All About Water

Water is not just for hot days or for exercising. It helps you to look, feel, and stay young. Drinking water consistently can have profound anti-aging health benefits for your body and skin.

Hydrate Your Skin

Over 70% of the human body is water; every cell in our bodies has water in it. Water is a life-sustaining liquid, and is essential for survival. Water greatly benefits the skin because well-hydrated skin is more likely to remain blemish-free. If the cells that make up your skin have more water than they need, they will remain smooth and firm, making wrinkles appear less noticeable and you appear younger. A well-hydrated body will also increase its collagen production levels, providing you with noticeably healthier skin. Keeping your skin cells hydrated will keep them healthy, and this will dramatically slow down the wrinkling process.

Cleanse Your Body

Staying well-hydrated throughout the day will help you stay young, as a large portion of aging is due to an unhealthy build-up of toxins in your body. A well-hydrated body will be cleansed by high levels of water. This also benefits our digestive system, as water acts as a natural lubricant that eases the digestive process. High levels of water will detoxify the liver and kidneys and keep your body’s pH at healthy levels.

Increase Metabolism and Weight Loss

Drinking enough water each day will help to increase your metabolism. An increased metabolism means deriving more energy to burn from your meals. This will result in weight loss and a noticeable increase in mood. Keeping your body hydrated will greatly benefit your cardiovascular system, which in the long run can help lower blood pressure and increase circulation, potentially adding years to your life.

How Much Water Is Enough?

People commonly hear that they should be drinking eight glasses of water a day. However, people who are overweight should be drink an extra glass of water for every extra twenty pounds on them. Active individuals or people who exercise regularly should also add a few extra glasses to their recommended two liters.

As Dr. F. Batmanghelidj MD outlines in his book, “Water: For Health, for Healing, for Life: You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty!” the health benefits of water extend to every system of the body. He reminds readers that an initial protocol when any patient is hospitalized is to hydrate them intravenously with a saline solution. The following a broad overview of the ways that water benefits wellness, as Dr. Batmanghelidj points out.

Mental and Emotional Wellness

Hydration helps relieve depression by replenishing the neurotransmitter serotonin. The brain, comprised of 85% water, requires more water to imprint new information. Water helps with memory, focus, and concentration, and reduces symptoms of ADD/ADHD. The production of melatonin, the body’s sleep regulator, requires hydration; water consumption helps promote regular, healthy, restful sleep. Additionally, water increases our energy levels by literally generating an electromagnetic charge in our cells.

Protection from Disease

Even a 1% decrease in the hydration of the brain can damage blood vessels and cause plaque and bleeding, which is responsible for Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis. By normalizing the blood, water can even help treat and prevent leukemia, lymphoma, and other forms of cancer.

Pain Relief

Dehydration can cause or exacerbate back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and other joint pain. Hydration lubricates the cartilage that cushions joints and the tendons and ligaments that hold them together, making for greater mobility, flexibility, and comfort.

Cardiovascular Wellness

Hydration keeps blood vessels clean and clear, helping lower cholesterol. This reduces risk of heart disease and stroke. Water can also lower high blood pressure.

Healthy Skin

The skin needs moisture to perspire, one of the primary processes by which the body releases toxins. Skin experiencing dehydration holds on to what water it has left, halting the essential process of perspiration. This dries and withers skin, leading to wrinkles and other signs of early aging. In cases of extreme dehydration, the skin is at risk of scleroderma.

Anti-Aging

Dr. Sang Whang, in his book “Reverse Aging,” asserts that aging mostly results from a build-up of waste in the body. Water helps flush that waste from the system. It helps detoxify the liver and kidneys, cleanse the bloodstream, facilitate good digestive function, promote lymphatic wellness, and regulate the body’s pH balance. These processes combined help stave off early aging and keep the body looking and feeling young.

Weight Loss

Water is a necessary component for the proper functioning of the metabolism, the process by which the body breaks down proteins and carbohydrates into energy, rather than storing it as fat. Even bodies overweight from retaining liquid may benefit from drinking more water, as retention is a biological process spurred by dehydration. Water is also instrumental for healthy digestion, as it circulates enzymes through food and helps nutrients absorb into the bloodstream. Water consumption naturally reduces appetite, as a hydrated body is more nourished by the food it eats and craves less. The National Institute of Health advises parents of overweight children to replace sodas and other sweetened beverages in their child’s diet with water.

Wound Healing

When you wash your wounds, they heal faster and won’t get infected.

How Much Water Should I Be Drinking?

Water is the “principal chemical component” of the body, comprising about 60% of our bodies’ weight. Folk wisdom advises that a person should drink eight eight-ounce glasses of water per day. While this advice is not espoused by any particular medical or scientific body, the Institute of Medicine in Canada notes that women drink a daily average of nine cups of water, and that men drink thirteen.