How Do I Know If I’m Drinking Enough Water? by Jane Thurnell-Read

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. Check ot our water filter too.

Copyright 2007 Jane Thurnell-Read Wellness Products