What happens when you drink two litres of water everyday?
Water is incredibly valuable and can change your health drastically. There are two main differences that occur when you drink water - that is your physical appearance and your health in general. If you don't drink the daily recommended amount of water, you can get headaches, become very tired and suffer from a weaker immune system.
How much should we drink?
If you drink the daily recommended amount of water, approx 2 litres, it plays a vital part in keeping all your organs healthy and functional. The recommended amount of water is approximately 1.6 litres (8 glasses) for women and 2 litres (10 glasses) for men. Many people however regularly drink less than this. One study said that 60% drink one glass of water a day and 20% drink two glasses of water a day. You can see more statistics about this and drinking water here.
What is dehydration?
Dehydration occurs when the water input is less than the output. Output of water can happen by sweating, urinating, caffeinated drinks and sleeping. Sleeping is the longest time your body will go without water, as you lose water through breathing out moisture. Caffeine and alcohol also cause dehydration as they are diuretics. Diuretics are substances that cause the body to produce more urine than normal. It is thought that caffeine does this by increasing the blood flow to the kidneys which prompts them to release more water through urine. This means that for the short term energy boost caffeine gives you, it actually leaves you feeling more tired (as tiredness is an effect of dehydration) after it is absorbed into the bloodstream.
How does water affect the brain?
Water highly affects effective brain function as 75%) of it is made of water. So there can be many dangerous side effects if you do not drink enough water. Some examples are:
- Headaches / dizziness - this is a common symptom of dehydration which can be easily fixed by just drinking some more water. You can also get these two symptoms by being tired, although water helps with this also as fatigue is a sign of dehydration.
- You need a specific balance between water and certain elements, if you disrupt that balance then you become dehydrated and brain cells lose their efficiency.
- There have also been studies around memory loss that suggests dehydration can affect your short-term memory and making concentration more challenging.
There are many different ways in which water affects your internal body
- Water helps with weight loss - if you drink enough water in the day you should not have such a big appetite as you can break down fat cells more quickly if you drink enough. People also sometimes confuse thirstiness for hunger, which means you are dehydrated, and gaining weight at the same time.
- It helps fight infection by getting rid of toxins and infections such as urine infection and kidney stones.
- Supports your heart - if you are constantly dehydrated then this means that your heart will have to work hard in order to pump blood around the body. After time this can become a more serious issue and can lead to heart problems. Your blood is made up of 92% water, meaning that it gets thicker if you don't drink enough.
There are also lots of ways drinking water effects the appearance of your skin
- The skin is an organ which is comprised of cells made mainly of water, which is slightly different to other organs
- Without enough water skin can appear dry, tight and flaky
- Dry skin is prone to wrinkles - water increases the elasticity in your skin, so the more water you drink, the fewer wrinkles will develop
- Skin is often the last organ to receive water when we drink it. This means that in order to improve the appearance and hydration of the skin we often have to apply moisturising products as well as trying to drink eight glasses of water a day
- Drinking enough water can help combat other skin issues such as psoriasis and eczema. This is done by helping your digestive system flush out toxins from the body.
- The same can be said for acne. 40-55% of the adult population age 20-40 has acne which drinking water can help reduce. It does this by flushing out toxins from the skin and shrinking pores, making them less likely to clog and cause spots
- When we are dehydrated, we sometimes retain water, this causes puffiness. So in order to reduce this it's advised to drink enough water
- Drinking lots of water can help heal a sunburn quicker
- Water helps improve your circulation. Having a good circulation improves your appearance as it can help give your face a 'glowing' look
- Water also helps maintain the correct pH level in our skin which can help keep it blemish-free
Useful ways to get more water into your diet
- Carry a water bottle around with you - this means you can drink consistently throughout the day and be constantly hydrated. You can also get refillable bottles with a printed measurement design to help make it more clear for the user and monitor their daily intake.
- You can add fruit to your water - this can be beneficial to your health as well as adding some flavour to the drink to make you drink more water.
- You can make water tastier & absorb additional benefits in the process - hydration powders are a great way of making water taste more interesting plus increase your hydration. ViDrate is a hydration powder which tastes amazing, it has been designed to help you drink more water and comes with Vit C&B12 and contains zero sugar.