Do you love to surf through beauty and wellness magazines?
How often do you come across beauty tips suggesting that you drink lots and lots of water to have clear, glowing skin?
Most of the time, right?
Now, how much water to drink in a day is one of the most commonly asked questions. Like you, hundreds and thousands of others are equally unsure about how much they should drink daily.
Drinking lots and lots of water does seem to offer some idea, but to be honest, it does not offer a clear enough idea.
To help you clear the air of confusion about this very common question, we have come up with some useful tips.
Before we reveal the actual quantity you should drink daily, it is vital to note here that the water you drink is 100% clean and safe because drinking contaminated water can do more harm than good.
And if the water you are drinking is contaminated, then you should use a good water purifier. Finding a good purifier is not that easy.
Let’s dive straight into the information you are looking for.
Contents
How Much Water to Drink in a Day
So let us jump straight to answering the very debatable question – how much to drink in a day?
Most of the health and wellness websites and magazines have a typecast answer to this question i.e. “drink 8 to 10 glasses every day”. But if you consult health experts and doctors, then you are bound to develop a different approach to this matter.
Why?
Because the actual quantity of fluid that your body needs per day is based on a variety of factors such as your body weight, the overall state of health, whether you suffer from any heart diseases or not, and your activity levels.
Apart from the standard ‘8 to 10 glasses daily’, there is another popular way to find your daily water requirements.
This method is slightly more personalized than the previously standard approach.
For this, you need to find out your actual body weight and divide it in half; the resultant is the amount of water that you need to drink daily.
For example, if you weigh 140 pounds (63.50 kgs), then you need to drink 70 ounces (appx. 2.07 liters, 1 ounce = 0.029 liters) of water every day to keep fit.
You should also note that if you play any outdoor sports, have a very active lifestyle, or sweat a lot, your body’s hydration needs will be higher, and you may have to increase your fluid intake accordingly.
But why is it so important to monitor your water intake?
The following section in this post discusses the possible health risks of drinking too little or too much water.
Health Risks of Not Drinking Enough Water
People across generations have wondered about “how much water should I drink a day”, because it is the most important element that all living beings need to stay alive. And drinking too little or too much can both affect us negatively. So the question in focus becomes all the more crucial.
The major part of our body comprises of water. If you drink less than the required amount per day, you are likely to suffer from health disorders, including:
Lethargy
Well, this is the most obvious condition when you are thoroughly dehydrated. Even though dehydration initially causes exhaustion, but in the long run, extreme dehydration is also known to affect the eyes and brain health, impairing vision and our thinking capabilities.
Kidney Stones
Consuming very less water gives rise to the formation of stones in the kidney because the filtration system of the body gets impaired due to dehydration. And kidney stones can be excruciatingly painful and troublesome. So, given that the Indian summers are very hot and humid, you must always drink plenty to replenish the fluid that your body loses through sweating.
Digestive Problems and Foul Breath
Prolonged dehydration also results in constipation, digestive, and gastric related problems. Even if you consume a simple daily diet, you cannot prevent bloating and digestive difficulties. And the bacteria present in the system will not be flushed out, thereby imparting an unpleasant smell to your breath.
Can Drink Excessive Water Harm You?
Do you remember the popular saying ‘excess of anything is bad’?
But are there any harmful effects of drinking too much? Most people don’t know this, but drinking more than your body needs is not good fo
r your health. This is what happens when you drink water excessively –
Nausea
Excessive fluid intake might affect the kidney, impairing its ability to get rid of the extra fluid, which starts accumulating in your body. This ultimately causes nausea and vomiting tendencies, and often the body parts look unusually swollen due to water retention.
Blood Dilution
Too much water dilutes the blood, thereby throwing off the salts’ levels and other minerals present in the blood. An imbalance of salts in the body can impair normal brain functions, while dilution of the blood gives rise to anemia.
Heart Attack
When the blood gets diluted by excess water, and the volume of blood increases in the system, it directly causes stress to your heart. An over-functioning of the heart to pump the blood to your body is highly dangerous and can even prove fatal. That is why heart patients must limit their fluid intake as per medical advice.
Conclusion
Hopefully, by now, you must have gained a fair enough idea about how much water to drink in a day. The trick is to strike a fair balance in quantity, without depriving your system or even going overboard.