How to Drink More Water for Better Health

There are a many reasons to drink lots of water every day. Water takes part in every function in our body. It is the transporter of nutrients necessary for body functions. It works in digestion, absorption, circulation and excretion. Water maintains our normal body temperature. Water improves the look of our hair, skin, eyes and muscle tone. We must replace the water that we lose through daily sweating and elimination.

Health Benefits of Drinking Water:

- Weight loss. Drinking water can help you lose weight by preventing you from confusing hunger with thirst. Water keep your body systems, including metabolism and digestion, working properly and give you the energy (and hydration) necessary for exercise. Water has no fat, no calories, no carbs, no sugar.

- Drinking Water is Heart-Healthy - Drinking more water could lower your risks of a heart attack. Researchers studied more than 20,000 men and women and discover that people who drink more than five glasses of water a day were less likely to die from a heart attack or heart disease than those who drank fewer than two glasses a day.

- Digestive system benefits. Water helps remove toxins from the body, in particular from the digestive tract. The digestion of solid foods depends on the presence of copious amounts of water. Acids and enzymes in the stomach break the food down into a homogenized fluid state which can pass into the intestine for the next phase of digestion. Gastritis, duodenitis, pain from ulcers (as long as the ulcer is not perforated), heartburn all decrease with increased water intake.

- External benefits of drinking water. Water not only affects you internally but it has many external benefits. It can be a major contributor to a healthy, fit body. It adds natural moisture to your skin, giving a fresh glow today and helping the aging process tomorrow.
Keeping properly hydrated during exercise allows you to have a better, more productive workout. When your workouts are better, you feel and look better too.

How to improve your water habit:

- Change your daily habits – Wake up to your first glass of water. Make it a rule to order water (with or without lemon) when you go out to lunch instead of a diet soda.

- Take a bottle. A lot of people find it helpful to get a big plastic drinking bottle, fill it with water, and carry it around with them all day. I like to keep a glass of water at my desk, and I drink from it all day long. When it is empty, I fill it up again, and keep drinking.

- Water temperature. The closer to body temperature water is, the easier your body takes it where it needs to go. Very cold water can over-stimulate the kidneys.

- Buy a water purification system. Purified water tastes very good and may help make drinking water more appealing to you. Be aware, though, that as you grow accustomed to purified water, you may find that tap water leaves a bad taste in your mouth, even though it may be better for your teeth.

- Add grape, cranberry, and apple juice to a glass of water. Mix half a glass of water with half of glass of grape juice and you have a healthy drink instead of empty calories like in soda. Grape juice does have a high amount of sugar in it but the sugar is from grapes which provide nutritious vitamins and minerals which soda and alcohol do not have.

- Eat water rich foods. Water-rich foods include vegetables, fruits and soups. The component of foods that has the biggest impact on how much food you eat is water.

It is not hard to drink more water in your every day life. It takes these small changes to make big changes in your health and lifestyle. By just drinking more water instead of sugary drinks like sodas, you can lose 10 to 20 pounds a year.