Surprising Benefits of Simply Drinking Water

Sometimes it is the simplest things you may neglect that could advance your well being. Water is continually touted as a healthy beverage, yet, it is how and when you drink it that may make a difference.

Reviewing these surprising benefits of simply drinking water could turn it from a boring, tasteless choice into a powerful tool that catapults your quality of life. These surprising benefits of water not only include your health but the whole picture of how this precious resource needs to be taken more seriously by all.

Best Water Intake 

Staying hydrated varies per individual’s weight, height, systemic usage, activity level, and environment.

Trent Nessler, PT, DPT, MPT, and managing director of Baptist Sports Medicine in Nashville, TN describes to WebMD how to determine your water intake,

“…try to drink between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day.” For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, that would be 75 to 150 ounces of water a day. If you’re living in a hot climate and exercising a lot, you’d be on the higher end of that range; if you’re in a cooler climate and mostly sedentary, you’d need less.”

Get yourself a container you like to drink filtered water at home or on the go. Plastic bottled water is phasing out due to its high resource, energy and environmental impact.

Glow on the Outside

Look in the mirror or ask a close friend to determine if your skin is dry or not a healthy color. Drinking more water could be all you need to perk up your outer shell. It may not make those wrinkles go away but it just might have you glowing.

Researchers at the Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC published a study in Nutritional Review which stated that,

“Water intake, particularly in individuals with low initial water intake, can improve skin thickness and density as measured by sonogram, and offsets transepidermal water loss, and can improve skin hydration.”

Taste Good, Fill Up, Control Weight

Filling up on water is an obvious remedy for weight maintenance but instead you may turn to more tasty beverages that aren’t as advantageous to your weight or overall health. Smoothies, fruit juices, bottled teas and many other “healthy” beverages are loaded with calorie building sugars.

To get more water try:

• Adding fresh lemon or other sliced fruits infused overnight
• A favored powdered vitamin pack like Emergen-C (there is sugar in these but not much)
• Dropping in a flavored tea bag like mint, pomegranate or orange.

Never add sugar or honey however the natural leaf sweetener Stevia has an odd sweet taste without the calories that may help you enjoy water more. Also, sometimes drinking water at room temperature is easier and some feel more healthy to consume this way.

A report by Harvard University stated that,

“…researchers found that the participants who drank the most plain water in their daily diet consumed fewer total calories, drank fewer sweetened beverages, and took in less total fat, saturated fat, sugar, salt, and cholesterol. In fact, they discovered that increasing plain water consumption by one to three cups a day could decrease calorie intake by 68 to 205 calories a day.”

Stoke Your Fire

Water can increase your energy level because when you are dehydrated your body works harder to function using energy that should be utilized elsewhere. Therefore, if you wake in the morning and feel sluggish, drink water. At three o’clock when most run to fill their body with caffeine, a few glasses of clean water can jolt you back to peak performance.

According to Dr Roger Henderson, who is an adviser to the Natural Hydration Council,

“I see many people in my surgery who are feeling tired all the time. There are, of course, several reasons that could be causing this but a surprisingly common cause is that they are dehydrated. Many of my patients do not drink enough fluid each day and only believe they are dehydrated when they start to feel thirsty.Yet other symptoms of dehydration appear before this, including fatigue and tiredness, headaches and poor concentration.”

Gastrointestinal and Organ Support

You may be the type that wakes in the morning to a steaming cup of hot coffee before you consume anything else. Although the caffeine may jolt you, it is probably best to drink a large glass of water first. This is akin to washing out your dirty coffee cup before using it as your body will absorb that first glass of water to get your system up and running.

WebMD reports,

“Water allows your kidneys to function properly and filter everything they need to, and allows us to eliminate effectively and not be constipated,”

Drinking water helps prevent kidney stones, supports your intestinal microbiome, and feeds your brain.

Staying hydrated with clean drinking water is one of the simplest tools in your good health arsenal. Make it part of your day before your body suffers and you end up in the conventional medicine taking cycle.