9 Great Reasons to Drink
Water, and How to Form the Water Habit
We all know that water is good for us, but often the reasons
are a little fuzzy. And even if we know why we should drink water, it’s not a
habit that many people form.
But there are some very powerful reasons to drink lots of
water every day, and forming the habit isn’t hard, with a little focus.
The thing about it is, we don’t often focus on this habit.
We end up drinking coffee, and lots of soda, and alcohol, not to mention fruit
juices and teas and milk and a bunch of other possibilities. Or just as often,
we don’t drink enough fluids, and we become dehydrated — and that isn’t good
for our health.
I’ve made drinking water a daily habit, although I will
admit that a couple of years ago I was more likely to drink anything but water.
Now I don’t drink anything but water, except for a cup of coffee in the morning
and once in a while a beer with dinner. I love it.
Here are 9 powerful reasons to drink water (with tips on how
to form the water habit afterwards)
Weight loss
Water is one of the best tools for weight loss, first of all
because it often replaces high-calorie drinks like soda and juice and alcohol
with a drink that doesn’t have any calories. But it’s also a great appetite
suppressant, and often when we think we’re hungry, we’re actually just thirsty.
Water has no fat, no calories, no carbs, and no sugar. Drink plenty to help
your weight-loss regimen.
Heart healthy
Drinking a good amount of water could lower your risks of a
heart attack. A six-year study published in the May 1, 2002 American Journal of
Epidemiology found that those who drink more than 5 glasses of water a day were
41% less likely to die from a heart attack during the study period than those
who drank less than two glasses
Energy
Being dehydrated can sap your energy and make you feel tired
— even mild dehydration of as little as 1 or 2 percent of your body weight. If
you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated — and this can lead to fatigue,
muscle weakness, dizziness and other symptoms.
Headache cure
Another symptom of dehydration is headaches. In fact, often
when we have headaches it’s simply a matter of not drinking enough water. There
are lots of other causes of headaches of course, but dehydration is a common
one.
Healthy skin
Drinking water can clear up your skin and people often
report a healthy glow after drinking water. It won’t happen overnight, of
course, but just a week of drinking a healthy amount of water can have good
effects on your skin.
Digestive problems
Our digestive systems need a good amount of water to digest
food properly. Often water can help cure stomach acid problems, and water along
with fiber can cure constipation (often a result of dehydration)
Cleansing
Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste
products from the body.
Cancer risk
Related to the digestive system item above, drinking a
healthy amount of water has also been found to reduce the risk of colon cancer
by 45%. Drinking lots of water can also reduce the risk of bladder cancer by
50% and potentially reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Better exercise
Being dehydrated can severely hamper your athletic
activities, slowing you down and making it harder to lift weights. Exercise
requires additional water, so be sure to hydrate before, during and after
exercise.
How to form the water habit
So you’re convinced that water is healthier, but you’d like
to know more about how to make drinking water a daily habit.
Here are some tips that have helped me:
How much water?
This is a debatable question. What’s clear is that the old
recommendation of “eight 8-ounce glasses a day” isn’t right, for several
reasons: that amount includes all dietary water intakes, including food and
non-water beverages; it also ignores a person’s body weight, which is an
important factor in figuring the amount; it also varies if you are sick or
exercise. It’s also not good to just drink when you’re thirsty — you’re already
dehydrated by then. Best is to form a routine: drink a glass when you wake up,
a glass with each meal, a glass in between meals, and be sure to drink before,
during and after exercise. Try to generally keep yourself from getting thirsty.
Carry a bottle
A lot of people find it useful to get a big plastic drinking
bottle, fill it with water, and carry it around with them all day. I like to
keep a glass of water at my desk, and I drink from it all day long. When it’s
empty, I fill it up again, and keep drinking.
Set a reminder
Set your watch to beep at the top of each hour, or set a
periodic computer reminder, so that you don’t forget to drink water.
Substitute water
If you would normally get a soda, or an alcoholic beverage,
get a glass of water instead. Try sparkling water instead of alcohol at social
functions.
Filter
Instead of spending a fortune on bottled water, invest in a
filter for your home faucet. It’ll make tap water taste like bottled, at a
fraction of the price.
Exercise
Exercising can help make you want to drink water more. It’s
not necessary to drink sports drinks like Gatorade when you exercise, unless
you are doing it for more than an hour. Just drink water. If you’re going to
exercise, be sure to drink water a couple hours ahead of time, so that it will
get through your system in time, and again, drink during and after exercise as
well.
Track it
It often helps, when forming a new habit, to keep track of
it — it increases awareness and helps you ensure that you’re staying on track.
Keep a little log (it can be done on an index card or a notebook), which can be
as simple as a tick mark for each glass of water you drink.
