Benefits of Drinking Water

So what exactly are the benefits of drinking water? And how much is enough? First, let's just say that Mom was right: drinking 8-12 glasses of high quality water a day is a great idea. What she might not have told you, however, is the full range of the benefits of drinking water, and that a healthy intake of water, and skin that is youthful and glowing, go hand in hand. At Begin Within Natural Skincare, we actually like to think of water as the original skin moisturizer.

What's the Big Deal About Water?

Why the concern? Quite simply, water is the body’s most important nutrient. Dr.Batmanghelidj, in his book Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, states that water is the medium in which life in our body is expressed.

Between 57-70% of our body weight is made up of water, and skin, as our largest organ, makes up a significant part of that weight. The different ratios come about because of age—a larger percentage of infants’ and children’s weight is water—and gender. About 65% of men’s body weight is water, while women, who generally have a higher proportion of fatty tissue that doesn’t as readily hold water, would have a lower percentage of water.

What else does water do?

• fill and bathes each of our body’s 100 trillion cells
• makes up the fluid that travels the 65,000 miles (100,000 K) of veins and arteries in our body
• forms 98% of intestinal, gastric, saliva and pancreatic juices
• makes up 92% of our blood and our tears.
  

Water goes virtually everywhere and surrounds virtually every bit of tissue in our system, including the cells that make up our various layers of skin. How's that for bringing "shock and awe" appreciation to the benefits of drinking water?

Water's Many Jobs

Water holds nutritive factors in solution and acts as a transportation medium for those factors. Another transport function, and one of the most important benefits of drinking water, is water's role in holding body wastes and toxins in solution and carrying them to where they can be removed from the body. With skin as the body’s largest elimination organ it is easy to see how water and skin work together to help cleanse and detoxify the body.

Water also acts as a lubricant for our joints and soft tissues. Water provides the liquid necessary for the proper digestion of food, helps maintain normal body temperature by allowing heat to escape as water and skin and nerves co-operate in the evaporation process, and provides the medium for red blood cells to transport oxygen to the tissues.

As if the previously mentioned benefits of drinking water are not enough, pure water is also one of the best natural protections against a variety of infectious diseases including influenza, pneumonia, whooping cough and measles.The performance of your tissues and their resistance to injury is absolutely dependent on the quality and quantity of water you drink. When the cells are supplied with sufficient pure water, they can fight off viral attack. If body cells are water-starved, they become parched, dry and shriveled—make another note to self about the beautiful combination of water and skin—making them easy prey for viruses.

Most importantly—although when discussing the benefits of water, importance is rather a relative term—water provides an environment in which enzymes can digest food and convert it to energy. Bearing in mind the high percentage of people with skin problems who also experience digestive challenges, again water and skin prove to be a winning combination. Without the energy produced by efficient digestion, we couldn’t survive. You can go several months with no food but 5-10 days without water will prove fatal.

Water is also needed in a very specific balance. As we take in our daily water (1 quart/1 liter per 50 pounds/23 kilograms of bodyweight) some of it must eventually be discharged. An overabundance of water is as bad for our health as inadequate supply. In days of yore, forcing water on a prisoner was a form of torture and its progressive effects on the body included nausea, weakness, mental confusion, tremors, convulsions, coma and eventually death.

Benefits of Drinking Water for Sensational Skin

We need, therefore, to balance the liquids coming in and out of the body. Each day our lungs exhale 1/3 of a liter of water and we perspire about ½ a liter through the 2 million sweat glands in our skin. All told, we excrete between 1½ to 3½ liters daily in perspiration, respiration, urine and defecation; that liquid must be replaced in order for our body’s fluid balances to be maintained. When the balance is out by 1-2% we feel thirst or pain. If the balance drops by 5% hallucinations can appear. A negative imbalance of 15% is fatal.

Our bodies give ample indication of water deprivation including dry, parched and withered skin, chronic constipation and burning, irritating urination. Should signs of dehydration appear, and early warning indications of insufficient water on skin condition are easily noticed signs, increased water intake is definitely in order. Remember too, that with skin, water plays a role in plumping skin, in keeping skin looking moist and dewy and in minimizing the look of skin's lines and wrinkles.

How Much is Enough?

Drink 3-4 glasses of water for every 50 pounds of body weight, every day. If you are physically active, drink 1-2 cups of water an hour or two before games or workouts and an additional cup or two 10-20 minutes before your activity begins. During prolonged exercise, sip a 1/2-1 cup of water every 15-20 minutes and when activity is done, slowly drink 2 cups of water for every pound of weight loss during the activity. The benefits of drinking water include cells being hydrated, nourished and eliminating—in other words, drinking enough water keeps cells functioning well. Drink sufficient water, and skin that is glowing and healthy will be your reward!