Amazing benefits of drinking water for Health, Skin & Hair

Water is the main component of the body – on average about 70% of our body mass including skin, tissues, cells and organs are made up of water. Water is very important for the proper functioning of the body. Adequate and regular water consumption is known to provide numerous health benefits to the body. When the amount of your water intake is less than the output, you are likely to become dehydrated. Fluid losses are increased in warmer climates, during vigorous exercise, at high altitudes, and in older adults, whose sense of thirst may not be as sharp. A great loss of water from the body will hamper vital functions and may result in some serious complications like strokes. Therefore, it is important to replenish the body by drinking water and consuming beverages and foods that contain water.

25 Benefits Of Drinking Water For Health, Skin And Hair

Health Benefits Of Drinking Water 

1. Water Helps With Weight Loss 

Drinking plenty of water can help you in losing weight by reducing your appetite naturally. Also, water helps in boosting the metabolic rate.

2. Water Helps in Preventing and Treating Headaches 

Many of the times the reason behind the headaches and dizziness is dehydration. Therefore, it is always appreciable to first try to drink plenty of water before reaching for the pills. 

3. Helps in Fighting Infections 

Drinking enough water can help you in fighting away the infections which are present in your body. This all happens because water aids in the removal of toxins from the body. It is also seen that in absence of an adequate amount of water in the body a person is more likely to catch an infection. 

4. Drinking-Water May Help In Treating Kidney Stones

Urinary stones are the aggregates of mineral crystals that are formed in the urinary system. Increased fluid intake increases the volume of urine passing through the kidneys which helps in diluting the concentration of minerals. This prevents the formation of clumps thereby decreasing the risk of the formation of stones. 

5. Helps in Improving the Concentration 

Our brain is made up of around 85% water. This means dehydration due to any reason can affect your concentration and even your short-term memory. Any lack of an adequate amount of water will decrease the brain’s activity level. 

6. Keeps the body active 

Like our brain, water is one of the main components of our blood also. An inadequate amount of water in the body can cause fatigue to the person. 

7. Supports the Heart 

The heart is such a body organ that works continuously. The heart is the hardest working muscle of the body needs a lot of water to keep working properly. Keeping you adequately hydrated helps in keeping the consistency of the blood thin due to which the heart doesn’t have to work hard. But in the case when blood gets thicker, the heart has to work harder to keep up its speed of pumping the blood. This can be very tiring for the heart and may even result in some serious complications like a heart attack. 

8. Water Can Help In Boosting Mood

It is seen that dehydration can have adverse effects on the mood of the person. People who drink plenty of water are at a lesser risk of suffering from mood disorders, along with migraines and headaches. 

9. Drinking More Water May Help In Preventing Constipation

A person can suffer from constipation due to various reasons including not drinking enough water. Drinking enough water helps a lot in preventing and curing constipation. 

10. Drinking-Water Helps in Flushing Toxins from Your Kidneys

Drinking plenty of water increases the amount of blood that passes through the kidneys which further increases the amount of urine formation. This increased amount of urine helps in flushing out toxins from the body thereby supporting the normal functioning of the kidneys. 

11. Water Helps in Preventing Hangovers

Alcohol is a diuretic substance and promotes the formation of urine. Due to the increased formation of urine there occurs excessive fluid loss from the body. Hangovers are caused due to the dehydration produced by the diuretic property of alcohol. Therefore, one should drink a glass of water after each drink to alleviate the chances of a hangover. 

12. Water Helps in Regulation of Internal Body Temperature

Skin is the largest organ of the body and helps in the regulation of body temperature by the process of sweating. Our body produces a lot of heat due to the ongoing metabolic processes inside the body. A great rise in body temperature is controlled by the process of sweating. But when a person is a dehydrated skin is unable to properly regulate the body temperature. Therefore, it is very important to keep yourself adequately hydrated. 

13. Drinking-Water Fights Bad Breath

Bad breath or halitosis is caused due to presence of bacteria inside the oral cavity. Drinking water helps a lot in flushing the bacteria from the mouth and keeps it away from having a build-up of bad-smelling breath.

14. Keeping Muscles Healthy

Just like the brain and the blood, our muscles are also made up of 75% water. Drinking enough water will help in keeping their contractions normal and will also help in preventing muscular cramps. 

15. Helps in Healing Nasal and Throat Congestion

Hot water is the best natural remedy for cold, cough and sore throat. Drinking hot water helps in dissolving thick cough or phlegm. Hot water also helps in eliminating thick cough easily from the respiratory tract and provides relief from sore throat. Hot water also works great in clearing nasal congestion. 

16. Aids Easy Digestion

Hot water is very beneficial for digestion. Researchers have revealed that drinking cold water just after taking a meal can harden the oil present in the consumed foods. This makes the fat or hardened oil deposit on the inner wall of the intestine, which can act as a precipitating factor for intestinal cancer. But drinking a glass of hot water can greatly help in avoiding this problem and accelerating digestion to a great extent. 

17. Clears Nervous System and Enhances Blood Circulation 

Drinking hot water has got some really great benefits as it helps in clearing the nervous system by breaking down the deposits present in the nervous system. Along with clearing the nerves drinking hot water also enhances the circulation of the blood. 

18. Helps in Curing Menstrual Cramps

Menstrual Cramps are a very common problem among girls and women of reproductive age. Drinking hot water can help in curing menstrual cramps. The heat of the water helps in relieving the spasms in abdominal muscles, which eventually cure the cramps. 

Skin Benefits Of Drinking Water 

19. Water Is a Natural Wrinkle – Buster 

It has been seen that women who drink 1.5 litres of water every day experience a reduction in wrinkles after 6 weeks without making any other changes in their diet. Water increases the elasticity of the skin thereby helps in delaying the appearance of signs of ageing like wrinkles and fine lines.

20. Water Clears Your Skin 

Drinking more water helps a lot in getting a clear looking skin. This is because water flushes out toxins and metabolic wastes from the body and clears the skin from dirt and bacteria.

21. Water Provides Moisture to the Skin 

Water plays an essential role in maintaining skin moisture. Drinking plenty of water helps in delivering essential nutrients to the skin cells. It rejuvenates the skin tissue and makes it more elastic. 

22. Drinking Enough Water Combats Skin Disorders 

Drinking an adequate amount of water helps in combating disorders like psoriasis, wrinkles and eczema. 

23. Adds Radiance to the Skin 

Drinking water hydrates the skin tissue from the inside making skin more luminous and radiant. 

Hair Benefits Of Drinking Water 

24. Promotes Hair Growth 

Drinking hot or warm water works as a great source of energy for the hair cells. Warm water promotes the growth of your tresses.

25. Fights Dandruff 

Drinking hot or warm water helps in keeping your scalp hydrated and also helps in fighting against dry scalp or dandruff.

Recommended Daily Water Intake Chart 

Age	Daily Water Intake  (ml / kilogram of body weight)
Children: 1 – 5 years	150 – 200 ml / kg
Children: 5 – 8 years	70 – 90 ml / kg
Children: 9 – 12 years	65 – 70 ml / kg
Children: 13 – 15 years	40 – 60 ml / kg
Young adult: 16 – 30 years	35 – 40 ml / kg
Adult: 31 – 54 years	30 – 35 ml / kg
Adult: 55 – 65 years	35 ml / kg
Adult: > 65 years	30 ml / kg

Purification

Water purification is the process in which we aim at removing the contaminants from raw water to produce water that is of drinkable quality and is pure enough for human consumption or for industrial use.

The purification of water is very important for the maintenance of the good health of all human beings. Purification of water can be done right at your home by using various ways like: 

1. Boiling Water 

It is the most common and convenient method to purify the water. 

2. Liquid Iodine and Iodine Tablets

Liquid iodine or iodine tablets can be used in small amounts to kill toxins in the water. 

3. Solar Disinfection

Solar disinfection is a simple and inexpensive method to purify water. This method is very helpful in situations when it is not possible to boil the water. 

Storage And Safe Shelf Life

The actual shelf life of water is indefinite but packaging and other environmental factors can actually decrease the shelf life of water. The shelf life of water mainly depends on the quality and purity of water, preparation method and how it was stored.

1. It is seen that the plain water contained in an unopened water bottle has a shelf life of 2 years when stored in a pantry or refrigerator. 
2. It is seen that the flavoured water contained in an unopened water bottle has a shelf life of 9 months when stored in a pantry or refrigerator.
3. It is seen that the plain water contained in an opened water bottle has a shelf life of 2 – 3 hours when stored in the pantry and 3 – 5 days when stored in the refrigerator.
4. It is seen that the flavoured water contained in an opened water bottle has a shelf life of 2 – 3 hours when stored in a pantry and 2 – 3 days when stored in the refrigerator.

Precautions

1. You should surely avoiding drinking water or using ice made from lakes, rivers, springs, streams, or poorly monitored or maintained wells.
2. One should always avoid swallowing water in swimming pools, water parks, hot tubs, spas, and fountains in order to keep waterborne diseases at bay. 
3. Avoid drinking untreated tap water during community-wide outbreaks of disease.
4. If water safety is uncertain then you should always drink boiled water. 

Myths And Facts

Myth	Fact
Myth: Excessive consumption of bottled water is harmful to teeth and can even cause dental caries.	Fact: Bottled water is known to lack many essential elements like fluoride, an important element that helps in the mineralisation and strengthening of bones and teeth. Therefore, excessive consumption of bottled water can prove to be harmful to teeth as it increases the risk of developing dental caries.
Myth: Dehydration is more common in winters.	Fact: NO, this is not true as dehydration is more common in summers in comparison to that in winters. Extremely hot and dry weather, limited access to water and increased body requirement for water in summers increase the risk of dehydration. In summers the chances of dehydration are more due to loss of fluid from the body through sweating, vomiting or diarrhoea.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Question: Is the excretion of yellow urine a sign of dehydration? 

Answer: Dehydration is a condition in which there is a decrease in the level of water in the body which leads to increased concentration of urine turning it into dark yellow colour. This means that the excretion of dark yellow urine might be a sign of dehydration. 

Question: Is it bad for health to drink water with meals? 

Answer: It is good to drink water with meals as it helps in the breaking down of food into fine and smaller particles. But you should be wise enough not to drink more than one glass of water otherwise it will dilute the digestive juices present inside the stomach and will weaken the digestion strength. 

Question: Is it bad to drink water before and after having a meal? 

Answer: Drinking water immediately both before and after having a meal is not good for health as water acts as a coolant that dilutes the gastric juices present inside the stomach. This dilution of the digestive juices caused due to drinking water before meals lead to weakening or emaciation of the digestive strength. Drinking water after meals affects the quality of the food and the digestive strength of the body which increases the chances of becoming obese.