It’s the heat of the day, you’re exhausted from running errands or a tough day at work, and the first thing you want to grab when you get home is a cold beer or a tall glass of soda over ice. However, what you’re drinking might be harming your body more than you know. By drinking water instead, you can help your body stay at its peak condition and provide it with a number of other benefits that will have you looking and feeling great.
Your Kidneys Will Function Better
Your kidneys are responsible for flushing toxins from your body. When you don’t drink enough water, they don’t function as well as they should.
Your body may also build up a number of toxins without water to help flush it clean and your kidneys could become infected, causing pain and fever.
It Helps You Lose Weight
While you might be tempted to grab a diet soda with your lunch, drinking a large glass of water will help you lose weight more efficiently.
While diet drinks don’t have any sugar, they have a number of other additives that will bloat your stomach and make you feel gassy.
Water flushes away fat cells and will rehydrate you more efficiently after a workout than energy or sports drinks.
It Prevents Heatstroke
If you live in an area where summer temperatures can soar well into the triple digits, staying hydrated with water can help you avoid heat exhaustion and heatstroke by regulating your body’s temperature.
The more hydrated you are, the easier it is for blood vessels to expand so the body can release heat. Soda and alcohol only contributes to dehydration, so the more water you can drink in the summer, the better.
It Promotes Better Oral Health
When you drink a lot of water, it keeps your mouth from drying out, especially if you have to work or live in a dry environment.
When your mouth is dry, the dryness can cause several problems like bad breath and even contribute to gum disease and cavities.
Sugary drinks like juice blends and soda can also cause massive tooth decay.
It Helps Your Heart
When you drink water, oxygen is dispersed throughout your body faster and more efficiently. This means that your heart receives oxygen at a higher rate and doesn’t have to pump as hard during exercise and activity.
The harder your heart has to work, the more your blood pressure rises. High blood pressure can lead to a heart attack and even death.
Water is Pure
When you choose water over soda and other sugary drinks, you are adding nothing to your body that might harm it.
Other drinks that are brightly colored and sweet have a number of ingredients that are completely artificial.
In fact, there are some sodas that contain small amounts of corrosive acid, and some sports drinks have ingredients that the body cannot easily digest or expel.
It Helps with Dry Eyes
If you find that your eyes are constantly dry, then drinking more water can help.
By drinking up to 64 oz. of water a day, you can combat dry eyes and cut back on the eye drops, which sometimes contain artificial ingredients to further irritate sensitive eyes.