Many of us are not aware of the importance of drinking water, that is, drinking enough water. Water is really a miracle medicine. It can act as preventive to many diseases that can turn chronic and cause lot of suffering and sometimes death.
Why does our body need water?
Our body is made of millions of cells. These cells need air, water and food - in that order - for their life functions. Thus, next to air, the most important need of our body is water.
Water is essential for
- Normal functioning of the cells
- Flushing out waste matter from the body
The life activity in the cells produces toxins and waste matter. In addition, many cells die and new cells are born daily. The dead cells also form part of the waste matter. On a day-to-day basis, our body tries to expel this waste matter in the form of carbon dioxide, sweat, urine and faeces (stool). Our body will maintain clean environment inside and be healthy if the waste is expelled regularly.
There are four main cleaning organs- lungs, skin, kidneys and colon. Water helps toxins and waste matter to reach these cleaning organs. If there is shortage of water in the body, the cleaning process gets affected and waste accumulation sets in. Hence, we should be aware of the importance of drinking water.
What happens if you don’t drink enough water?
Apart from affecting majority of the life functions, insufficient water leads to partial removal of toxins and waste matter. Decomposition takes place if the waste stays inside for a long time and breed disease causing germs and bacteria.
The waste is re-circulated inside the body causing much strain for the cleaning organs and over a period, they become infected and fail. Kidney failure is a good example. Lack of bowel movement causes constipation and much straining at stool resulting in piles, fistula etc..
Bad smelling sweat and bad breath are because of accumulated waste and toxins.
Why do people fail to take note of the importance of drinking water?
One reason is lack of awareness. Secondly, our modern lifestyle is not allowing us to do the ‘waste removal’ properly. We are more interested in eating and less inclined to remove the waste. We give importance to external cleanliness and neglect internal hygiene. Surprisingly, many of us don’t have much knowledge of internal hygiene.
Even if people know the importance of drinking water for cleaning process, they don’t drink enough water as it produces more urine, causing frequent visits to toilet. They don’t have time and inclination for that. They think it is an avoidable nuisance.
Our lifestyle makes things more difficult. We spend much of the time in air-cooled offices and homes that prevent sweating. Added to that, we use body sprays to prevent sweat- because the sweat smells rotten. Sweat smells bad because of accumulated toxins. The only way left out is through kidneys.
Modern lifestyle makes people go for soft drinks, beer etc. in place of water since they don't realize the importance of drinking water. They fail to understand that nothing can ever replace water.
How do we know that our body needs water?
Our body doesn’t show water deficiency symptoms immediately. If you happen to experience the following symptoms, it is a clear indication that your body is starved of water for quite some time and needs immediate replenishment.
- Dryness and heat inside the body
- Dry mouth and lips
- Urine with one or more of the following characteristics- viscous, pungent smell, yellow color, burning sensation during or after urination.
- Burning sensation of the skin or headache when exposed to Sunlight
Once you realize the importance of drinking water and consume water as specified, you will observe that all the above symptoms vanish gradually.
What type of water is fit for drinking?
Our body requires sufficient quantity of clean water daily for its normal functions. If your body’s immune system (disease fighting capacity) is poor, the best thing you can do is, drink mineral water or boiled water. But it is better not to allow your body to get accustomed to such super clean water for a long time. Improve your body’s immune system and shift to normal water. That will keep the fighting mechanism always active.
Many of us are not aware of the importance of drinking water. They think anything in liquid form can do the job. But, soft drinks, beer or some other liquids can’t perform the role of water even though their main component is water.
How much water is needed?
Average adult body consists of 60% to 65% water. By the same criteria, our intake should consist of more water than food. But unfortunately we do the reverse.
We lose 2 to 2.5 litres of water in a day during our daily activities like breathing, sweat, urine, digestion and bowel movement. We need to replace what we lose, provided we eat uncooked natural foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts etc.. But we do things against nature by eating boiled, fried and processed foods.
Our food is contaminated with chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides. Processed foods also contain chemical in the form of preservatives, artificial colors and flavors. Fats, salt, spices, soft drinks, fast foods, alcohol etc., add more toxins. We consume many medicines on a daily basis. To clean up all this added toxins, additional water is needed.
Many are of the opinion that 8 to 10 glasses of water a day is enough. If one glassful is 250ml, it amounts to 2 to 2.5 litres. This is much below the body's requirement. Average adult needs 4 to 5 litres of water per day for healthy functioning of the body. The quantity requirement depends on the age.
This table gives water requirement for different age groups:
When and how to drink water?
If you are wondering 'Are there rules even for drinking water?', Yes. There are and it is essential to follow them. This ‘how much’ and ‘when’ are two very important issues one should have knowledge and understanding about. Again, knowledge is of no use unless you put it into practice.
People drink water when ever they feel like- just before food, during eating and immediately after. Some take a gulp after every mouthful of food. Some can't even swallow food without water- chewing is not their 'cup of tea'.
These are unhealthy habits. Chewing food is a must. By chewing properly, you produce saliva and start the digestion process right in your mouth.
Healthy habits of drinking water:
Never drink water just before a meal, during a meal or immediately after a meal, except in emergency. Water dilutes the digestive acids and delays digestive process. If food stays more time in the stomach, it leads to fermentation. Fermentation produces gas and regurgitation.
After drinking water, give 30 minutes gap before taking food. After food, give two hours gap before drinking water.
Drink a glass of water every 20 minutes. Finish 1.5 Lt before breakfast, 1.5Lt between breakfast and lunch and 1.5lt between lunch and dinner- adjust your total intake (as per age group) between these intervals. Avoid drinking water after dinner if you have a tendency of getting up frequently in the night for urination.
Water is certainly a miracle medicine. Once you understand the importance of drinking water and follow it everyday, you will feel the difference in a short time.
Finally, never under estimate the importance of drinking water. Water is essential for getting rid of many existing health problems and maintain good health.