The Importance of Drinking Water

Written by Stephanie Teskers - 16 Comments
Categories: health and fitness, self improvement

My two-year-old daughter doesn’t balk at all the water I give her to drink. But when I told my 7-year-old son to drink a glass of water, he said, “But I’m not thirsty. Can I have root beer instead?” Suddenly I got a flashback to my early years. There was never a dull moment with my family growing up, but I didn’t learn the importance of drinking water. Water just tasted bad to me, and I chose not to drink it. I didn’t have a clue that I was depriving myself of the most important factor for enjoying good health: drinking plenty of water.

What turned me around was something I learned in my late 20s while watching a show on television. An object lesson was used to teach the importance of drinking water. In essence, if you washed your dirty dishes with orange soda, they wouldn’t come clean. In fact, they would be sticky and disgusting. Water is required to get the dishes clean. Well, what about the inside of our bodies? If we only drink sugary beverages and never drink water, how will our insides be cleansed?

The object lesson somehow persuaded me to overcome my dislike of the taste of water and begin to drink H2O regularly. It didn’t take long before I became accustomed to the taste of water, and I even began to like it. Drinking several glasses of water a day became my practice, to the exclusion of virtually every other beverage.

My health improved remarkably as a result of drinking water. I had more energy than I could remember having since early childhood. I experienced fewer aches and pains after exercising. Best of all, I became regular for the first time in my life. My bowels finally had a chance to work the way they were meant to; and I felt like I’d gained a new lease on life, all because I started drinking water.

I’ve realized it’s time to persuade my son about the importance of drinking water. I already tried the dirty dish object lesson, and it didn’t take. Since he likes science, perhaps I should go the route of medical evidence. Here are a few persuasive arguments that may do the trick:

• Did you know that our brains are 90% water and without plenty of water, our brains don’t work as well as they could? An easy way to be smarter in school is to stay well hydrated. (Hydration means the condition of having adequate fluid in the body tissues.)

• Drinking plenty of water is necessary to be energetic. The reason for that is because water creates electrical and magnetic energy in every cell of the body and provides a natural boost of power.

• Our bodies are more likely to get sick without plenty of water. There are lots of symptoms associated with lack of hydration, and they can be prevented by simply drinking plenty of water every day. Just a few of those health problems are: weight gain, constipation, eczema, and urinary infections.

• There are tubes in your heart called arteries, and plenty of drinking water is required to keep those arteries from getting all clogged up. A clogged artery in the heart is like a clogged drain. It’s difficult for blood to circulate through the heart and body if the artery is closed up like that. (This explanation seems like it could be kind of scary to a 7-year-old and may not be a good way to explain to a young person the importance of drinking water. I have to think on this one.)

While preparing my argument for my son, I learned even more about the importance of drinking water than I knew before. If none of the above facts convince him to drink up, there are plenty more I can educate him with. Water is truly amazing, for all it does to contribute to health and well-being.

Stephanie is a runner, blogger, and proud mother of the two greatest kids ever. When she’s not watching Gray’s Anatomy, she reads up on Velashape Cellulite Treatment and follows Sono Bello on Twitter and Sono Bello on Facebook.

Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter!

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  • Phanatik

    Is there any scientific evidence to suggest that drinking lots of water is good for us or is it just a marketing myth?

  • just me

    2 thoughts:

    1. I personally haaaate flat water, it tastes awful to me. So we bought a water carbonator. While a little pricey at the outset, for this girl who already drinks fizzy water it paid for itself within 3-4 months. But I’ve also found that when I’m dehydrated I crave pop (for some reason the bubbles help??) so the fizzy water alleviates the craving. Bit fancy for a child if you don’t already drink fizzy water, though.

    2. Kids need less water than adults, so readers please use caution when encouraging a reluctant/resistant child to drink. Too much water can upset the electrolyte balance and cause dizziness, confusion, loss of consciousness and death. Your kidneys struggle to process it and your brain actually swells. This is especially during the hot summer months when you want to stay hydrated, you *must* also have some salt/sugar intake. (I suspect this is why I crave pop when I’m really dehydrated, because of the salt and sugar)

  • Theo

    @Phanatik
    Aside from people who are actually slightly dehydrated and who are not getting enough water, and thus feel a lot better when they get more of it, I have not seen any evidence that drinking “more” water is necessarily better. If you are already getting enough, it will just have to make you pee more often.

  • Elise

    Water definitely is important to drink if you are already not getting enough. Of course, as with all things, moderation is crucial. My biggest reason to drink water though, has had to do with my skin. It’s one of the important things that helps clear up your skin if it’s bad. Water is a vital part of your cleansing system, and takes a lot of bad things out of your body.

  • http://www.criminaljusticedegreeschools.com Charles

    Great points on why it is important to drink water. I think substituting water for juices and sodas also increases health by reducing calories, which adds up over time and can reduce your weight.

  • http://www.waterpureinternational.com Lee

    You body is over 75% water and drinking 8-10 8 oz. Glasses a day is vital for good health.

    More importantly is what type of water you consume.

    No one especially pregnant women should drink bottled water. Please take the time visit YouTube and find the six part series of the movie “tapped” to learn about the dangers to yourselves and our planet.

    Municipal water is in most countries including the USA is extremely contaminated with pesticides and pharmaceuticals, chlorine, chloramines, and a plethora of other toxic and carcinogenic substances also highly documented as the water treatment facilities in most cities were built at the turn of the century, and have never been updated, and in great disrepair. They are unable to handle the toxic loads they are now contending with and you may not want to know what’s really in your water, but you need to.

    There is a new green technology by only one US manufacturer located in South Florida that has developed a patented technology that is capable of producing .99.99% pure drinking WATER from AIR. You can produce 7-10 gallons a day of pure water from air for less than 10 cents a gallon.

    If you are lucky enough to live where there is some humidity and warmth you can make pure water in your own home or office and enjoy the best tasting purest water available today.

    No pesticides, No pharmaceuticals, No chlorine, no chemicals of any kind..why? They were never there in the first place…

    Learn more about this cutting edge technology at waterpureinternational.com

    You have health insurance , car insurance, life insurance….think of this as water insurance.

    It’s green, its clean and its truly sustainable.

    Enjoy!

  • harjot

    “marketing myth”? lol, water is free…

  • harjot

    an easy way to test if you’re getting enough water is the color of urine. if it’s yellow, you need to drink more, if it’s clear you’re good to go!

  • http://www.desicolours.com Aditya

    marketing myth?? I didn’t get you….

  • http://www.kaltechsolutions.com Kaltech

    Yes, its proved in many cases. Even I drink more water everyday to keep my skin healthy and shiny.

  • tracy

    yah,i agree water is dah key to a beautiful shinny skin.

  • Nelson David

    Thank you for the article Lori on drinking plenty of water. I have started having sufficient water and feel the difference + I exercise at the gym for 1 hr everyday. It feels great after having spent a rusty life mentally and physically for some time now. I am going to persuade my mother to drink more water but it’s not easy.. She’s a little stubborn. She’s got a blockage in her vein to the heart and is got a negative mind frame due to that. I’ve asked her to walk for 30 minutes in the evenings that it might help her.

    Thanks for your beautiful articles. During the day I try recollecting your words every time I start comparing myself with others or trying to be another person. Trust me, it becomes a habit and does not allow you to be at peace and these thoughts take away all the energy in you.

    Many times I have to tell myself “Free Your Mind and …………. Focus”

    Nelson

  • savitha

    halo water is free of cost. Where did marketing came here?

  • http://www.yahoo.com/ Marlee

    A rolling stone is worth two in the bush, thanks to this aitcrle.

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  • Chris Walker

    I totally agree with this article, drinking plenty of water is seriously important if you take your health seriously.  I have recently written an article on this issue which can be found here; 
    http://chriswalkerpersonaltraining.blogspot.com/2011/10/importance-of-water.html