Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: You may not be drinking plenty of water there are plenty of reasons to drink it.

Health experts recommend eight glasses measuring eight ounces each that is equal to about two litres per day. According to health experts, drinking recommended amount of water is of utmost importance for staying healthy. It is said that body is composed of about 60% water which is required for carrying out bodily functions like digestion, absorption circulation creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients and maintenance of body temperature.

Medical practitioner Dr Farah Pasha while talking to this scribe on importance of taking adequate amount of water said that fluid losses occurred continuously from skin in the form of sweat, breathing, urine and stool and the amount of water lost must be replaced daily for staying healthy, otherwise all these activities would lead to dehydration. Dehydration, she said, has its own consequences from mild to severe ones.

Another medical practitioner, Dr Asma, said, “Dehydration impairs both mood and concentration and increases the frequency of headaches.” She further said dehydration was detrimental to working memory and it increases feelings of anxiety and fatigue. She said even mild dehydration can impair mood, memory and brain performances.

While drinking water, Dr Farah said, one should think of nutrients lost as all of those were essential for good health. “Water helps energize muscles when the cells don’t have adequate fluid they don’t work well and as a result of which performance suffers,” she said. “Water improves the digestive process; it works much like oil does in a machine. Without water, digestive process tends to slow down and gets sluggish,” she added. “A big glass of water about half an hour before every meal facilitates the digestion process,” she advised.

She further said drinking lesser amount of water results in reduced motivation, increased fatigue. As hydration has a major effect on energy levels and brain function, studies show that even mild dehydration could impair many aspects of brain function. Health experts say hydration and dehydration also have their effects on children. Hydration activates brain of an individual (child or an adult), more accurately hydration helps a child’s brain to carry on its normal functions like alertness, concentration and focus.

The experts believe that children are not much informed about the merits and demerits of drinking required amount of water, but had the necessary impulse for water. So, according to experts, mothers need to take care of the requirement of water in children.

Water intake can be fulfilled through fruits and vegetables like watermelon, cucumber, etc, but the best and easiest source is to drink water itself, health experts believe.

Dr Asma said taking extra amount of water also helps body after sickness, injury or surgery and consequently healing process is improved. Drinking lots of water also boosts immune system by flushing out pathogens like viruses and toxins out of the body, she said. “Consuming enough water stops formation of kidney and gall stones,” she added.

She, however, cautioned that kidney patients suffering from extreme conditions should consume water according to the advice of their doctor. As, she warned, excessive and inadequate intake of water were associated with health problems.

Published in Daily Times, May 7^th 2018.