Drinking More Water to Getting Healthy and Fit

Drink water to lose weight:

Water works like a weight loss pill! Are you surprised? Then read on and you shall find why water can be an effective way to lose weight.
Water has several advantages and changing our drinking water to alkaline water can actually mount even more benefits as our body is more used to the pH level of alkaline in nature. This helps our cells function more properly and gives the cells hydrating water that has more oxygen in it. Our body is slightly alkaline in nature and bringing the body back into the pH balance through alkaline water can bring on several health benefits.

The proper way to drink water:

1. Drink water when you wake up. Your body loses water while you sleep, so drink a glass before you go to sleep, and another glass when you wake up. You are naturally thirsty or dehydrated in the morning. Drinking water in the morning helps flush out the toxins that have accumulated all night.
2. Drink 8 to 12 glasses a day. We should monitor our urine colour and keep it on the light side. However, drink only a maximum of 16 glasses a day, and not more.
3. Drink little by little throughout the day. It is preferable to sip water throughout the day rather than to drink two glasses all at once. This will lessen the stress on the heart (especially if you have heart disease) and give your body more time to absorb it.
4. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink water. By the time you feel thirsty, you’re probably already 2 glasses below your normal water needs. Elderly people are also less sensitive to the body’s need for water.
5. Drink water, not soft drinks, alcohol or coffee. Some experts believe that tea, sodas and coffee can be potentially dehydrating. Drinking alcohol is much worse because it actually dehydrates you by making you urinate a lot.
6. Train children to drink water. Set a good example to your kids and drink water together. Make sure that children drink enough water when they’re active. Pack a large bottled water in their lunch box.
7. Drink more when it’s hot. People living in hot climates like Australia need to drink more water. They are more prone to develop kidney stones compared to those living in cooler regions.
8. Drink more as you exercise. When you exercise, you need to drink more water to compensate for fluid loss. Go for an extra 500 ml of water for a 30-minute to 1-hour exercise. Eating a banana also helps keep your potassium up.
9. Drink more when you’re sick. Even though you don’t feel like it, you really need to drink more water to help your body recover from various infections. If you’re dehydrated, you’ll feel much worse.
10. Drink more if you’re pregnant. Women who are expecting or breast-feeding need additional fluids to stay hydrated. The Institute of Medicine recommends that pregnant women drink 10 cups of fluids daily and women who breast-feed take in about 13 cups of fluids a day.

10 Health benefits of water:

Our bodies are made up of mostly water. Just look at the facts: The brain contains 74% water, blood contains 83% water, lean muscle has 75% and bone has 22% water. Experts agree that water is one of the most powerful forms of treatment. So how come most people don’t drink enough water?
1. Water prevents kidney stones. The most common cause of kidney stones is not drinking enough water. Since water dissolves the substances that form stones in the urine, drinking 12 glasses daily helps treat kidney stones.
2. Water treats urinary tract infection. The more water you drink, the more you will urinate. “Drinking lots of water will help flush out harmful bacteria from your bladder,” says Medical City kidney specialist Dr. Roberto Tanchanco.
3. Water helps patients with diarrhea by preventing dehydration. As a first-aid for diarrhea, you can make your own oral rehydration solution at home. Mix a glass of water with 2 teaspoons sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt, and drink as much as you can tolerate. This is similar to the dextrose solution in the hospital.
4. Water helps reduce fever. For symptoms of flu, water can help lower your body temperature when you urinate the “heat” out of your body. If you’re sick, drink more water for you to recover faster.
5. Water helps treat cough and colds, sore throat, and respiratory infections. Water helps loosen sticky phlegm. A respected lung specialist told me that some mucolytics out there are just as beneficial as drinking lots of water.
6. Water reduces heartburn. Taking 2-3 gulps of water every 20 minutes or so can help flush the stomach acid away. Bananas and water are effective alternatives to taking antacids. Try it.
7. Water prevents constipation and its complications. Too little water can harden the stools and lead to hemorrhoids and diverticulosis, a disease of the large bowel. Drink water and eat lots of vegetables to soften your stools.
8. Water keeps you alert and energetic. If you’re dehydrated, your blood is literally thicker. This makes it harder for the blood to circulate. As a result, the brain can become less active and you can feel confused and fatigued. Some studies also show that water may help cure migraine headaches.
9. Water helps reduce weight. By drinking a glass or two of water before a meal, you will lessen the amount of food you can take in order to feel full. Water has zero calories and will not make you fat.
10. Water keeps your skin soft and radiant. Just as a dehydrated person will have deep-set eyes and wrinkled skin, so will a fully hydrated person exhibit a normal and beautiful skin tone

Detox Water Diet

The detox water diet is another term for a diet/fast that was developed in 1941 by Stanley Burroughs. This diet/fast is known as "The Master Cleanse" and has been gaining popularity in recent years thanks to the attention called to it by Peter Glickman's book, "Lose Weight, Have More Energy and Be Happier in 10 Days." Celebrities like Beyonce Knowles have also helped the master cleanse become popular as a weight loss diet even though it is really more of a fast. 

The phrase "detox water diet" brings to mind a diet in which a person's only nourishment comes from water for the duration of the diet. This is not at all how the Master Cleanse works. While it is true that while you are on this diet, you will not be eating solid food, you will be drinking lots of water and a concoction that is a mixture of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. This drink is intended to help keep your body nourished while it also helps to push all of the toxins and bacteria that have built up in your system out. In the most important way, this diet is a colon cleanse as each morning you drink a large amount of salted water and at night you drink a cup of laxative tea. 

The larger idea behind this diet is that not only will you cleanse your system of all of the harmful bacteria and toxins that have built up but you will also give yourself a better sense of well being. This cleanse is also used to clear congestion and there are accounts of people who, while on the diet, will feel the clearing of their system and suddenly have a much easier time breathing-and they hadn't realized that they were congested. Obviously the diet can also be used to lose weight, though that is not its main purpose. 

There are pros and cons to this water detox diet. The positive aspects include breaking people of their food addictions, teaching people to control their cravings and clearing out a person's system to make them healthy again. It creates a sort of blank slate which then becomes the dieter's responsibility to keep clean and healthy. The negative aspects include losing beneficial bacteria as well as the harmful bacteria as well as powerful "detox" symptoms that include headaches, some aches and pains, nausea, tiredness and cravings (especially in the beginning). Over the course of the diet, however, the symptoms subside and people can function quite normally.

This water detox diet lasts anywhere from ten days until you feel like you should go back to eating solid food. You can use your discretion to determine the length of your diet, though it might be a good idea to talk to your doctor. Some people stay on the diet for weeks while some people begin eating again on the tenth day. The key is to make sure that you pay attention to your body and make sure that it isn't suffering.

Cold Water Diet

Did you know that, technically, you can lose weight over time-just by drinking cold water? This doesn't mean that you should eliminate everything else from your diet, it means that by drinking cold water on a regular basis (perhaps instead of other sugary drinks), you will lose weight. This "cold water diet" sounds like a miracle for people who have been struggling with their scales.

The way the cold water diet works is this: in order to process the nutrients contained in the water, your body must heat the water up to match the temperature of your body. In heating the water up, your body uses energy-which requires the burning of calories. Water itself carries no caloric value, so in drinking cold water, you are causing your body to burn more calories than it is taking in: the most basic way to lose weight! You could lose up to five pounds each year just by drinking cold water on a regular basis-and not changing anything else in your routine. Of course, this weight loss will probably seem inexplicably slow but remember, weight loss is better done over time.

Obviously with this cold water diet, the colder your water, the more calories you will burn by drinking it.

Like any weight loss program, this one is not without its risks. The body has to work hard if too much water is in the body's system and most of that work is done by the kidneys. By drinking too much cold water, you could tax your kidneys and eventually do them damage. Drinking too much cold water has also proved problematic for people with serious health conditions like congestive heart disease as it can cause a serious edema.

If you plan on doing the cold water diet, you should take care to take supplemental vitamins that will replace the vitamins and minerals that will get flushed from your system if you drink extra water.

Of course, there are benefits to this diet as well. Scientists agree that drinking extra water is a good way to rid the body of toxins (if the water itself is toxin free). Getting rid of these toxins could prove to be beneficial to a person's health and even give them more energy. Drinking water can also help a person feel full, and act as an appetite suppressant. This could add to the weight loss.

Remember, talk to your doctor before you begin any sort of diet. The best diets involve a combination of change to one's eating habits and a boost to the exercise regimen. This one would probably work the best if you simply replaced your other drinks with cold water and just drank as you got thirsty. It is the extra water that poses the health threat. Again, your doctor will know what is best for you and whether or not you even need to diet. If you don't mind the slow weight loss, however, the cold water diet could be just what you are looking for.