Why Drink Water When Sick

Why Drink Water When Sick

Water is excellent for you and your health. Whether you want to get fit, look fabulous, or just feel better, water can and will be a crucial part of your new routine. But did you know that there's more than just drinking water when it comes to health and beauty? Drinking water is crucial when you're sick and it's incredibly important for several reasons. Let's look at Why Drink Water When Sick and ways water can improve your life.

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Why Drink Water When Sick

Replenishing lost fluids

• Fever: Sweating is a natural response to fever, causing fluid loss.
• Congestion: Producing mucus and draining it from your nose and sinuses also depletes fluids.
• Vomiting and diarrhea: These symptoms can lead to significant fluid and electrolyte loss.
• Decreased appetite: When you're sick, you may not eat or drink as much, further contributing to dehydration.

Preventing Dehydration

• Increased fluid loss: Illness often leads to fluid loss through various means, including fever sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, and even breathing heavily. This can quickly lead to dehydration, worsening your symptoms and hindering recovery.
• Reduced thirst sensation: When sick, you may not feel thirsty even though your body is dehydrated. This can be due to illness affecting the thirst center in your brain.

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Boosting Recovery

• Transportation of nutrients: Water is essential for transporting nutrients throughout your body, including those needed by your immune system to fight off the infection.
• Regulating body temperature: Water helps regulate your body temperature, which can be especially important when you have a fever.
• Thinning mucus: Adequate hydration helps thin mucus, making it easier to clear congestion and breathe more comfortably.
• Flushing out toxins: Water helps flush out toxins and waste products produced during your body's fight against illness.

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Supporting bodily functions

• Blood circulation: Proper hydration ensures your blood flows smoothly, delivering oxygen and nutrients to your immune system cells fighting the illness.
• Temperature regulation: Water helps regulate your body temperature, which is important for fighting off infections.
• Digestion and waste removal: Water aids in digestion and helps flush out toxins and waste products from your body.

Easing symptoms: Adequate hydration can:

• Thin mucus: Water helps loosen mucus in your nose and throat, making it easier to clear congestion and relieve coughing.
• Prevent constipation: Dehydration can worsen constipation, which is common with certain illnesses.
• Improve fatigue: Dehydration can lead to fatigue while staying hydrated can boost your energy levels and help you feel better.

Preventing complications

• Kidney problems: Dehydration can put stress on your kidneys, making it harder for them to function properly.
• Urinary tract infections: Dehydration can increase the risk of UTIs, especially if you have other risk factors.
• Confusion and delirium: Dehydration can affect brain function, especially in older adults and young children.

Boosting immune system

Water is essential for transporting nutrients and oxygen throughout your body, which ultimately fuels your immune system's fight against the illness. Proper hydration also helps remove waste products like toxins and bacteria that can hinder your immune response.

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Loosening mucus and relieving congestion

Drinking plenty of water thins mucus in your nose and throat, making it easier to clear away and reducing congestion. This can alleviate symptoms like coughing, sore throat, and difficulty breathing.

Supporting medication

Some medications can dehydrate you as a side effect. Drinking water helps minimize this side effect and ensures the medication works effectively.

What to drink

Water is the best choice for hydration when you're sick. You can also opt for clear broths, unsweetened teas, and diluted fruit juices. Avoid sugary drinks and caffeinated beverages as they can worsen dehydration.

How much to drink

While the exact amount varies depending on individual factors like your illness and activity level, a general guideline is to aim for 8-10 glasses of water per day. If you have trouble keeping track, try sipping water throughout the day and monitor your urine color. Pale yellow urine indicates good hydration, while dark yellow urine can be a sign of dehydration.

Drinking water is essential when you're sick to replenish lost fluids, support your body's functions, ease symptoms, and prevent complications. Aim to drink small amounts of water frequently throughout the day, even if you don't feel thirsty. If you have difficulty drinking water due to nausea or other symptoms, consult your doctor for alternative hydration methods like electrolyte-rich fluids or IV therapy. Remember, staying hydrated is crucial for fighting off illness and recovering quickly. So, listen to your body, drink plenty of fluids, and get well soon!

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Ways Water Can Improve Your Life

Saunas & Steam

Saunas provide fantastic health benefits. Plenty of research shows that sitting in a steamy sauna can lower your blood pressure, reduce your stress levels, clear congestion, promote healthy skin, improve workout recovery, loosen your stiff joints, boost your immune system, and – of course – burn off some calories! If you want to start enjoying this particular aqua-benefit, search to find options close to home. You’d be surprised how many fitness centers include hydrotherapy solutions for their members.

Swimming & Water Sports

Hitting the water for some swimming is a great, low-impact way to get back into shape (or keep in shape)! But it's not the only way to use water to get fit. Look into different water sports and see what strikes your fancy.

• Regardless, you'll likely experience several things:
• A decrease in your risk of chronic diseases.
• A decrease in your risk of diabetes and chronic heart disease.
• Relief or decrease in joint pain.
• Better bone density.
• Enhanced mental health.

Ocean Front Relaxation

Sure, you can relax anywhere, but taking a trip to the ocean for some relaxation has some added perks. For starters, the sound of the waves crashing is extraordinarily calming for humans. You may be surprised to find out that even the color of the water at the beach induces a ‘relaxing response' in our brains. Even the salty air is packed with benefits of its own, including negative ions. These negative ions are hugely positive for humans; They help with depression and sleep troubles, balance our autonomic nervous systems, help rid the air of pollen and allergens, promote blood purification, and even revitalize cell metabolism.

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Good Hygiene

Whether you reach for a Neti Pot for congestion and earaches or prefer to use at-home water picks for dental and ear care, there are tons of water-based tools to keep your hygiene in tip-top shape! These are generally regarded as safe to use because water is rarely harmful. You can also buy add-ins to help alleviate any agitation that putting water in your nasal passages may cause.

While these can be great, it's also a good idea to check with your doctor for instructions on how to use them properly and safely, as well as how often to use them. This is especially true when it comes to using water picks, as some settings can cause harm to weakened systems or when misused.

Staying Hydrated

Lastly, the obvious: It keeps you hydrated! When you have proper hydration, your body can function better. From being able to rid your body of toxins and other unwanted substances to keeping your lips looking full and your skin youthful, water is great. Not only does it improve physical performance, but it has also been shown to significantly affect your brain function and energy levels, treat and prevent headaches, relieve constipation, ease kidney stones, and even help you lose weight!

While you may have known that drinking plenty of water came with benefits, you may not have known about the rest. Water is a crucial part of human life. It doesn't just leave us looking and feeling great; it can keep our minds sharp and clear of stress and worry. It can help us to be our very best inside and out. Having water in all aspects of your life serves you more than words can say. So what are you waiting for? Go out there and add a little splash to your life! We hope that this Why Drink Water When Sick post inspires you. Get well soon!