Something that most people notice when they first start getting to know me is that I drink a lot of water. Like tons of it, I’m not even kidding. It even freaks ME out a little bit. This water addiction started around seventh grade: I was a hormonal pre-teen that didn’t know how to take care of herself nor the internal and external changes she was experiencing. I thought I had luckily dodged a bullet and that I simply wasn’t going to get pimples since most of my friends had already experienced their first pimple outbreak, and I had not. But no, I spoke too soon. Pimples started to appear on my forehead, and they stressed me out -a lot -. Going from having a smooth, baby-like face to one full of pimples was not something that I was excited about. Because of this, I started to look for ways in which I could make my pimples disappear.
Most articles talked about expensive creams and treatments, and I knew I wasn’t about to get those 1) because my mom wouldn’t let me, and 2) because I was too scared that they could scar my face for life, so I started focusing more on natural treatments. I read articles ranging from oatmeal facemasks to honey coffee face scrubs, but nothing quite seemed to work. Now I know that it was mainly because I didn’t sleep well or ate properly, but let’s just keep going on with the story. One of the articles I stumbled upon, which was specifically directed towards teenagers, talked about more down-to-earth advice such as sleeping more, exercising for 30 minutes on a daily basis, and eating a more balanced diet. Honestly? At the time, I thought these bits of advice were pure nonsense, but now I know that it was because I was just not ready for that type of commitment with my body and refused to see them as the truth. The easiest advice I read from that article was “drink more water”, and I thought, why not? I was never much about drinking water and I could easily survive the day with less than 5 glasses of water, so I decided to give it a try. And well, as some may say, the rest is history. BUT, *spoiler alert* drinking more water didn’t really rid me of my pimple problem, I know, bummer, but hey, at least water helped me in other ways.
I started drinking more water not necessarily for the rights reasons, but at least I am grateful that I did. When I was in seventh grade, I knew that water was essential to maintain a healthy body, but I didn’t know its specific benefits, and now I’m really grateful that I do. Throughout the years, I have been discovering the different reasons why water is so important and the benefits that it gives you, and I thought I’d share them with you guys:
- I know that probably most of you have heard this before, but around 60% of your body is made purely out of water. So yeah, stay hydrated kids, water is literally life.
- Feeling hungry? Chug a glass of water. I know that this may sound ridiculous, but sometimes you feel like you’re hungry when you’re dehydrated or bored. At least I know this was the case for me and it helped me to stop overeating.
- Drinking more water actually boosts your daily performance, whether it is in sports or in academics, so if you want to have a little bit more energy, drink water, it might do the trick.
- Water cleanses your body. If let’s say, you ate a heavy meal, full of junk food and artificially-sweetened drinks, and you KNOW that it will make you feel sick and bloated in a couple of hours, drink water. It will help you digest the food more easily and allow for your body to dispose of the wastes quicker.
- If you are like me and frequently get stomachaches and indigestion, having a bottle of warm water to drink throughout the day can really make a difference.
- And finally, water does play a role in skin health, such as reducing the number of blemishes, and puffiness in your face. According to some, water can even make your skin glow, but I cannot personally confirm that statement.
There are many more countless benefits, but I’m not about to get all Bill Nye on you, so let’s just leave it at that. Although there is ONE disadvantage. If you drink more than 2 liters of water every day, prepare to go to the bathroom often. Like once every two hours kind of often. Well, this is a small price to pay for such a long list of benefits, am I right?
Oh! and P.S.: Don’t overdo it. Yes, water is good for you, but don’t drink it to the point to which it makes you nauseous. Been there, done that, and totally not worth it, nor more beneficial. Remember that nothing in excess is good. In reality, your daily water intake should be based on factors such as age, weight, and height, but if you do not want to do the research, eight glasses of water, the standard for the average human being, should do the trick just as fine, although I do strongly recommend that you do the research.
