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Drinking enough water is really important, because a large
part of our physical bodies is made up of water. There are
lots of benefits of drinking water. For example, water
plumps up our skin and allows our faeces to be properly
lubricated so they are easy to pass.
Many years ago when my children were small I had a nanny
to look after them for a few months. Every Sunday she would
disappear into the bathroom and appear several hours later
looking white faced. Eventually I asked her what was going
on, and she told me that she had been severely
constipated all her life. She managed to go once a week
but it was extremely painful. I suggested that she should
try drinking more water. After a few days she was amazed
that she was no longer constipated. She told me that as a
small child she had been taken to various specialists, who
could not find anything wrong, but no one had suggested that
she should drink more water. What a simple solution to an
excruciatingly painful problem.
How do you know if you are drinking enough water?
Most experts think we should be drinking at least 2 litres
(approximately 4.25 US pints) of water a day – not as tea or
coffee or beer – but as water. You will need even more if
you are exercising or if it is hot.
“But I’m not thirsty,” many people say.
I think probably this is because the body has stopped
indicating it is thirsty as the signal has not been
responded to for so long (if ever!).
Try this: for several days commit
yourself to drinking 2 litres of water per day. Put it into
a jug or bottle and drink it whether you are thirsty or
not. After a few days you will probably find that your body
starts to indicate that it is thirsty, and you will wonder
how you managed to drink so little in the past.
Of course, the two litres a day is a guide. Probably a
more accurate way is to check your urine. Ideally your urine
should be very pale (straw coloured). Darker urine is
usually telling you that you are not drinking enough water,
although B vitamins will colour your urine as will some
medication.
Want to look younger and feel better quickly? Checking
you are drinking enough water could do just this. Think
about how lank and miserable plants look when they don't get
enough water. Pretend you're a plant and perk yourself up
with more water.
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