To Drink Or Not To Drink? On Ideal Daily Water Consumption

A lot of people who are concerned about their health and are trying to lead a healthy lifestyle are making every effort to monitor their daily water consumption and consume plenty of water every day. The importance of water as the principal substance involved in all processes on earth including the ones in our body is indisputable. Water makes up for over two thirds of our body weight, 95 per cent of our brain mass, 90 per cent of our lungs and 82 per cent of our blood. It plays the key role in metabolism and detoxification processes, regulates our body temperature, and serves for transporting all important nutrients and micro-elements to all our body organs and systems. That is why drinking proper amounts of high quality water (free of all possible toxic and poisonous elements and substances) is essential for our health, so we all have to provide our body with sufficient amounts of water, regardless of where we are and what we are doing.

Most of us know an easy rule: “Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.” However, this is quite general rule since our water needs vary depending on many factors, including climate specifics, season, type of physical activities, type of diet, and many more.  According to the specialists at the Institute of Medicine, daily water consumption for men should vary between 12-13 cups (about 3 liters), and daily water consumption for women should be about 8-9 cups a day (approximately 2-2.2 liters). It is reported by Mayo Clinic experts that the effectiveness of these regulations have plenty of scientific evidence, and a great deal of research have proven the benefits of drinking plenty of water for our health. Due to the importance of water, some people tend to believe that drinking large amounts of it can do only good to our body. In particular, since water is essential for proper metabolism, there is a misconception that by drinking plenty of water it is possible to lose weight. Can this be true, and can increased water consumption help us get slimmer and leaner?

This is the question that a group of Australian experts at La Trobe University tried to find answers to. According to their findings, the recommendations by the Institute of Medicine could be even a little too small, and they suggest women to consume at least 2.8 liters of water a day (including all water that comes from meals, vegetables, fruits, juices, coffee, tea, and everything we consume), and daily water consumption for men should be not less than 3.4-3.5 liters. They also found out that making people drink water rather than using other sources of liquid can be quite pointless. Spero Tsindos, one of the study leaders and a specialist at La Trobe University, said: “We should be telling people that beverages like tea and coffee contribute to a person’s fluid needs and despite their caffeine content, do not lead to dehydration.” “But I’m not saying you shouldn’t drink water,” he added.

In addition, the scientists underlined that drinking too large amounts of water would not have any kind of positive effects. Especially if we are going to drink large quantities of water in one sitting, trying to increase our daily water consumption. In this case, all excess amounts of water will go away very soon during urination, and the water will not be distributed in the body. Finally, Australian scientists are convinced that drinking large quantities of water have nothing to do with speeding up weight loss, especially without a low calorie diet. “There is further evidence that water and a well-balanced diet does far more than water alone,” Spero Tsindos said. He also recommended all people review their daily water intake and forget about the “eight glasses a day” notion which, according to him, was publish in 1945 and should be considered something outdated. Read more about the importance of water and these findings in one of the latest issues of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.

Comments are closed.