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Are You Drinking Enough Water?

Written by Jillian Lai Mei Siew on Tue, 01 August 2023

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Our body is made up of around 60% water. One can say that we're like 'the Aquaman. It is generally recommended that a person should drink 8-ounce i.e. 237-mL of water per day (the 8×8 rule). Although the science behind is little, there are a lot of benefits of staying hydrated, and needless to say, water is good for your body.

Benefits of staying hydrated with water

Some basic reasons of how healthy it is to drink water are:

  • It helps regulate our body temperature, lubricates our joints, keeps away infections, delivers nutrients to cells, and keeps the proper functioning of our organs.
  • Other positive effects of drinking water are improved sleep quality, cognition, thinking, and mood.

Hydration and health

Reports suggest that if you don't drink enough water, it may result in dehydration. Such effects of hydration can lead to negative health conditions such as urine or kidney diseases. Urine can be a good indicator to check if someone is dehydrated. Just looking at the color can indicate if a person's healthy or not. For instance, if it's colorless or light yellow, you're well hydrated.

However, if it's a dark yellow or amber color, you may be dehydrated. Some other signs include headache, extreme thirst, sleepiness, dry mouth, etc.

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Naturally, some people are at a higher risk of dehydration such as high-performing athletes, people with medical conditions (kidney stones, bladder infection, diarrhea), pregnant or breastfeeding women, and older adults as well. As we age, our brain may lose the sense to get hydrated or send signals to the brain to drink water. Make sure you actively drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.

But wait, that's not all. There are plenty of other benefits of increasing water intake as well.

Read them below.

11 benefits of good hydration

1. Provides energy

Increasing daily water intake benefits the body by converting food and fuel to energy. Due to dehydration, our metabolism slows down leading to loss of energy and fat which increases the chance of getting sick.

2. Maintains blood level

Dehydration can make the blood flowing in our bodies too thick, which can lead to heart disease and stroke. Now you don't want that right? So, keep drinking those 8 glasses per day.

3. Lubrication of joints

Some good effects of drinking water include keeping our bone joints lubricated and soft so that we experience less pain and maintain normal movement.

4. Nutrient transport

Keeping well hydrated makes it easier to carry oxygen and nutrients across our bodies. This transport system helps us stay active and fit for a longer time.

5. Good balance of electrolytes

A well-hydrated individual experiences less muscle fatigue or tiredness maintains healthy muscle movement and increases the reaction time of our brains which leads to better decision-making abilities and staying mentally fit as well.

6. Removes waste

Drinking an adequate quantity of water helps our liver and kidney remove all the waste through our body fluids such as urine, sweat, and breath. Now you know why it's so difficult sometimes and pains a lot while going to the loo right?

7. Good digestion

Drinking water after meals helps you digest the food more. Well, this is because water helps create saliva or spit in our mouth, which has enzymes that break down food to make the nutrients and minerals more accessible to build a healthy body. It may also help relieve constipation. Lower fluid intake has been one of the reasons for infrequent bowel movements leading to constipation.

8. Maintains good skin health

Drinking water makes your skin soft and moist making it strong enough to act as a barrier to fight off infections and prevent excess fluid loss from the body in emergencies such as anxiety, panic attack or even getting overtly happy or euphoric.

9. Maintains body temperature

If one doesn't drink enough water, the body temperature keeps fluctuating. This is very important because when our body senses an increase in the temperature, it sweats to cool it down. Now, this doesn't take place if we're dehydrated. Got it?

10. Reduces the sense of hunger

For those who want to lose the extra pounds, this tip will be important for you. Drinking a cup or two of water before your meals can make your hunger satisfied and make you eat less at meals.

11. No more hangovers

If you're a party lover, there's always some hangover after the party. It can cause dehydration, dry mouth, and also that darn headache. Alcohol makes you pee more and that's how you lose more water than you take in, and hence dehydration results. So, what to do? One simple solution is to drink a glass of water between the alcoholic drinks and at least one big glass (of water obviously!) before going to bed.

Conclusion

Water is so crucial to our health and the proper functioning of the body. With the causes and effects of not drinking enough water and also the benefits of good hydration and the pros of drinking water given in this piece, you should be fine to lead a good life. In case you need to know more, read from the sources given below or reach out to us. Keep drinking (Water)!

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Jillian Lai Mei Siew

As the Product Consultant Manager of Mega BiO-LiFE, Jillian Lai Mei Siew, has the role of providing a productive team spirit among all Product Consultants to equip them with the right health nutritional information. Jillian is a BSc in Nutrition and Community Health, and a MSc in Nutritional Sciences an from Universiti Putra Malaysia. Affiliated to the Professional Affiliation Languages & Dialects Nutrition Society of Malaysia, NSM, Jillian can speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien and Malay.

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2 Comments

  1. Peter Kafwimbi

    Fri, 23 June 2023, 9 months ago

    Very educative, thank you.

    Reply
    • GHBY Team

      Wed, 19 July 2023, 8 months ago

      Thank you for the appreciation, we are glad you found it useful.

      Reply
    • Raymond Philemon

      Tue, 25 April 2023, 11 months ago

      Thanks for sharing very helpful

      Reply
      • GHBY Team

        Wed, 19 July 2023, 8 months ago

        Thank you, glad to know you found the information in the article helpful.

        Reply

      Leave a Comment

      1. Clark, W. F., Huang, S. H. S., Garg, A. X., House, A., Moist, L. M., Weir, M., & Sontrop, J. M. (2013). Drink at least 8 Glasses of Water a Day to Be Healthy?Nutrition Today, 48(4), S18-S21.
      2. Armstrong, L. E., Kavouras, S. A., Walsh, N. P., & Roberts, W. O. (2016). Diagnosing dehydration? Blend evidence with clinical observations.Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care,19(6), 434-438.
      3. Thomas, D. R., Cote, T. R., Lawhorne, L., Levenson, S. A., Rubenstein, L. Z., Smith, D. A., ... & Council, D. (2008). Understanding clinical dehydration and its treatment.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association,9(5), 292-301.
      4. Popkin, B. M., D'Anci, K. E., & Rosenberg, I. H. (2010). Water, hydration, and health.Nutrition reviews, 68(8), 439-458.
      5. Gilchrist, F. J., Samuels, M., Klafkowski, G., Watson, N. A., & Lenney, W. (2013). Pneumomediastinum and hyponatremia dehydration as presenting features of cystic fibrosis. European Respiratory Journal, 42(6), 1760-1762.
      6. Benelam, B., & Wyness, L. (2010). Hydration and health: a review.Nutrition Bulletin, 35(1), 3-25.
      7. T Tipple, C., Benson, S., & Scholey, A. (2016). A review of the physiological factors associated with alcohol hangovers.Current drug abuse reviews, 9(2),93-98.

      Our team of experts frequently monitors developments in the health and wellness field, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

      Current Version

      Aug, 01 2023

      Written By

      Jillian Lai Mei Siew