How many glasses of water should I drink a day? Should I really drink 8 glasses of water a day? How big must these glasses be? How much water should I drink every day for optimal bodily functions? Why should I drink more water?

The knowledge of knowing how many glasses of water I should drink a day, is not going to be enough to get me to drink the required amount, unless I also know WHY I should drink this much water.

Why should I drink more water?

I discovered that water and air are two of the most vital ingredients to life. Without it, you will die. Most humans will completely dehydrate between 3-5 days. Death will be inevitable. Yet, we never really think about the importance of these two commodities, until we are deprived thereof. We should not even have to ask how many glasses of water should I drink a day, because you should drink more water than required.

The human body consists of between 50% and 80% of water. The more obese you are, the less this percentage compared to your overall body weight will be. Some even as low as 45%. This is not good. Other factors are age and fitness levels.

Your blood contains 98% water. This fact alone should make you realise how important it really is to hydrate your body regularly.

According to the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, water is an essential nutrient.

My research has discovered that there are many reasons why you should drink more water, but here are the more vital reasons why your body needs a lot of water every single day:

• Water cleanses your digestive system and flushes out toxins. This lessens the burden on your liver and kidneys.
  
• Water acts as lubricant between your joints.
• Water acts as medium in which various vital metabolic and biochemical reactions take place.
• Water assists in the absorption of vital nutrients, minerals and trace elements and also facilitates the digestion of food at various stages in the digestive track.
• Water transports energy in your body.
• Water transports nutrients in your body.
• Water helps your body to maintain its body temperature. This is done through the process of perspiration. (On average a person loses about 500ml of water through sweat every day. On hot days, this average obviously goes up.)
• Water moistens tissues such as those in your eyes, mouth and nose.
• Almost all major systems in your body, depend on water.

If your body retains water (swelling) it is because you are not drinking ENOUGH water. Your body goes into a protective state if you are not rehydrating it regularly. Water retention is not good for you.

How many glasses of water should I drink a day?

As much as your body needs on that particular day. Although this is a truthful answer, it is not very helpful. However, we do need to realise that our body’s water requirements will not be exactly the same every day. On days when you sweat a lot (those warm summer days) you will need to drink more water than you usually do.

When you go on a hike or nature walk, or do some sort of physical exercise, you will also need more water than on days where are not so active.

The average amount of water that your body needs is about 8 200ml glasses a day. Your body needs between 1.5l and 2l a day as a minimum. On hot days or days when you exercise, your body will need much more.

Here is the good news: You cannot really drink too much water. Trust me, you won’t drown. You will however go to the loo a bit more regularly. This is good, because the toxins in your body gets flushed out immediately and do not get to overstay their welcome and cause harm in your body.

Other advantages of drinking more water a day:

The more water you drink, the healthier your body will become.

All major systems will function better, nutrients will get transported where they are needed at a cellular level, vital minerals and trace elements will be absorbed which will otherwise go to waste.

Your skin will look more healthy the more hydrated your body cells are.

Your digestive system will become more regular. (No more constipation. Good quality dietary fibre combined with good quantities of water will clear out your digestive track in no time.)

You will feel more energetic!

How many glasses of water should I drink a day IF I DON’T LIKE THE TASTE OF WATER

Unfortunately, you cannot replace water with soft drinks, coffee, tea or any other liquid based on the argument that it “mainly contains water”.

Think of it this way: you will not rinse the outside of your body with coke, or tea or coffee or some other liquid but water, right? The same holds true for the inside of your body. Otherwise you will just clog up your system.

The fact that nature provides different forms of food, but only one form of drink should also be a clue. Water is nature’s gift of life to us.

If you don’t like the taste of water, there is good news. Mother Nature provided a great solution. Aloe Vera.

Before you freak out….I know the juice of the Aloe Vera plant is extremely bitter and will compare to the worst medicine you ever had.

Thankfully I have discovered a health and wellness company that produces a Herbal Aloe concentrate which retains all the goodness of Aloe, but got rid of the nasty taste.

The key benefits of Herbal Aloe are:

• Relieves indigestion
• Improves nutrient absorption
• Enhance intestinal health
• Contains antioxidants

This is a God-send. Just 1-3 caps of Herbal Aloe in a 500ml bottle, and you have a most refreshing drink.

How I manage to drink 3 litres of water a day without breaking a sweat

This is what I do. I have a 500ml water bottle which I fill with filtered water. To this, I add 2-3 caps of Herbal Aloe. (This product so by the way, is excellent for any digestive issues and it tastes great.)

I carry this bottle with me where ever I go, and drink from it whenever I feel like it. When it is empty, I refill it. You will not believe how many times a day I re-fill this bottle. Your body will tell you when you need a drink.

When that bottle is with you, it’s just so easy. If you re-fill your bottle 3-5 times a day, you don’t even have to worry about thinking whether you had enough water or not. You will drink 1.5 – 3l of water without noticing.

If you are interested to find out more about that great little product called Herbal Aloe, just click HERE.

In this short video are more tips that will help you drink more water

The governmental Center for Disease Control also encourages you to drink more water.

Before you ask, how many glasses of water should I drink a day, think of why you need to drink water. Then you will happily drink more than the daily recommended (1.5l – 2l) 8 glasses of water a day.

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