Alternative Therapies

“Drink eight eight-ounce glasses of water everyday” – it is the advice of every doctor for better health.

We lose water from our body due to many reasons. Radiant, or forced-air heating during winter and low-humidity air conditioning during summer, causes dehydration. Just 1 to 2 percent of water loss can cause dehydration.

Two cups of water through breathing, two cups through perspiration and six cups through urination and other elimination processes – all these add up to minimum ten cups of water loss a day. Taking caffeinated drinks and sweating also contribute to dehydration.

Our body gets about 3 1/2 cups of fluid from food and generates about 1/2 a cup of fluid from metabolic processes, in a day. Because we lose ten cups of water a day and get only four cups, we need to drink minimum six cups of water per day to avoid dehydration. Anyway, if you drink more than the recommended eight glasses of water it is more helpful.

Here we give you some more interesting water facts:

• You need not drink only water to get hydrated. Skim milk, unsweetened juices and other non-caffeinated drinks can also be taken.
• The weather, the activities you do and what you eat – all decide the your liquid needs.
• Drinking more water helps conserve your energy, burn fat, and fight tension and fatigue.
• Sometimes we mistake our thirst as hunger. Then you are likely to eat high-fat snacks. To avoid this drink a glass of ice-cold water when you feel hungry. Wait for few minutes to find whether your “hunger pangs” are satisfied or not.
• Drinking water can eliminate food cravings and reduce appetite.
• Increased water intake flushes out fat deposits from of your body. It also flushes other impurities from your system.
• By keeping your brain hydrated, water intake helps in better concentration.
• Drink colder beverages rather than hot because your body expends more heat energy to warm it to body temperature.
• There is an easy technique to find out whether you are dehydrated or not. Take a breath in through your nose. If you feel a slight tightness of your nasal passages, then you have to take some water. You can add some lemon juice or orange juice to give yourself some variety.

Your body needs water not just for weight loss, for many more benefits. So, drink water and stay healthy.