Medical research has shown that a man can live without food for 30 days. Without water, a week will not last. The only issue that is still controversial is the rate of water consumption. Do you need to fill your body with excess moisture, or, on the contrary, reduce it to the minimum rate. Everything must be carefully understood.
It is believed that a healthy person needs to drink up to 2 liters a day. This norm makes the body functional enough. If you increase your water consumption, what is the threat? Supporters of moderate drinking, against turning their body into an aquarium. The following explanations are given:
When analyzing the reasons when it is necessary to consume a large amount of liquid, it is worth thinking about the benefits. Only balanced decisions will allow you to maintain health and avoid harmful consequences. Which looks assertive and believable:
If you do not drink at all for 4 days, then you can lose your life. Water is primary for the functioning of the whole organism. It gives the correct functioning of the brain, cardiovascular and excretory systems. Washes out harmful compounds, toxic substances. Saliva is also moisture, it requires the necessary replenishment for the production of digestive compounds. Blood also needs water for good circulation.
There are no calories in water, and for this it is popular in getting rid of those extra pounds. In fact, drinking a glass of liquid is tricking the brain. Receptors, nerves transmit information from the stomach that it is full. For a while, the feeling of hunger will recede. As a result, the amount of food eaten decreases, and the time interval between meals increases. Drinking cold water can speed up metabolic processes. To generate heat for the body, it is necessary to take calories from body fat.
The skin is the most voluminous human organ with a high moisture content. Dehydration is detrimental to the epidermis. The surface layers are made dry, flaccid, with many wrinkles. This is especially true for women. Drinking clean, fresh water guarantees beauty, youth, and health of the skin. In addition, it is necessary to use protective creams to avoid rapid evaporation of liquid from the upper layers of the skin.
Human muscles are tissues that are in dire need of a sufficient supply of water. This allows them to work at full load and avoid various injuries. With an insufficient supply of fluid to the internal organs, it begins to be compensated from the muscle tissue. This situation should worry people involved in sports. They should constantly replenish organ water supplies.
Another important reason why you need to drink raw water is for a healthy gastrointestinal tract. Drinking fluids in the morning makes the intestinal wall contract intensively, moving the food lump forward. As a result, constipation, bloating and other problems disappear. You can drink mineral water after consulting your doctor. He will help you choose a brand according to its composition and make a dosage.
The fact that water must be drunk by all people is indisputable. But the question is, how much fluid is considered the norm? Incorrect calculation leads to serious disorders in the human body. Efficiency decreases, mood worsens, health problems arise. Before you work out a drinking regimen for yourself, you need to focus on some conditions:
Nutritionists, medical specialists have established options for drinking water throughout the day. Maybe this is controversial for some, nevertheless, such an alignment exists. Anyone chooses their own option.
You can drink throughout the day without getting attached to a certain regimen. The main thing is not to take long breaks, take small portions. We are talking about pure water, not counting tea, sugary drinks, and other liquids. It is not necessary to force yourself, you need to listen to yourself, then complete harmony will come.
Disputes about how much water to drink per day are still ongoing. In fact, this phenomenon is quite simple to explain - it all depends on the season (temperature), weight, metabolic rate, physical activity, stress level and some other, less significant factors. Below we will try to clarify the situation and calculate the approximate amount of fluid required.
We all know that water is an irreplaceable part of the daily diet. Without it, a person will die in terms of several days to several weeks. But why do nutritionists so often talk about drinking more water? Indeed, with excessive consumption of fluid, not only harmful, but also useful substances are washed out of the body.
Let's figure it out ...
Loss of 10% of water can cause fainting and hallucinations, from 15 to 25% - coma and death. The minimum water limit per day is 1.6 liters, including water from food. The figure is justified as follows: 600 ml. the body loses fluid per day with urine, 200 ml. with feces, 800 - with sweat and exhalation. Thirst is a direct signal from the hypothalamus in response to changing levels of electrolytes in the blood. We conclude: you need to drink when there is a thirst. There is no point in forcing yourself to do this. An increased need for drinking can be a symptom, incl. diabetes.
Pure water and drink are retained in the body less than taken with food. Foods rich in sodium promote fluid retention, while foods rich in potassium promote fluid elimination.
Lobsters and mussels ~ 300 mg;
Anchovies, fish ~ 150 mg;
Chicken eggs ~ 130 mg.
Dried apricots ~ 1700 mg;
Legumes, seaweed ~ 1000 mg;
Raisins ~ 800 mg;
Various nuts - 600 to 800 mg.
40 ml. liquid per 1 kg. in a comfortable environment for an adult;
165 ml. for 1 kg. weights for babies up to 1 year old.
The same sources talk about getting used to increased water consumption and appropriate consumption of no more than 300 ml. liquids at a time, even under conditions of overheating and hard work. In hot climates, they quench their thirst more effectively, retain water and trace elements tea, herbal teas, juices with the addition of organic acids, but without sugar. Coffee and caffeinated energy drinks are diuretic.
In addition to the above, drinking plenty of water helps with colds and viral diseases, as well as helps.
2. Consumption of large amounts of water (more than 3 liters at a time) can induce vomiting. This principle lies at the heart of gastric lavage. In extreme cases, damage to the walls of the stomach is possible, up to the formation of ruptures.
3. Hyperhydration in athletes. It is expressed in edema of varying complexity, sometimes affecting the lungs and the brain. It manifests itself when drinking more than 3 liters of water per hour and is based on the critically rapid excretion of sodium and potassium - regulators of water-salt metabolism.
An original point of view on drinking was expressed by Fereydun Batmanghelidj, author of the book "Your body asks for water." According to his personal research, it is harmful NOT to drink water.
Based on this, F. Batmanhelidj gives the following advice:
“If after waking up you do not have the strength or desire to engage in activities, your body is dehydrated. The best tonic is a glass of clean water. He is able to get out of apathy in a couple of minutes "
It is known that a person can live without food for a long time, but without water he will die after a few days. A liquid for the body of any living creature is not only a "fuel" that starts all vital processes, but also a means of cleansing from toxins. It would seem that you need to drink water often and a lot so that the internal organs work like a clock. Is this true? And what happens if you regularly drink more water than your body requires?
For normal body functioning and well-being, an ordinary adult needs to consume about 3 liters of liquid per day. It can be soups and compotes, juices and lemonade, but pure water should be 1-1.5 liters. With intense physical exertion or, conversely, their absence, with a change in climatic conditions, these figures can vary. But doctors, nutritionists and sports trainers tend to convince people to comply with this condition on a daily basis.
Calculations regarding the volume of fluid required by the body on a daily basis were carried out by scientists with mathematical precision.
It has been proven that to break down food, activate metabolic processes and remove toxins from the body, together with sweat and urine, you need to drink about 1 liter of ordinary water.
But, as practice shows, every third inhabitant of the planet does not fulfill this condition for various reasons. There is a certain group of people who do not feel the need for fluids and feel great without water for hours. They consume no more than 0.5-0.7 liters per day, and an increase in volume gives them discomfort. It is expressed in intense sweating and frequent urge to urinate. Therefore, “hermits”, as experts often call such people, refuse to drink even in the gym.
The second category of people, on the contrary, cannot live without water, their daily fluid intake reaches 4-5 liters. It is easy to spot such "vodokhleb" in the crowd: they always have a bottle of drinking water at any time of the year. These people, on the other hand, feel comfortable when their stomachs are at least a third full of liquid, and often ignore the side effects of profuse sweating. However, the human body is a unique self-regulating system, so soon the signs of its oversaturation with moisture disappear. But the question remains: to drink or not to drink?
Imagine that you are constantly thirsty and only partially quench it. At the external level, this leads to drying out of the epidermis and mucous membranes, increased heart rate, difficulty breathing and, often, loss of consciousness. What happens to the body at this moment? He works in an abnormal mode, as he is forced to "extract" water from cells and blood, using all available reserves. This is done to ensure uninterrupted and high-quality work of internal organs and the continuation of important processes, such as:
If there is not enough water in the body, then the processes slow down, which affects both the behavior and the well-being of a person. He becomes sluggish, drowsy, and the brain is less productive. Constant stay in the "hermit" mode leads to malfunctions in the cardiovascular system, the process of intoxication begins, since the decay products remain in the body and poison it.
At first, the body will accept an extra 1-2 liters of fluid with gratitude, because this allows it to increase productivity and speed up vital processes. Imagine a flower when it was watered every day: it grows prettier and blooms literally before our eyes. The same thing happens with the human body: its internal organs, having received enough moisture, begin to work effectively.
But one day the saturation limit comes - the line when moisture is no longer needed to stimulate and carry out metabolic processes. It continues to enter the body and gradually turns from a useful component into ballast, since:
Many fans of a healthy lifestyle, methodically following populist instructions, know from their own experience about the dangerous syndrome of drinking water poisoning. Even if you consume purified or boiled liquid, in large quantities it can become poison.
To understand how the mechanism of poisoning works in this case, you need to remember that water nourishes our body at the cellular level. Now imagine the situation: the kidneys are not able to cope with the huge amount of fluid that the adherents of healthy lifestyle pour into themselves. As a result, it accumulates in the body, and at the cellular level. What ultimately happens to a cell that fills with water? It swells and deforms, and its shell often bursts.
The lesions at the cellular level can be microscopic, and can reach colossal sizes when it comes not just about deformation of cells, but about damage to internal organs. The process is accompanied by nausea and vomiting, dizziness, disorientation in space and often - loss of consciousness.
Recovery from drinking water poisoning is more difficult than from ordinary food poisoning, and can take several weeks.
Proponents of a hard water regime with an abundance of fluids are convinced that they lead a correct and healthy lifestyle. When explaining why you need to drink a lot of water, they appeal to the advice of nutritionists, who claim that this is the fastest way to lose weight.
In fact, this is a myth, since liquid is not capable of breaking down fats.
To be convinced of this, it is enough to throw a piece of bacon into the water - both in a day and in a week it will float on the surface in its original form. So what's the catch? Yes, water helps to lose weight due to the fact that it activates metabolic processes in the body. But she is not able to get rid of fatty deposits; this will require intense physical activity and adjustment of the diet.
Another myth is that water is a universal cleaning agent. Hence the practice of flushing the intestines with an enema and increased fluid intake during the period of food poisoning. In fact, water is only a transporter that helps to remove all unnecessary from the body. In case of poisoning, it can, for example, induce vomiting and remove hazardous decomposition products from the stomach. But water by itself cannot act as an adsorbent, since it does not have disinfectant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
One friend of mine believes that if she does not drink at least 8-10 glasses of water a day, then she is jeopardizing her health. Could drinking too much water lead to dangerously low sodium concentrations in the body by diluting it with water?
Treatment for dehydration caused by disease must be removed and imperfections that occur when tissues in the body are due to a lack of water. Setting up any of the dehydration caused by the disorder, you need to change your lifestyle. The water treatment program is based on.
Water is a nutrient. Water dissolves all minerals, proteins, starches and other elements in the form of blood and carries them throughout the body. The human body constantly needs water. A good pond measurement is guaranteed by urine assembly. Good body moisturizing distinguishes human colorless urine - in addition to vitamins and coloring additives in foods. Relatively few people who have lost water emit yellow urine.
The answer from the site administration: People always drank water when they were thirsty, but nowadays it is widely believed that the more water we drink, the healthier we will be. There is currently no evidence that drinking very large amounts of fluids throughout the day is beneficial for health (except in the case of kidney stones).
The real person experiencing dehydration emits orange urine. The body needs a daily requirement of at least 1.9 liters of water and half a teaspoon of salt to compensate for the natural loss of water that occurs during urination, sweating, and breathing. Less extra workload on the liver. They would have to work that collected urine and remove so much chemical toxic waste in a minimum amount of water.
The simplest rule of thumb for calculating how much water you need for an overweight person is as follows: 15 ml of water 0.45 kg body weight. Information prepared by the doctor. We all know, and we constantly hear, that drinking plenty of water is essential to be healthy. Water scarcity or dehydration occurs when the amount of water released from the body exceeds the amount of water consumed in foods and beverages. Generally, it is recommended for an adult to take at least one liter of clean water, ideally, water absorption in an amount of 1.5 to 2 liters of clean, still water.
If the kidneys are working properly, all medical recommendations agree that thirst is a good sign that you need to drink water. In addition to the elderly, in whom the mechanisms of kidney function and the appearance of a feeling of thirst may be mismatched, and then they need to drink a certain amount of fluids per day, despite the absence of thirst.
In order for the cells, tissues and organs of the body to function properly, they must receive a sufficient amount of water, since about 70% of the body consists of this substance. So, here are 6 reasons why drinking plenty of water is important. If you are not dehydrated, do not ignore these signals and how to drink, since liquid is ideally pure water, but if not on hand, it can be natural juice or tea, but not alcohol, which is counter-productive and promotes faster fluid elimination. Water, in itself, has no magic weight-reducing properties, but if sweet or carbonated drinks change the water in the calories of the water intake instantly drops without much effort. It's also worth adding more high-water foods to your diet, such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat soups, oatmeal, and beans. These water-rich foods tend to look larger, require more chewing, and are slowly absorbed by the body, thus providing a long-lasting feeling of well-being. Water is essential for muscle regeneration. As muscle cells begin to lose water and electrolytes, the muscles become less depleted, which is why it is important to drink plenty of water during exercise. Small amounts of water should only be started after training and then taken at regular intervals. Water is essential for healthy skin. The skin, which creates a shield against excessive fluid evacuation, is rich in water in the structure. Dehydration has a significant effect on the skin, contributes to the formation of wrinkles and dryness, so if you are looking for healthy and firm skin, it is important to remember to drink enough water. Water helps the kidneys. Body fluids help to get rid of harmful substances from cells. As long as you drink enough water, your kidneys do a very important job of removing toxins from the body. When there is enough fluid, the urine is bright and odorless. But when the body is dehydrated, urine concentration, color, and odor are more intense because the kidneys try to store as much water as possible to support vital functions. If you drink a lot of water for a long time, there is an increased risk of kidney stones, especially in warmer climates. Water is essential for healthy intestinal activity. By drinking plenty of water, food does not stay in the intestines for too long and does not cause constipation. The best weapon against stomach problems is a lot of water and fiber-rich foods. This combination acts like an intestinal broom and helps to remove stagnant substances.
People who sweat a lot, such as marathon runners in hot weather, are more likely to feel thirsty, which makes them drink a lot of water. But they must be careful and remember that this poses the risk of leaching out of the body electrolytes ─ salts consisting of electrically charged ions, with the help of which electrical impulses are executed that pass through the cell membranes of nerves and muscles.
It turns out that water can become as addictive as alcohol. Who does not know how healthy and beneficial to drink water? According to some reports, water can heal 99%. All diseases, from migraines to cancer. Even less controversial is its beneficial effect on beauty: constant water purification, like a good rest, is considered the most important condition for healthy skin, as it prevents dehydration, and this is the main reason for aging. Until recently, with water bottles, we only saw mannequins, which are now filled with graphics stacked on each desk.
In particular, depletion of sodium salt (hyponatremia) can be life-threatening.
Sometimes people say that drinks like coffee, tea or juice do not count and they should also drink ten glasses of water a day. However, we firmly believe that water in all food, including all drinks and all foods, is used by the body to meet its water needs (including sweat and other waste).
Water is considered unconditional good, and can it be good to be too much? Everyone has even the healthiest fashion without fanatics. Although a person is advised to drink about 2 liters of fluid a day, there are those who, even after drinking 20 liters, cannot stop.
While most modern parents encourage their children to drink as much water as possible, 26-year-old Sasha Kennedy does the opposite: she tries to prevent children from seeing her drinking water because they are afraid they will not remove this addiction. Sasha himself drinks about 20 liters of water a day. She understands perfectly well that this is not normal, but she cannot do anything - her desire to drink is stronger than reason and will. She constantly carries a bottle of water with her because the woman is filled with fears that she has nothing to eat, where she goes, so she tries to take care of her in advance.
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Several years ago, North Carolina experienced unusually hot weather, with temperatures rising above 40 ° C for extended periods of time. I work outdoors, so I was very hot and only occasionally went into an air-conditioned room. In addition, my doctor prescribed me hydrochlorothiazide (a moderate diuretic) for hypertension, which I have been taking for many years.
Sasha cannot sleep well, because she goes to the bathroom several times a night and, of course, at the same time does not miss the opportunity to drink the cartel. She says the habit began with models and actors, in which they regularly carry bottles of drinks with them and their beauty tips, which each time mention water as a magical beauty and youth elixir. Natasha and Natasha began to wear such a liter of a bottle. At first she drank 2 bottles a day, now filling it 8 times or more.
She never thought it was a problem. On the contrary, colleagues and acquaintances noticed that she constantly drink water, they heard a healthy lifestyle. How dangerous is excess water? According to nutritionist Catherine Collins of St. Petersburg George Hospital in London, excess water not only overloads the kidneys but can damage the heart because it raises blood pressure. How to tell when there is too little water and when there is enough? If you go to the bathroom three times a day, you are probably drinking enough.
The end result of this was dehydration and tachycardia, which is an irregular heartbeat.
It should be noted that I never sweated much and did not have the classic symptoms of dehydration, so the diagnosis of "dehydration" was a surprise to me. This diagnosis was not made immediately, only after several visits to the doctor, when urine ceased to flow normally and a strange sensation appeared in the region of the heart.
If you walk or go to the toilet more often at night, you may need to reduce the amount of fluids, the doctor explains. Water is washed away from the body by the body's body, and therefore runners who sweat and consume a lot of water can become angry with hyponatremia. Sodium deficiency causes inflammation. Symptoms of hyponatremia include drowsiness, disorientation, seizures, and even trouble breathing. Salty snacks can help avoid this, and minerals are compensated for by mineral water.
Psychological problem Passion for water causes not only physical but also psychological problems. Although the popular habit of drinking alcohol is called addiction, according to psychologist Robert Brown of the University of Glasgow, scientifically, it is not as addictive as drugs or alcohol because people do not become physically addicted to water. “In some cases, it can be considered obsessive-compulsive disorder,” he explains. - It's a kind of mania, sitting, adhering to this habit, gives a sense of security, and not being able to do this, a person feels like a disaster.
I want to warn everyone who sweats a lot and drinks a lot of water in the summer heat - drink enough electrolytes to stay healthy.
My father drank a lot of sweet tea one summer and as a result was rushed to the emergency room with a diagnosis of hyponatremia (sodium deficiency). Doctors told him that he flushed electrolytes from his body by drinking too much tea, which is a diuretic.
You need professional help to deal with it. Cognitive behavioral therapy can help these people. Most people do not consider this problem for a long time because the negative health or psychological effects of water are not very noticeable. On the contrary: the more liquid a person drinks, the more he is pleased with himself.
Of course, increased thirst can be undeniable. For example, this is one of the symptoms of diabetes. But if the doctors don't find reasons why we should drink a lot of water and you still can't empty your bottle of hands, you may have become accustomed to this habit. Obesity has become an epidemic, of which there is no effective drug, and every patient must find the right one.
I live in a region with a very hot and humid climate, so I started adding a little Himalayan salt to my drinking water - so little that I didn't taste the salt. I also drink small amounts of a commercially available electrolyte solution throughout the day.
When I visited a nursing home, one of a group of older women (aged 90+) was working outside on a hot day without feeling thirsty. As a result, she ended up in the hospital with a diagnosis of dehydration. This case shows how difficult it is sometimes to feel and maintain your water-salt balance.
It is recommended that the person drinks at least 2 liters of water per day. The simplest rule is to calculate how much water a person needs to swell - 15 ml of water with a weight of 0.45 kg of body weight. There is evidence that Lithuanians consume a liter of water in moderation per day - about half of what they need. If the body does not have enough water, stones can develop in the kidneys, toxic substances accumulate in the blood. Water plays an important role in the brain, muscles and heart. The human body expresses its general or local water needs in different ways: asthma, allergies, stiffness, dyspepsia, rheumatoid arthritis, back pain, migraine head, colitis, angina pectoris.
I understand that tea and coffee are diuretics, which means that the one who drinks them ultimately loses more water than drinks with a cup of tea or coffee?
In the past, humans could indeed rely on their bodies to signal to drink fluids, but in this hectic world, our ancestors created so many distractions for our attention that we forget to listen to our bodies. There are fountains of water everywhere for us, but now we are too busy to think about drinking water.
Complications such as hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, and blockage of cholesterol in the arteries can also be associated with dehydration. People often confuse hunger and thirst, and instead of canceling their true needs, they consume a lot of extra calories by stomping on things they don't need at all. Water is very important in the metabolic process, as most of its reactions take place in liquid media. In the absence of sufficient fluid, metabolism slows down.
Chop the water if scalded and another hour before your next meal. Coffee, soup, tea and more beer are not water. It is recommended to choose alkaline water. Boiling water removes all minerals from it, so it is best to use it in a nutshell. Meanwhile, drinking alkaline water, the body receives not only more minerals, but also oxygen. When blood contains more oxygen, it is lighter, which makes it easier for the heart.
I have been practicing acupuncture for 30 years and have come to the conclusion that it is vital for my clients to drink and eat wisely, to consume enough water and nutritious foods to create and maintain energy in the body. It is important to take into account that black and green tea, coffee, alcohol, sugar act as diuretics in our body. I advise my patients to drink more water after each cup of coffee to compensate for the dehydrating effect coffee has on the body.
Some time ago, a memo was presented in a psychiatric hospital about a woman who drank too much water and thus brought herself to death. Apparently her cells were so diluted with water that they stopped functioning.
I cannot imagine that 8 glasses of water a day can over-hydrate the body. This is the recommendation of doctors, which remains in force for a long time. It is strange that people reject the advice to drink a lot of water, and they themselves constantly drink soda in large sips, without thinking about how much sugar is in it. If someone carries plain water with them all day and sips it often, then they are unlikely to drink too much soda, iced tea, or other sugary drinks. For our family celebrations, we set up a large container with cold water and lemon wedges. The water with lemon tastes great and is in great demand.
On the advice of my doctor, I increased my fluid intake to 2 liters per day. Plus each cup of coffee requires 2 extra glasses of water. This has helped to reduce constipation problems and the frequency of migraine attacks. It’s hard to think all day about whether I’m drinking too much fluids, but in the end, I learned to determine the optimal dose by the color of my urine.
“… In this hectic world, our ancestors created so many distractions for our attention that we forget to listen to our bodies.”
First, we make personal choices and don't blame “our ancestors”. Second, I doubt that we "forget to listen to our bodies." Most people obviously remember to eat and drink ... If people are healthy, then God's built-in thirst mechanism is probably enough to keep us on optimum hydration.
I find that coffee, tea, sodas with sugar or sugar substitutes are poor substitutes for plain water and may not fully meet our daily hydration needs. These drinks cause dehydration. Water itself is the best drink for a person's daily fluid intake. Add a little lemon or lime to it too. I understand the need to drink electrolytes to compensate for their losses during strenuous exercise. For example, Gatorade or a similar electrolyte will work well along with water.
Good day, dear blog readers! We know that we are 70-80% water, that we can withstand no more than three days without it, and that it is very useful. But why drink a lot of water, what exactly does it give our body? How to do it correctly and how much is needed? I will try to tell you about this today.
To begin with, what benefits water brings us in general:
I think why we need a large supply of moisture, you understand, now you need to calculate it. Doctors recommend 0.5 liters for 15 kilograms. For example, if your weight is 60 kg, then you should consume at least two liters per day. When playing sports, add at least one more. Just keep in mind that if you decide to drink the required amount in two approaches, this will not be beneficial. To maintain balance, moisture should be replenished gradually as it is released.
It is best if during the day you measure the required amount and drink 250 ml at a time, which is exactly what a regular glass can hold. Just don't torture yourself and force yourself if you don't want to. By the way, a child must also consume enough water, for full growth and development he just needs it, given that children usually spend more energy than adults. And vegetarians can adhere to a different norm, boldly reducing the indicator by 0.5 liters.
Finally, I will tell you what happens to your body when there is a lack of moisture. Imagine breathing only 0.5 liters per day. And if a person still goes in for sports or has physical activity, then it comes to one liter. And if he only uses one liter per day? Then breathing will be complicated, his muscles will not be in good shape, his skin is flabby, even the pressure may decrease, and the worst thing, no, not obesity, and even worse - the formation of blood clots, which tend to break off, which can lead to death. The work of the liver, kidneys and heart also deteriorates, the efficiency of brain activity decreases, and hallucinations may even occur.
So, if you decide to lead a healthy lifestyle, want to restore or maintain beauty and youth, drink plenty to maintain water balance. Subscribe to the blog to keep your brain and body in good shape. I also recommend the article,. And that's all for today, dear readers! Be healthy and take care of yourself!
One of the trendy recommendations for a healthy lifestyle is to drink as much water as possible. Not any liquid, but water. Simple H2O. You can find articles that claim that tea, coffee, fruit juice, broth, milk, sugary carbonated drinks are food, and in the strict sense you can drink only a neutral liquid that does not contain calories and nutrients. Only water will provide full hydration. Is this statement true?
Before we find out, let's remember what a person needs a liquid for.
It is widely known that we are 60% water. Our body fluids perform many functions: maintaining a normal temperature, digesting food, absorbing nutrients and delivering them to organs. Lack of fluid disrupts the balance of electrolytes in cells, which causes damage to all body tissues, including muscle, which is felt as fatigue and physical weakness. Fluid is also necessary to maintain the firmness and elasticity of the skin. Without it, the excretion functions are also impossible, that is, the removal of waste substances and toxins.
Does water have any advantages over other drinks and liquid meals? Yes, they are. Water does not contain calories, which means it will not affect our weight, unlike juice, not to mention coffee or tea, which, in addition to being diuretics, are unthinkable for many people without sugar, milk or cream, or even sweets. ... Needless to say about sweet soda, which - not without reason - supporters of healthy lifestyle consider the scourge of the modern lifestyle. There is sugar, and its synthetic substitutes, and preservatives, and countless flavorings and flavorings.
Even fruit juice, which is quite a healthy drink, also has to be limited to diabetics and allergy sufferers, while the H2O substance is not noticed in provoking allergies, and in an uncontaminated state it is not a risk factor for any diseases ...
Medical experts in Mexico, a country with a hot climate and deserts, for whose inhabitants the problem of rehydration is very relevant, have compiled a rating of drinks based on data on their benefits and health risks.
In the first place was water, then in decreasing order of usefulness:
2) skim milk,
3) coffee and tea without sugar,
4) diet drinks with sugar substitutes,
5) drinks that are high in calories and have limited health benefits (fruit juice, whole milk, sports drinks and alcoholic drinks),
6) drinks high in calories with no nutritional value (soda, juices with added sugar, sweet tea and coffee).
It is important to note that when compiling this rating, experts primarily considered the risk of obesity, which is becoming an increasingly urgent problem for the Mexican population, not least due to the excessive consumption of sugary carbonated drinks.
Should you prefer water to all other drinks? Definitely worth it. Does this mean that only water is the only liquid that meets all the needs of our body? No, it’s not like that.
A person gets from 20 to 40 percent of all necessary liquid with food, and not only with soups. It is found in almost everything that we eat, especially a lot of it in fruits and vegetables, and therefore it is recommended that in hot weather it is from them that make up the majority of the daily diet.
We drink 60-80% of the necessary liquid, and it does not have to be water, you just need to imagine the pros and cons of other drinks in order to balance the amount consumed. It is important to know, for example, that some of the nutrients contained in fruits are denatured when the juice is squeezed out, so a whole fruit and a glass of water are healthier than a glass of juice. However, if juice is not contraindicated for you due to a medical condition, it may well form part of your daily fluid intake.
Coffee and tea are diuretics, however, the amount of liquid they expel is still less than their own volume, so lovers of these drinks need not refuse them, if, again, there are no other contraindications.
Sweet soda has practically no nutritional value, only energy, but it will help to quench thirst and restore fluid balance. You should not get carried away and drink it every day, you should not accustom children to it, but a healthy person is not forbidden to afford a glass of fizzy "Sprite" or "Buratino" from time to time.
An important question that medical experts investigate again and again is how much liquid a person should drink per day for optimal functioning of organs and body systems?
There is an opinion: the more water we drink, the better for our health. This, however, is not entirely true. Dutch scientists have calculated that with an average physical activity, a normal diet in the absence of extreme climatic conditions, a person daily releases about 500 ml of liquid, which means that this is the minimum below which one cannot go down. Therefore, the standard recommendation of 1.5 - 2.5 liters of fluid per day is more than adequate. There is no scientific evidence that additional amounts provide additional health and wellness benefits, except for those suffering from kidney and bladder infections or kidney stones. They are advised to drink more.
The need for fluid in each organism is individual and normally it is well regulated by such a mechanism as thirst: this sensation appears when the brain registers a drop in the level of fluid in the body and through the neurohypophysis reports this to its owner. It would be perfectly reasonable to follow the body's signals and drink as much as you want, unless the person is taking medications that increase thirst or otherwise affect the fluid balance in the body. It is best to discuss these side effects with your doctor and develop the correct fluid intake.
Attempts to improve their health with the help of additional volumes of water drunk sometimes lead to curiosities. So some women seek to rejuvenate, believing that drinking more water, they increase the hydration of the skin. According to American dermatologist Kenneth Ellner, our skin needs fluid, but only a certain amount, exceeding which we will not affect wrinkles in any way, but we can earn edema, especially middle-aged women.
Quite often, you can find advice to drink more for those who are on a diet: the additional amount of liquid, supposedly, reduces appetite. Dr. Steinley Goldfarb of the University of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA), who studies kidney function, hypertension and the role of electrolytes in the body, reviewed the medical literature on this issue and found no scientific basis for such a claim. In his article Just Add Water, he also looks at studies that have found a link between reduced fluid intake and an increased risk of diseases such as coronary heart disease, bladder and colon cancer. Unfortunately, it is not clear from retrospective analysis what was the cause and what was the effect, whether people were sick due to lack of fluid, or their need for it decreased due to illness. The authors of the article understand that conducting large-scale studies of the role of a substance that cannot be patented seems completely hopeless. Without them, however, we cannot draw definite conclusions.
At the same time, there is evidence that, under certain conditions, excessive amounts of fluid can worsen the general condition and performance. In one study, schoolchildren were asked to drink water during class, regardless of whether they were thirsty. This not only did not help them, but also worsened their performance in the classroom.
A well-known condition is hyponatremia, that is, a drop in the level of sodium in the blood resulting from an excess of fluid. This sometimes happens to athletes who, during intense training, really need additional volumes of fluid, however, it happens that they drink more than the body really needs. Symptoms of hyponatremia are loss of appetite, decreased taste, stomach cramps, flatulence in the intestines, dizziness, up to difficulty balancing when walking, and fatigue.
If you doubt that you are drinking adequate amounts of fluids, use a simple rule: urine should be light yellow, and if there is a lack of fluid in the body, it becomes darker. Also, a signal of a lack of fluid can be a small amount of urination - less than 3 per day.
There is an opinion that the French company Danone, which produces bottled water, is behind the call to drink more and exclusively water. Doctor Margaret McCartney writes about this in her article in the British Medical Journal.
But how much better is bottled water than tap water? And is it always better? There are some doubts about this, for example:
“The traditional method of deep water purification, the so-called“ reverse osmosis ”, is widely known. Water is forced through the smallest membranes, which deprive water of almost all dissolved salts and other substances, both harmful and useful. As a result of such purification, distilled or almost distilled water is obtained. Such water, devoid of all soluble substances, begins to actively flush vital minerals from the body. Another national feature of water production is that today about 70% of bottled water in Russia is not produced according to the declared technology. For example, as follows: a coagulant (clarifier) is added to ordinary tap water, then the water is allowed to settle and bottled, affixing the label “Spring water”. Therefore, no one can guarantee the quality of the water and that you purchased real water, or a fake. Bottled water is often of inferior quality than tap water, according to the Nationwide Association for Genetic Safety. In addition, until now, the water sold by private companies and in stores has not been tested for mutagenic effect and trihalomethanes, since there are no such standards in Russia yet. Therefore, no one can guarantee the safety of drinking such water. "
Some experts recommend drinking filtered tap water. Which filter to choose depends on your budget. Ideally, a filtration system should have multiple parts that use different methods of filtering organic and inorganic water contaminants, but simple carbon filters do a pretty good job as well if replaced according to their specified lifespan.
