Drink an average of two liters of water a day. You will not be unfamiliar with the advice. But do you? And what kind of water do you drink? In any case, the advice is not a promotional slogan from the joint water companies and well water producers. The benefits of drinking water are countless. Sufficient fluids, taking in sufficient water is even essential for health and general well-being. Therefore, the benefits and the how and why of drinking water at a glance.
The necessity of drinking water
It is no secret that taking fluids is a necessity. Although there are people who seem to be able to live on air, a simple calculation tells you how much water you need. You consume an average of two and a half liters of water in a day simply because you urinate, sweat and breathe. Only at night while you sleep you lose half a liter of moisture through perspiration. A normal food intake provides the body with a maximum of one liter of water. So we have to drink to prevent dehydration.
Do you have to drink two liters?
The slogan ‘drink two liters of water a day’ is only an average. The right amount depends on your lifestyle, your weight, height, the climate you live in and the amount of exercise. A very active athlete loses more fluids in one day than a notorious couch hanger.
A basic indication is the knowledge that a person needs an average of 30 ml of water per kilogram of body weight. So if you multiply your weight by 0.03 you get the amount of water in liters you need. If you weigh sixty kilos, you will need 1.8 liters of water (and you are not a math genius: every mobile phone has a calculator these days…).
It’s even easier to monitor your thirst. By drinking when you’re thirsty, you’ll know quickly enough what the minimum amount of fluid you need is.
Beer and wine
That word moisture must be defined here. Anyone who, as in the Middle Ages, prefers to drink beer rather than water will have real problems. Not only do the extra calories add up, the alcohol also has a disadvantage. Like the caffeine in black tea, coffee and a soft drink like cola, it expels fluid faster by stimulating the kidneys. That is why such a cool beer or a ruby red glass of wine always leaves you wanting more.
The disadvantages of drinking enough water
So keep it on water. That’s cheap too. Especially if you just take it out of the tap, it is not an impact on the household budget. And tap water, even though much can be improved, is safe to use in a lot of countries.
Meanwhile, books and websites have been written about the pros and cons (yes, there are) of drinking water, but in fact it always comes down to the same thing. To start with the cons: according to some scientists and nutritionists, drinking a good glass of water with lunch or dinner is not everything. The water actually dilutes the gastric juices that are needed to adequately digest the food. And drinking too much water has an adverse effect on the kidneys.
Benefits of drinking water
Effects of a disturbed fluid balance
However, the disadvantages do not outweigh the many advantages. In any case, drinking enough water has an effect on your physical and mental performance, if only because it can maintain the fluid balance and therefore your mood and concentration.
Too much fluid loss is harmful to the memory and contributes to complaints such as fatigue, painful joints, headaches, weight gain, depressive moods and in women also increased menstrual complaints and intensified menopausal symptoms.
This is because, according to, among others, the vitality coach Marjolein Dubbers of the Energetic Women’s Academy, women’s hormones are even more sensitive to an unhealthy fluid balance than men’s.
And good news for the notorious beer and wine drinkers: drinking enough water prevents even a serious hangover. Hangover effects such as headaches and nausea are mainly due to dehydration symptoms caused by the alcohol. Drinking enough water during alcohol intake prevents dehydration.
To loose weight
Another much-praised, and sometimes exaggerated, benefit of drinking water is that it aids in weight loss. It is true, because drinking enough water reduces the feeling of hunger and speeds up your metabolism so that you burn more calories. But of course it is not a magic bullet. If you stick to a diet of junk food and big bags of chips as a snack, you can drink all you want, the excess body weight will make its way.
Hot or cold water
So stick to water for your moisture balance. Unfortunately you have water and water. It starts with the question of whether the water should be wonderfully cold, body temperature lukewarm or pleasantly warm.
what are benefits of drinking hot water?
Especially in the corner of Ayurvedic nutrition, lukewarm or warm water is a must. A glass of warm water supports digestion, helps to remove waste products and promotes blood circulation. Plus, when you boil it first, tap water gets rid of any toxins and harmful bacteria.
Sparkling or flat?
The question of whether it is better to drink still or sparkling water is an ever-recurring issue that is usually decided in favor of still water. Especially since the sparkling water suffers from a few persistent myths. The only myth with any truth to it is the claim that sparkling water can promote hunger pangs. Fortunately, claims that sparkling water erodes your tooth enamel (its acidity is really too low to have any effect on the enamel) and that it does not adequately quench thirst are not true.
So feel free to order that sparkling water maker so that you can add your favorite degree of sparkle yourself. That is also much cheaper than all those branded bottles from the store.
The water bottle always at hand
And if you have a sparkling water device, make your own sparkling water and use your own bottle, you also contribute to a better environment. After all, all those bottles of sparkling water from the store are an extra burden on the environment. Make your own sparkling water, use your own sustainable drinking bottle and you not only take care of yourself, but also of mother earth. And of course you can also use that beautiful sustainable drinking bottle for your daily fluids if you only keep it on flat water. Because having water at hand really helps to get those two liters of water.
Drinking enough water is an art
Drinking enough water is also a skill that you have to learn. Even having a bottle of water on hand at all times is often not enough to consume that much desired beneficial water supply of two liters.
So learn a routine to get used to drinking water. For example, make sure you have two sustainable drinking bottles that are always filled. Put one in the bathroom, or next to your bed, and drink it before you start your further daily routines. Put the other bottle in a place where you spend a lot of time, such as your desk, and commit yourself to empty the bottle before lunch. Also drink a half liter bottle in the afternoon and another one before dinner. That immediately makes a difference in appetite.
Water and words
And if you don’t manage to drink those two liters of water for a day, don’t immediately start scolding yourself, because according to Masaru Emoto that is much worse than drinking too little water.
In 2005, this Japanese scientist who died in 2014 caused a stir with his book The Hidden Messages in Water and photos of water crystals that were always different when Emoto confronted the water with other emotions, in other words. The water crystal associated with the word “love” looked much more harmonious and softer than the crystal resulting from exposure to the word “hate.”
A logical phenomenon, according to Emoto, because water is, after all, a form of energy. If you consider that the human body consists of about 75 percent water and your blood ideally even more than 90 percent, it goes without saying that regulating your water balance is of great importance for both your physical and mental health. Unfortunately, mental health requires more than just water. But that’s another story…
Do you often drink water or can you drink a little more? What do you prefer when you drink water, cold or warm, still or sparkling? Be sure to let us know in a comment at the bottom of this page.
