Why we need to drink?
Drinking water on a daily basis is essential for our need to survive. The body is made out of 70-80% water. Life on Earth cannot exist without it, making it very substantial in other planets. You can survive without food longer, but it only takes 3 days of no water to go fatal. Here are ways why and when you can drink water.
After waking up
Drinking water can help restore water loss as the body loses up to 1 litre of water. This can be the result of sweating, and yes, even breathing. Simply sleeping with the thermostat on, and/or in warm climates can cause dehydration. Not only that, but our complex metabolic systems constantly release off heat, which means water loss. So even if you are sleeping in a well cool climate, think again and drink some water.
Before a meal
Drinking water can help aid in digestion, giving you a sense of fullness so you won’t be overeating. Avoiding dehydration before a meal helps the salivary glands to produce saliva, which activates an enzyme called amylase that breaks down foods into molecules for the body to use. For the molecules that the body doesn’t use, well we go to the bathroom to “squat” it out. To comfortably squat it out, drink water as it helps to avoid constipation.
Before, during and after exercise
We have already talked about how the body is in a constant dehydrating state, due to our complex metabolic systems constantly releasing off heat. Imagine what happens when you exercise? More heat is getting produced, and to thermoregulate the body compensates by sweating. Sweating helps remove heat by evaporation to give off a cool effect to help cool down the body. It is very important to continue supplying yourself with adequate amounts of water to prevent getting a heat stroke.
Before going to sleep
Going back to after waking up, remember how we talked about drinking water can help restore water loss as the body loses up to 1 litre of water? That is if we assume that you met your daily requirement of water intake for the day. You see, going to sleep dehydrated can disrupt your sleep by causing you to snore. Snore in a way that will wake you up. Though we do not advise you to drink too much water before bed as it can disrupt sleep by frequent night trips to the washroom.
Fun fact: Did you know some people are allergic to water? It's a rare condition called Aquagenic Urticaria and its symptoms are itchy red hives. Users drink diet soda instead of water to survive.