It is not strange to hear that water constitutes about seventy percent of the human body mass. This alone gives us an idea of how important water is to the human body and system. The phenomenon of water therapy is becoming more popular by the day. More studies are bringing to light interesting findings with regards to the importance and effect of water therapy. It involves drinking more water than the average person does on a daily basis If you have not been taking this powerful therapy serious, maybe because you did not really understand the benefits of drinking water, here are several reasons why you should make some reconsiderations and take it seriously.
A wonderful weight loss therapy
Many people who are obese or overweight are desperate for a change. There are so many methods suggested in books, magazines, articles and even from doctors and nutritionists. Everyone claims to be getting it just right but what people want is results, and unless you are doing the right thing, you will not have the results you so desire. There is something nutritionists and human biologists call “resting energy expenditure”. This is the amount of calories burned by the body even while it is at a state of rest. The interesting part of it is that this resting energy expenditure increases by about 25% when a person engages in water therapy. It is one of the wondrous benefits of drinking water. For children who are overweight or obese, morning water therapy could be even more effective in weight reduction.
In addition, drinking more water reduces appetite and craving for food. The appetite one has for food is triggered both by hunger and certain digestive hormones which make send hunger and craving signals to the brain. The effectiveness of such enzymes is reduced by water intake and this goes a long way to curb appetite, keeping unhealthy eating habits in check.
At the end of the day, you will loose more weight by making use of water therapy than you will without it. And it is a more convenient method than most others which require either more energy, time or money than you are willing to put in.
A majority of beverages people take have high sugar content and there are few things that sponsor wight gain than excess sugar intake. When you engage in water therapy, though, your craving for such beverages reduces considerably because your body does not need the fluids they provide. In the long run, consistently making use of water therapy will be more beneficial to you than most nutritional tips you get out there. It is also cost free and takes only determination to practice. Weight loss is simply one of the effects of water therapy. For those who have been very concerned about their weight, you can make this therapy a lifestyle along with other weight loss routines and expect maximum results.
Great at cleansing the body
Let’s talk about waste disposal as one of the benefits of drinking water. Sweat, urine, and other forms of excretions are the body’s ways of eliminating waste. But all these will not be possible without the presence of water in the excretory system. Every single cell in the human body uses water for excretion of waste which is transported to the various outlets for elimination from the body. This means that the less water available to the body, the less effective the excretory system will be. That is why people develope things like kidney stones. Kidney stones are the most common types of stones formed by the saturation of crystals in the urinary system. Kidney stones for example are extremely painful especially when it comes to passing them out.
But since they formed by the accumulation and crystallization of minerals, they can be prevented by making use of water therapy. With enough water in the system, it is unlikely that crystals are going to be formed because crystallization will be stalled. It is also suspected that water can help deal with kidney stones and other types of stones, but this is not proven. It is however very likely that water is an important remedy or cure for kidney stones though this is not fully backed by scientific findings. The assertion however is that since the crystals that accumulate to form stones can be dissolved, water could effectively accomplish this.
Morning water therapy is the most effective and should not be missed. Through out the day, you may not remember to take the water therapy in the afternoon or evening or it may simply not be convenient to. Work and other things just get in the way. It would be better to be faithful with morning water therapy so that if you cant go through with the other sessions, there would have been considerable impact made. The importance and health benefits of water are clearly seen in the role it plays as far as cleansing the body is concerned.
A cure for constipation and other stomach disorders
Constipation is usually the result of poor eating habits. Adding food to that which is already at a certain level of digestion in the stomach. This causes mixture of enzymes and food which are at different stages of digestion. The result is an uncomfortable situation that is characterized by farts and an uneasy feeling in one’s stomach or digestive system. Toxins accumulate in the digestive system and need to be flushed out. How else are you going to do this except by drinking water? But it is not going to work just by drinking water as you usually do.
You need to take the therapy that demands drinking a good quantity of water early in the morning before eating anything and as fast as possible. When water is taken in excess at a fast rate, the system does not have enough time to process all of it, so most has to be sent out as waste. A good quantity will have to go out through the intestines. As it goes out, toxins will be flushed out of the intestines. Also, excrement that seemed to have been caught up in the intestines will be pushed on for excretion. Making use of water therapy is a great way to foster peristaltic movement.
Keeps you hydrated
So many people are not drinking a sufficient amount of water daily, and though it may not seem to be a problem, it is actually making some important processes in the body more difficult to undertake. In the long run, it is very likely that people who consistently drink less than a liter of water a day will suffer from some of the diseases that have become common around the world. Things like the already mentioned kidney stone, gastric and gastric ulcers, heart burns, constipation and the list goes on. Most of these things happen because a person is not properly hydrated.
Makes food and nutrients processing and absorption by the digestive system more efficient
Like we have already mentioned in the preceding lines, one of the benefits of drinking water is its importance for the transportation of nutrients or other vitals around the body. Supplies to the cells and excretions from them are made possible by the circulation of water in the system. Nutritionists hold that drinking water about an hour before meals could considerably enhance effective digestion. As far as water therapy is concerned, water is taken first thing in the morning because it serves as an important kick starter for the first meal of the day. Those who start their day with water or make a habit of taking water about an hour before meals are generally healthier than those who don’t. The effects of water therapy are better seen when it is done habitually. It feels like taking medicine most times, but I guess thats because water therapy is actually medicinal. You can be sure of maximizing the effects of water therapy when you do it consistently, whether you feel like it or not.
Makes your skin glow and look fresher
When toxins are eliminated from the body, the result is a brighter looking skin. It also cleanses the colon which in turn allows for more effective absorption of nutrients to the body. This makes it possible for vitamin c and other vitamins that are responsible for a bright skin to be successfully processed and transported to the skin. If you realize that your skin is an organ, then it will be easier to understand why water is necessary for a glowy looking skin. The skin is made up of cells which are for the most part made of water. This water is not just part of the cell but helps it carry out its very important functions like energy manufacturing, waste elimination and boosting of the immune system. So shortage of water supply to the skin and its cells will result in dry skin which is more prone to wrinkles and cracks.
Its a great remedy for common simple illnesses like head aches
This may sound unlikely but you must realize that sometimes, headaches are caused by fatigue. Fatigue on its part is usually triggered by dehydration. There are different types of headaches and some are definitely more sever than others. In any case, water therapy will play a great role in either preventing or curing headaches. Sometimes the effect of water Therapy may not be instantaneous enough to seem like you have been cured. But it will surely have an effect that makes a difference. For more sever or complicated headache types like migraines, you want to start by taking water to reduce the pain before you reach out for drugs.
Several people have experienced a stop of headaches which use to occur periodically just by taking water therapy. At the end of the day, your basic prevention and treatment for any type of headache is water therapy. It is part of the health benefits of water, and a cost free one at that.
Tips to help you make the most of the benefits of water therapy
Though water therapy requires you to drink more water than you usually do, you should know that that there are certain tips you can use to make things easier, at least until you get use to the practice. When you first start out practicing water therapy, your system will react to the new routine. You will definitely feel like drinking water is taking medicine. Especially the ones you have to drink early in the morning before taking any food. Many people give up within the first three to four days and miss the impact they could have made on their health. You don’t need to do the same thing. Here are some tips to help make the exercise easier for you.
Drink the water to lukewarm temperature so that it seems closer to tea. It is a good way to deceive your brain and make the exercise a little more tolerant. It is actually a known fact, though, that warm water therapy is less effective than cold water therapy for weight loss. The reason is simple. Before absorbing cold water, the system has to bring it to body temperature. If the water is cold, more calories will have to burn in order to make it warm enough. However, if you are not interested in loosing weight, then you have the advantage of using warm water therapy for the first few days. Specialist also believe in some cases, warm water therapy is more effective than using cold water.
How to use water therapy; Quantity and timing for water therapy
Understanding how water therapy should be carried out is simple. It has been a common practice for Indians for quite a while now. But with contemporary research bringing more of its advantages to light, people around the world are embracing this simple therapy which promises wonders. Whether you choose to make use of warm water therapy or cold water therapy, the process is the same.
All you need to do is start your day with 1.5 liters of water and make sure you drink the water in as short a time as possible. Normally, the recommendation is to drink it all at once, but for first timers, this may be a little difficult to do, especially if the person in question had a habit of drinking much less water than their body requires in the past. If you are going to take a break while drinking it, make sure it is not more than a couple of minutes. The recommendation that you drink the water as fast as you can is not just to make you feel uncomfortable or to make the exercise seem difficult. There is an interesting reason why you should do it that way.
When you drink a lot of water at a time, especially an unusual amount which is far more than the body needs or can process in a short time, much of it will be pushed out of the body. The body will absorb as much as it can at the moment and over the next few minutes, but that would only be about half of it. While the rest of it is being pushed out, it flushes away toxins and wastes that were trapped in the body because of low fluid levels.
Now someone may want to eat something in the morning before taking the therapy hoping that this will make it a lot easier. Well, don’t. The recommendation from experts is that water therapy be done on an empty stomach. When you eat before taking morning water therapy, you are going to sabotage the intended effect of the practice. Even when you take the therapy on an empty stomach in the morning, make sure you stay for about an hour before taking breakfast. For those who take breakfast as early as 7:30am or find it difficult staying later than 8am without taking breakfast, you will definitely have to take the morning water therapy early enough to accommodate the one hour span before the exercise.
You can also practice the same thing in the afternoon and evening. But make sure you follow the rules of doing it on an empty stomach. Then wait for an hour before taking your meal. Taking water therapy before bed is an effective practice to help get rid of simple infections. For those who are new to it and may find adding an afternoon and evening session to it unbearable, you may go on with just the morning water therapy until you are comfortable with it.
For about the first week after you begin water therapy, you will notice an unusual frequency in urination and maybe stooling. No need to be alarmed. That is your body sending out the toxins it has been holding for a long time. Within the next two to three weeks, this is going to change since your body would have become use to the new routine. Understanding the health benefits of water will help you take it more seriously and be more committed to the process.
Other tips for making water therapy more effective
When you use water therapy, avoid things like coffee and other caffeine rich drinks. They are good at making you send out more water than you normally would. This means, while you can drink coffee and still go on with the water therapy, too much of it will definitely sabotage the effects of water therapy and make it more difficult for you to see a difference or change even after practicing it for a while.
Alcohol is another thing you should stay away from as you practice water therapy. Like coffee and other things, it is a diuretic and limits the health benefits of water. This means that it makes you urinate more frequently than you have to. And it is more probable you are going to experience a hangover when you take in too much alcohol, coffee or other diuretics. Bottom line is, you will be opposing your own efforts when you make a habit of abusing alcohol or coffee while you take water therapy. Why go through all the discipline of drinking that amount of water daily when you are just going to undo everything by another habit.
Lets reiterate that water should be taken at least an hour before your meals as it is best taken on an empty stomach. You can also take the warm water therapy but if you are looking forward to loosing weight, be sure to use cool water instead as the system burns more calories to change the water to room temperature. Using warm water therapy may have all other effects but it will be a little less effective for weight loss.
You should also know that the types of food you choose to eat could help you stay hydrated. For those who fancy soups and fresh vegetables, there is a likely hood that they are going to have an even better effect from water therapy since they will be taking more water aside that which is consumed in the process. Such food help keep you hydrated and reduces the body’s need for water.
On the other hand, people who like eating dry things like bread and other pastries have to take water therapy even more seriously. This is because more water is required for digestion of these foods since they have little or no water content in themselves. Thus more water gotten from the therapy will be use for effective digestion of these food types and little or nothing will be left over for effectively flushing out waste from the body.
While you undertake and enjoy the health benefits of water therapy, try to reduce your sugar intake, especially if you are someone with a high craving for sugary foods and beverages. If your diet does not change to accommodate and maximize the effects of water therapy, you will be deceived into thinking it does not work.