digestive problems;
• Athletes;
• All those who work in conditions of high heat or humidity (farmers, miners, firefighters, builders, lumberjacks);
• People who sweat a lot, who have a fever or poisoning (in this case, the body loses a lot of electrolytes - calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium - and it is more difficult to absorb water, despite the fact that we drink a lot).

Even if you are not in the above risk groups, I recommend that you always stay hydrated and keep a glass or bottle (ideally stainless steel) of clean water handy. Especially if you travel, play sports, live in a hot climate, or...are often nervous.

Yes! The link between drinking water and stress reduction is well documented. When you're nervous, dehydration can happen because your heart rate is high, you breathe quickly, and you lose fluid quickly. Or vice versa: the cause of stress in the body can be impending dehydration: the body panics and begins to produce the stress hormone cortisol. In any case, whatever the cause of stress, you will kill two birds with one stone if you drink a glass of water.

How to drink water correctly?

Rather, how to maintain a healthy level of hydration in the body.

For starters, I I suggest you get rid of feelings of overwhelming control and thoughts “how to do it right” and switch to a wave of lightness and pleasure.

Here are a number of recommendations on how to make sure that the liquid that we get with food and drink nourishes our body, stays in the body for the right amount of time and helps to stay slim, healthy and beautiful.

1. Drink one to two glasses of water in small sips when you wake up in the morning or before breakfast. In the morning, urine and blood have the highest concentration of toxic substances; when we drink water, we help the body to quickly remove them.
2. Drink one or two glasses of water before (!) meals. You remember how food affects satiety, right?
3. Try to drink water between meals. Try to drink less while eating.
4. Drink water little by little throughout the day. Do not immediately drink a lot of water, so you overload the work of the kidneys, and they do not have time to cope with the task of filtering the blood.
5. Drink two glasses of water after your workout. Muscles are made up of mostly water, and you need to replenish the water that is lost in sweat. To restore losses after an intense hour of training, you need about half a liter of water.
6. Do not drink more than 0.8-1 liters of water per hour! This can lead to symptoms of overhydration (potentially fatal brain damage that occurs when the body's normal electrolyte balance is drastically reduced due to excessive water intake).
7. Eat more vegetables, herbs, berries and fruits. Not only do they keep us hydrated, but they also help keep our electrolytes in balance. The best of all cope with this task: celery, watermelon, cucumber, kiwi, bell pepper, all citrus fruits, carrots, pineapple, radish, tomatoes, cauliflower, spinach, all kinds of berries, broccoli.
8. Salt food with unrefined salt. Sun-dried sea salt or Himalayan salt should be a must in your diet as they contain electrolytes that keep you hydrated and help water to be absorbed.
9. Move more! Movement improves blood circulation and helps nutrients get into your cells faster.
10. If you exercise intensely, add a small (very small) pinch of sea or Himalayan salt to a bottle of water and drink it during your workout. This will help replenish the electrolytes you lose during your workout. If you eat a lot of salty food from the store (canned food, sauces, etc.), you have kidney stones or high blood pressure, then this practice will not work for you.
11. Keep a bottle of water near you when you work, watch TV, drive a car, go for a walk.
12. At home, you can pour water into a beautiful liter glass jug: put it together with a beautiful glass in a prominent place and take a couple of sips every time you pass by.
13. If in the morning you don’t have time to fill a reusable bottle with clean filtered water and take it with you to work, buy a liter bottle of non-carbonated mineral water on the way and try to drink it during the day. Better yet, buy a reusable stainless steel bottle, refill it regularly, and carry it with you at all times.
14. If you often drink coffee at work, place a carafe of water next to the coffee machine and drink a glass of water while your coffee is being prepared.
15. In the cold season, you can drink heated water.
16. Once a day, you can drink a glass of water with berries, grated ginger or a slice (not juice) of a lemon without adding honey.

What should not be drunk?

1. Limit your intake of diuretics(diuretic drinks): coffee, caffeinated tea and some herbal teas (such as mint), sugary sodas, packaged juices, alcohol. In this way, you will help the liquid to be better absorbed by the body and keep the stomach flat and the skin radiant.
2. Do not drink water with lemon and honey on a regular basis. Such a drink increases the load on the blood sugar balance (which we want to avoid as much as possible) and in the long run (if drunk every day for several years) destroys tooth enamel, it can also worsen ulcers and GERD. , Lemon juice can be used sparingly in salads, or added sparingly to water during a well-balanced detox program several times a year. A spoonful of honey can occasionally be added to a ginger drink if you have a cold, or to tea if you want something sweet. There is no need to add honey to pure water.

How much water should you drink per day?

In the scientific community, there are no strict rules or precise norms about how much water you should drink per day. Even recommendations for the same person can vary and depend on many factors.

The following statement will be most true in this case: in order to stay healthy, you need to replenish the amount of fluid that we lose while we breathe, sweat and move.

More specifically, how much water you need to drink per day is determined by your weight (the more you weigh, the more water you need), the level of physical activity (you need to replenish water and electrolytes that you lose through sweat), the climate in which you live (in hot climates you can sweat a lot, so you need to drink more water), as well as the factor of pregnancy, breastfeeding, illness or medication that removes water from the body.

If we ask the question of how much water a healthy adult living in a temperate climate needs, then we get approximately the following numbers (which can be guided by):

The amount of water you need can be calculated using the formula 30 ml per 1 kg of weight.

But let me remind you that this will only be an indication, since there is no exact tool that allows you to answer the question of how much water you need to drink per day);

The Institute of Medicine also determined the average amount of water to drink per day:

• For women, approximately 2.2 liters of water, which she will receive exclusively from drinks, or 2.7 liters of water, which she will receive from drinks and food;
• For men - approximately 3 liters of water, which he will receive exclusively from drinks, or 3.7 liters of water, which he will receive from drinks and food.

Important point! It is not at all necessary that the ratio of the liquid that you get from drinks to the liquid that you get from food is exactly this (80/20). The main thing is that you generally get your daily allowance.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women need extra fluids to avoid dehydration. On average, pregnant women are advised to drink about 10 cups (2.4 liters) of fluid per day, and breastfeeding women should drink about 13 cups (3.1 liters) of fluid per day.

Athletes It is important to drink water before, during, and after exercise to replenish the amount of fluid lost through sweat. If the exercise is intense and the workout lasts more than an hour, lost electrolytes can be replaced by water with a pinch of sea salt dried in the sun (Celtic Sea Salt), or sports drinks without sugar.

Sodium should be included in fluids consumed during workouts lasting more than 2 hours. It helps prevent hyponatremia, a serious condition caused by a lack of salt in the blood, which leads to an imbalance in the amount of water in the body and its accumulation in the brain. Thus, sodium is one of the main electrolytes that should be included in a rehydration drink after a strenuous workout.

There are also many great natural alternatives to commercial sports drinks that help maintain electrolyte balance during and after strenuous workouts. For example, bone broth is full of amino acids and minerals such as calcium and magnesium.

Coconut water has a good combination of electrolytes. This formulation can help improve athletic performance, but sodium-reduced coconut water needs to be supplemented with salt to optimize hydration.

It is important not to drink too much water (no more than 1 liter per hour)

Still, you can also overdo it with water and face water intoxication.

Water intoxication(hyperhydration) occurs due to excessive water intake against the background of a pronounced imbalance of electrolytes. When it comes to overhydration, most often it is hyponatremia - a low concentration of sodium in the blood.

How and why does water intoxication occur?

When a large amount of water enters the body quickly, our kidneys are the first to be overloaded: they are the ones who filter the blood and control the amount of water, salts and other dissolved substances that leave the body.

If we drink an amount of water that exceeds the capacity of the kidneys (from 0.7 to 1.0 liters per hour, while in stressful situations the excretion rate decreases), then the kidneys do not have time to quickly remove it and the blood can literally fill with water.

This leads to the first observable symptoms of water intoxication: headache, behavioral changes, confusion, irritability and drowsiness. Due to the fact that there is no room for expansion in the intracranial space, overhydration can lead to a critical increase in intracranial pressure and cerebral edema, which manifests itself in the form of seizures, coma, respiratory arrest, and even death.

Hyponatremia most commonly occurs in people with mental disorders (psychogenic polydipsia, which is accompanied by a feeling of unbearable thirst), kidney failure and athletes experiencing increased stress for 6 hours or more and consuming liquid without additional inclusions of sodium.

And although there is no officially documented critical level of water consumption, I still suggest focusing on the throughput of the kidneys and not overloading them.

Please remember: in order to avoid water intoxication, it is important to drink water regularly and in small portions, as well as maintain the balance of electrolytes in the body (using unrefined salt, vegetables, berries and fruits, etc.).

How to properly purify water

We can't always rely on the quality of tap water, and we can't always trust store-bought bottled water. The most reliable way to drink clean water and be sure of its quality is to purify it yourself using filters.

While there are many ways to filter and purify your water, there is no perfect system that can solve every possible problem and protect you from all kinds of potential chemicals and heavy metals in your water. But be sure that after spending a little time researching and clarifying what features the water has in your city / area, you will be able to find the most suitable solution.

I have prepared for you a short guide to the most reliable water filtration methods (choose the one that best suits the water conditions in your city).

1. Charcoal filters

This is a good basic water filtration solution. They are fairly easy to install and inexpensive. Coal can bind to and remove most contaminants from water, leaving beneficial minerals intact. It will cope with asbestos, chlorine, lead, mercury and volatile organic compounds. But will not be able to remove arsenic, fluorine, nitrate or percholate. The effectiveness of charcoal filters varies depending on the manufacturer: some can only remove chlorine.

Charcoal filters need to be changed every 3-6 months, otherwise, they can become a source of mold spores and cause respiratory diseases and allergies.

2. Water distillers

They are good because they purify water from pollution. However, at the same time, they deprive it of all minerals (and this is a huge minus for our health).

3. Ceramic

They perfectly filter out microorganisms and microscopic particles.

Easy to care for: in order to renew them, it is enough to thoroughly walk on them with a brush under running water. The downside is that ceramic filters do not remove chemicals and viruses, and also significantly reduce water pressure, so they are not particularly convenient in practice.

4. Reverse osmosis filters

They use a semi-permeable membrane that can trap any molecule larger than water (thus removing salts, wastewater and industrial emissions that may have entered drinking water). They come in different sizes and are affordable. They remove almost all types of toxins from the water, but along with them, all useful minerals.

5. Ozone and UV filters

They use a special lamp, kills all bacteria and microorganisms. Useful minerals remain intact. The difficulty is that over time the lamp loses its bactericidal properties and it is rather difficult to predict when this happens without conducting a water test. Another disadvantage: these filters do not remove chemical toxins and heavy metals.

6. Deionization/ion exchange filters

Can remove heavy metals, minerals and charged ions. Cannot remove chlorine by-products, microorganisms and volatile organic chemicals.

Supporters of ion exchange filters argue that changing the structure of water molecules has a positive effect on its digestibility. They also say that such water prevents aging and promotes healing of the body. At the moment, there is no high-quality scientific data on the effectiveness of this method.

7. Water softeners

These ion exchange filters remove barium, calcium, magnesium and radium and add sodium to the water. They do not remove other substances.

8. Mechanical filters

They block deposits and remove large particles from the water, but do not remove chemicals.

Please remember that buying and installing a water filter is the first step towards clean and safe water. All filters require regular cartridge replacement (eg activated carbon filters) and special maintenance (eg softeners and reverse osmosis filters) to continue to effectively remove contaminants from tap water.

Always refer to the user manual before changing the cartridge or cleaning the filter system.

If you still drink water from plastic bottles

It is better not to buy water in plastic bottles as it not only harms the environment(in which at the moment there is already a terrifying abundance of non-recyclable and decaying plastic particles), but it can also adversely affect health.

Even though plastic manufacturers talk about its safety, independent studies show that chemicals can pass from the bottle into the water and accumulate in the body, affecting the state of the endocrine system.

If you still can’t switch to glass bottled water or don’t plan to buy a water filter, then try to do the following:

1. Buy a reusable stainless steel water bottle, refill it regularly and take it everywhere with you.
2. Research several water suppliers/manufacturers and choose a company with a transparent history and publicly available water quality tests/audits (ideally independent audits);
3. When choosing water, give preference to spring water, not purified or drinking water (bottled drinking water may not be any better than tap water in composition);
4. Do not expose plastic bottles or 20 liter water bottles to heat, store them in your car in the summer, and do not leave them in the sun.

Conclusion: before you wonder how much water you need to drink a day, it is worth knowing how you can provide yourself with really high-quality water?

If you want to drink clean and healthy water with a well-known composition, filters seem to be the best solution.

However, there are many subtleties here: you need to know exactly the composition of the water that comes from the tap, and make sure that the type of filter you choose will purify the water well in your area/city/region.

It is advisable to find an independent organization that tests the water and can advise you exactly on its composition.

Look at water as the main source of energy, harmony, youth and beauty of skin and hair. Fill it up daily

In the article, I tried to answer the three most common questions: “How much water should I drink per day?”, “How to drink correctly?” and “What kind of water should I drink?”.

We also figured out that not only the regular use of clean water with a known composition helps us to maintain healthy hydration, but also a diet rich in minerals.

Now you have valuable tools in your hands with which you can qualitatively improve your lifestyle and make water your ally in preserving and enhancing beauty and health:

• Drink water in the morning to keep your digestive system working properly
• Drink 1 glass of water before meals to help you feel full faster
• Do not drink too much water (more than 3.5 liters of water per day),
• Eat more vegetables, herbs, berries and fruits,
• Use unrefined salt for food,
• Add a pinch of unrefined salt to your workout water bottle to help maintain electrolyte balance (unless you have a medical condition),
• Keep a stainless steel bottle of filtered water near your workspace and take a few sips throughout the day to ensure you drink enough water.

I hope you use these tools with love and wisdom.

I wish you to drink enough clean water and feel great.

How much water do you drink per day? And is there any topic you would like to learn about in the same detail in future articles?

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