5 Common Misconceptions About Drinking Water
Water is essential for your health. The average adult is approximately 60% water. It is used by all your cells to allow the transference of nutrients into the cells and toxins out. That’s why consuming water is so important.
However, thanks to its importance several common misconceptions have arisen, it’s time you knew the truth.
- Drink Eight Glasses A Day
This is commonly heard advice and not an unreasonable goal. However, it is a guideline and not essential to stick to on a daily basis.
Your body loses water through evaporation, sweat, and urine. It needs to be replaced. The amount that needs to be replaced depends on your physical activity level and metabolism.
In short, you should drink when you are thirsty, your body knows when it needs water.
- Tap Water Is Safe To Drink
The theory is sound. Tap water has gone through a treatment process to remove bacteria and debris before it leaves the treatment works, effectively making it safe to drink.
However, the truth is that the water goes through miles of pipes on its way to your tap. During this journey, it can pick up contaminants in the soil that leech into the pipe, debris from inside the pipe, and even bacteria. All of these could be harmful to your health.
In addition, the chlorine added to water to kill bacteria and the fluoride added to help give you stronger teeth and bones, are potentially dangerous. Research suggests that these chemicals contribute to an increased risk of cancer.
In short, you need to incorporate a reverse osmosis filter into your home plumbing to ensure the water coming out of your tap really is safe to drink.
- Drinking More Water Clears More Toxins
While it is true that water helps toxins to move out of cells and through the body to be eliminated, drinking excessive amounts of water will not improve the speed or efficiency of this process.
In fact, toxins are filtered out of your body by your kidneys. Drinking extra water than you need is likely to subdue the ability of the kidneys to work as a filter system. Effectively, you’ll be making it harder to eliminate toxins, instead of easier.
- Dehydration is Likely When Exercising
When you exercise you sweat, this means you’re losing water. However, unless you are exercising exceptionally hard or for a long period of time, it is unlikely to lead to dehydration.
In fact, to become dehydrated you need to lose 2% of your body weight in water. That means a 200-pound man will need to lose 4 pounds of water, that’s unlikely to happen.
- Drinking-Water Causes Weight Loss
Drinking water can aid weight loss but it doesn’t cause weight loss itself. Water can be beneficial as it fills you up. You may be surprised to discover that thirst is often mistaken as hunger, encouraging you to eat. But, if you try drinking a glass of water instead you may find your hunger abates.
But that’s it, if you’re actually hungry water won’t help.