Ok, ok…we all know that we need to drink more water. It’s on just about every list detailing how to be healthier and thinner. But do you REALLY know why you need to drink more water and what kind is best? Allow us to fill you in on the amazing-ness that is water.
Water. It is a beautiful and natural-occurring human power source. Our bodies need water to function and thrive. But how much exactly do we need? At one point in time it was recommended that we all need to drink 8 glasses a day to stay in peak physical condition. This was recently disputed as nothing more than a mere guideline, rather than based on scientific evidence. Now daily recommended water intake depends on size, weight, and activity level but in general should be between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you would need to drink 75 – 150 ounces of water a day. If you’re super active and live in a warm climate, you may need more.
Drinking water is essential to our health in that it helps to replenish the water that our bodies use throughout the course of the day. All of our amazing bodily processes require water and drinking plenty of water daily is essential in replacing the large amounts of water lost each day.
According to WebMD, “Fluid losses occur continuously, from skin evaporation, breathing, urine, and stool and these losses must be replaced daily for good health.”
Not only is water essential for maintaining balance of bodily fluids there are many other health benefits to drinking plenty of water daily, these include:
Helps to control calories
Energizes muscles
Nourishes and feeds skin
Helps kidneys function properly
Maintains bowel function
So we know that water is essential to our health and how much we need to drink in order to thrive but what kind of water should we be drinking? We live in a time where our options are limitless and this includes water. When choosing between tap water, spring water, filtered water, purified water and distilled water, which one is best and what’s the difference? Here are some guidelines found on drinkmorewater.com.
Tap Water – Almost all water comes from surface sources like rivers. This water is processed using basic filtration techniques like sand filtration, flocculation or chlorine to kill bacteria and other micro-organisms. Tap water is usually drinkable but there is oftentimes a slight chlorine taste, smell or aftertaste. There is also the chance that lead can be found in tap water from pipes that it is transported through, which can be very dangerous. While it’s the cheapest option, the quality of tap water depends on where you live, what the water’s source is and quality often changes.
Spring Water – While spring water sounds like it flows directly into your glass from a pure and beautiful mountain spring, this is often not the case. Actually, spring water often contains many of the same impurities found in wells or tap water and the purity of spring water is comparable to tap water. Spring water comes from underground sources, such as a spring rather than surface water. The water is then pumped into trucks and transported to a bottling facility. While in these tanker trucks, the water is then either chlorinated or ozonated to protect against bacterial contamination. Once the spring water reaches the bottling facility, it is then sent through a carbon filtration process to remove the chlorine while many of the other impurities remain.
Filtered Water – This is the most common type of water, usually found in grocery stores. The source of filtered water is municipal tap water that is run through carbon filters to remove chlorine as well as through a filter before bottled. “It’s basically tap water without the chlorine and is not much different than many spring waters. It comes from a natural source, goes through minimal filtration and is then bottled and shipped to market.”
Purified Water – This is the fastest growing bottled water segment in the water industry due to the fact that it is purer than most other types of water. To be classified as purified water, water impurities must be removed or reduced which makes it purer than spring, tap or filtered water. Purified water is cleansed and purified through additional purification processes including reverse osmosis, distillation, and deionization. If you’re looking for higher purity, purified water is ideal.
Distilled Water – Created through the process of distillation in which pure H2O is boiled out of its contaminants, distilled water is a result of the distillation process. Inorganic materials are boiled out, the pure water turns into steam, is captured and cooled and turned into distilled water. However, there are number of dangerous organic compounds that have boiling points below that of pure water that are therefore not removed. So it’s important that distilled water also go through additional purification asides from distillation.
Alright, so you know you need more water and you’ve found a water source that is healthy and clean. How exactly do you make yourself drink the water that you know your body needs? If you know you need more water in your diet but you’re just not quite sure how to get in that extra glass or two a day, here are a few suggestions:
Drink a glass of water with each meal
Eat more fruits and veggies – fruits and vegetables contain high water content and can add to your hydration. In fact, about 20% of our water intake comes from foods.
Keep a bottle of water with you at all times.
Drink a glass of water when you get up in the morning and another glass before you go to bed at night. Don’t worry about the fact that it might make you have to use the restroom more often, the health benefit of drinking water far outweighs the annoyance of an extra trip to the bathroom. Now you know the why and how when it comes to drinking more water, the rest is up to you. Let’s all work toward drinking more water in 2018. Not only is it amazingly good for you, it will make you feel great and it’s the most basic way to contribute to overall improved health in the new year. Om!
www.oldtownyoga.com/water-101-what-you-need-to-know-about-drinking-more-water/