More and more people are talking about the benefits of drinking a lot of water. What does water really do for us?
Drink more, think quicker
The brain is composed of 85% water. When it has enough water it can function well. Water helps the brain make its neural pathways hormones and brain chemicals. When the brain is dry thought becomes slow and clouded over. Research has shown that drinking 8 glasses of water a day can increase a person’s cognitive abilities by up to 30%! Every single glass can speed up his thought process by 14%. On the other hand a lack of water makes the brain shrink. Research has shown that sweating for an hour and a half can make the brain shrink the equivalent of a year of ageing. Fortunately the process is reversible; drinking a glass of water will restore the brain to its previous state of function.
Water to flush out toxins
Regardless of a person’s nutrition (with the exception of manna in the desert) toxins collect in the body. Normally the body expels these toxins by sweating or urination. A person who doesn’t drink enough gives no chance for these toxins to be flushed out and drained from the body since less liquids are expelled from the body. Dirt and toxins that aren’t expelled collect and concentrate inside the body reaching the digestive system, kidneys and other organs where they can cause illness, inflammation and infections.
Water will keep you in a good mood
Water helps a person maintain his good mood. Research shows that even slight dehydration brings on confusion, anger, poor concentration and bad moods. Sufficient drinking brings on a feeling of freshness, happiness and alertness and as we said before, increased clarity of thought.
Protecting your joints
Your joints like your knees, wrists, vertebrae, fingers and many more, are all wrapped with cartilage which is soft, moist and flexible to protect them and enable smooth painless movement. Many people suffer from chronic joint pain and they take medications for it. The principal function of those medications is to encourage the cartilage to absorb more water which will make them more elastic and less inflamed. This means water needs to be drunk in order to for the cartilage to absorb it.
Eliminating wastes
Water allows the body to eliminate its wastes more quickly. A steady lack of water can cause kidney stones because the substances expelled from the kidneys need water to move them out along with the toxins we mentioned before. Even a slight dehydration leads to constipation and slows down the metabolism by 3%.
Helps you maintain your diet
Increasing your water intake increases your metabolism and that helps with every diet. Water also makes someone feel full so when they drink more water they end up eating less. Many times someone is really thirsty and he grabs a bite instead. So it’s a good idea to grab a glass of water first and see if the feeling doesn’t go away.
Keeps your skin looking young
Lack of water affects the skin adversely. When lacking water the skin dries, lacks luster and elasticity. Many people trying to take care of their skin use many expensive creams when all they really need is to drink more water. Water maintains the moisture of the entire body, the skin absorbs water and wrinkles shrink when the skin in moist. The skin becomes radiant and healthy looking, especially the complexion of the face.