Are you drinking water the right way?
The majority of our body is water. This water is stored both inside and outside cells to dissolve nutrients, carry waste, regulate body temperature, send brain messages, and lubricate all our moving parts. We need plenty of water to function and feel good. However, we lose a lot of water everyday through breathing, sweat (even if you dont work out), urine, and bowels. Our only choice for perfect health is to replenish our body with ample water.
Ayurveda brings us indispensable guidelines for something we thought had no method: drinking water. Just like the rules for eating theres a way to drink that helps your physical body thrive. Its more than just glass to lips and chug.
With a teensy bit more awareness, the way in which we drink water can seriously be a life-changer. It means not having to race to pee all the time or no more massive and uncomfortable post-meal burps or no longer feeling painfully full after eating a normal amount of food.
So, the Ayurvedic way to drink water:
1. First off, sit down to drink (just as we should sit down to eat).
2. Take sips, not full-glass chugs. Small sip, swallow, breathe. Repeat.
3. Sip water throughout the day. If we chug too much water at once our body doesnt actually absorb all of it. Most of it will run right through us.
4. Drink at least room temperature water. Warm is even better. Cold and iced water literally douse the digestive fire.
5. Only sip a small amount of water with your meals. If we drink too much while we eat, our belly wont have enough room for digestive action. Remember this rule: fill your stomach 50% with food, 25% with water, and leave 25% empty for the digestive juices and process.
6. For the same reason, dont drink loads of water before or after your meals. Fill 50% with food, 25% with water, and leave 25% empty.
7. Drink when youre thirsty. Thirst is a natural urge that should be heeded. It means your body needs water. But don't wait to drink water only when you are thirsty.
8. As far as how much, were all different sizes with varied diets and lifestyles. One set rule of eight glasses a day simply can not apply to everyone. Naturally, the miraculous human body has its own built-in measuring system: thirst. If youre thirsty, drink water. When we listen to thirst cues and sip water throughout the day, well be drinking the right amount.
9. Our urine is a secondary confirmation to know if were amply hydrated. It should be fairly clear and straw colored. If its dark yellow you need to drink more.
10. Our lips are yet another indicator. If theyre dry, we might be dehydrated.
The rules are so straightforward, perhaps even obvious or intuitive. But they might make a serious difference in the way we feel on a daily basis. Happy drinking!
It is perhaps worth adding that drinking too much water has caused quite a few deaths. For most people, drinking only when you are thirsty is a simple way to avoid this risk.
People participating in endurance sports or dancing energetically for long periods have the highest risk from overdrinking. Also at risk are anyone on a low-salt diet, whether for medical reasons or any other reasons.
Even if you are not at high risk, drinking more than you need to drink exposes you to toxins that can build up over many years and eventually make you ill. Arsenic is one example of a toxin that builds up in the body. Levels in certified water supplies are almost always safe for normal drinking, but if you drink far more than normal you increase your risk.
There's a good description of the danger in Scientific American here: Drinking Too Much Water Can Kill
And here's another one at Harvard Medical School: Water, water everywhere
@damselinthisdress
@RarelyCharlie Those people, who do endurance sports, should replenish their salt levels by drinking isotonic fluids instead of water, yes. The danger is not the water, it's the lack of minerals (potassium and sodium, mostly) in pure water. They are lost when you sweat.
All the recent expert advice I've read is that the danger is the water. Salt does not protect you. I know that years ago people thought differently about it.
Isotonic drinks contain sugar, or other carbs that are converted to sugar, and the risks of sugar are a whole different story.
@cloudySummer
@RarelyCharlie There are different kinds, of course you should use the one the body needs. Dehydration is a danger, but hypotonic dehydration even more. Or hypotonic hyperhidration. Both can lead to cardiac arrhythmia, because the low sodium and potassium levels change the excitibility of cardiac cells.
Awesome post! It reminded me of this YouTube video I watched a while back titled "Adam Ruins Everything - Why You Don't Need 8 Glasses of Water a Day". It explains some of the stuff you mentioned, especially the part about how over drinking can be dangerous.
Here's the video: https://youtu.be/OWASUMMQjj8
