‘Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate,’ we’ve heard far too many times to count. When you think about hydration, your mind automatically conjures up images of gushing water. Water, on the other hand, is an undeniably necessary lifeline that keeps us running. ‘There’s nothing like water,’ they say, but over time, this vital resource has been associated with a slew of unsubstantiated, misleading, and baseless tales that have little to no basis in reality.
Water, the sweet and simple potion of our lives, has been glorified into something game-changing and magical and is used by many businesses such as cosmetics, weight reduction, wellness, and fitness.
Also Read: Top 10 Health Benefits of Rose Tea
Most of us have heard that in order to keep healthy, we should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day. Many of us are well aware that the so-called 8X8 rule is fiction. Despite widespread refutation by scientists and health professionals, assertions that drinking liters of water daily is required to keep us properly hydrated continue.
However, you also don’t want to use too much water. Drinking more than a liter of water per hour for several hours can result in water intoxication, a condition in which your electrolytes become out of balance. It can induce headaches, nausea, and vomiting, and it can be fatal in severe cases.
8×8 myth
It is commonly recommended that we consume 8 glasses (or 2 liters) of water per day. In a healthy person, however, there is no empirical evidence to support this idea. Many researchers have been unable to determine where this idea began; yet, the health and wellness industry continues to spread it. In fact, a well-known weight reduction program popularized that tip, although there is no medical evidence that it aids in weight loss.
Many foods contain water, which helps us achieve this quota, and few of us are at risk of being dehydrated. The body has a sophisticated regulatory system that regulates hydration and sends you a message to drink when necessary. The appropriate amount of water to drink is determined by your gender, diet, degree of exercise, and the weather conditions in your area.
Having a lot of water equals having clear skin
Tell me you haven’t guzzled jugs and jugs of water in the hopes that it will suddenly cure your acne and dullness? We’ve all thought (or believe) that at some point. However, this is not the case. Simply increasing your water intake will not help you achieve healthy, clear skin. A healthy diet is also necessary to provide the skin with the nutrients it demands. There are no recognized advantages to drinking more water. Water has no effect on wrinkles or the smoothness of the skin. Dehydration, on the other hand, will have an influence on skin elasticity.
Drinking water aids weight loss
It’s safe to say that all of us have this thought ingrained in our heads as a result of bogus advertising techniques. It’s one of the most common urban legends, and the answer is no! There is no evidence that drinking a certain amount of water helps you lose weight because water does not have any special weight loss characteristics.
In some situations, replacing high-calorie, sugar-sweetened beverages with water may result in weight loss. The body is built to regulate water levels in order to prevent dehydration and overhydration. In each of these cases, there is a little weight difference, but it is only momentary. It is not the same as weight caused by fat storage, muscular weight, and so on.
To ‘detox’ your body, you must drink water
Toxins are removed from our bloodstreams by the kidneys. The poisons are then flushed out of the body via the urine. The question is whether drinking more water each day improves kidney function.
Just as we believe that drinking a glass of green tea will wash away all of our sweet sins, we believe that drinking water indicates that the body is constantly detoxifying. No, that isn’t how it works. There are no recognized advantages to drinking more water. Though water does not inherently neutralize toxins in the body, it is required by the kidney to dispose of metabolic wastes more efficiently.
Water functions as a lubricant for the organs responsible for eliminating toxins from the body. Thus, drinking water as needed by the body will help to minimize exhaustion and dehydration while also maintaining a healthy physique.
Aside from medical detoxification, which is sometimes performed for severe drug addiction or poisoning, there are no mystical cleansing qualities associated with following a celebrity detox diet consisting solely of water or juice – you are not ‘flushing your kidneys and body of toxins.’
Water alone will have no influence on the enzymatic activities occurring in your liver or on the effectiveness of your kidneys. Save your money and avoid ‘detox’ diets based on water and juice; they’re utterly fabricated and may potentially injure you.
You are already dehydrated if you wait until you are thirsty
The belief that if you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated is analogous to the belief that if you are hungry, you are already malnourished. This is not correct! Our bodies have an efficient system for maintaining water balance, and thirst is an important component of that system1. Thirst is a good predictor of fluid requirements for the average person.
The exceptions are extreme thirst as a symptom of diabetes, the elderly, whose thirst response may be impaired, if you are ill with vomiting or diarrhea, or if you are exercising vigorously in hot weather.
Black Water > Normal water
Isn’t it true that our Instagram feeds are inundated with celebs carrying bottles of black water to the gym? This is just another fleeting craze. Black alkaline water is just another addition to the long list of smart trends that we’ve recently discovered.
However, researchers are still unsure about its long-term health benefits and usage. Though it has been stated that black water may be beneficial for some disorders such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and so on, experts are divided on whether this type of water should be used.”
These are some of the most frequent fallacies that most of us believe and which can cause more harm than good. Staying hydrated is essential for staying healthy and avoiding diseases. To avoid infections and stay healthy, make sure you consume clean and safe drinking water.
So, how much should we consume? Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this topic. Doctors of the bladder and kidneys advise us to urinate 24mls per kilogram of body weight every day. So, a 70kg guy should urinate about 1680ml every day.
A healthy person’s common sense approach is to drink with meals, drink between meals, and drink extra if thirsty. You may require more if you are participating in sports or if the weather is extremely hot. Caffeinated beverages should be consumed in moderation.
Also read:
