Some New Found Benefits of Drinking Water

Drinking adequate amounts of water is what many experts recommend for optimum wellness.  And in my earlier post:  Body Wellness:  Our Bodies Need Water we talked about just how much water we need to be consuming daily and about some of the benefits of drinking water.

In the hot days of summer, it’s relatively easy to drink water because we are naturally parched. And nothing quenches thirst like plain old water. But in the winter months we often have to make a conscious effort to drink adequate amounts of water.

Now researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown that drinking ordinary water has some amazing additional benefits such as raising our alertness, our blood pressure and our energy.

But in today’s health arena we are bombarded with stories of high blood pressure problems. So who would be interested in raising their blood pressure? Well it seems that the American Red Cross is. Why? Because of the fainting response experienced by some donors when they give blood which is often caused by a temporary drop in blood pressure.  And this fainting response clearly has a negative impact on return blood donor rates.

So the American Red Cross conducted a study of drinking water as a method for reducing fainting responses. And they found that drinking 16 ounces of water before blood donation reduced the fainting response by 20%.

The researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center also found a link between drinking water and weight. It seems that water increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system -  our flight or flight response. This in turn increases the amount of energy that we expend which in turn promotes weight loss.

So water is even more miraculous than we thought. In addition to water’s much talk about benefits like keeping us hydrated, helping to flush toxins out of our bodies, giving our skin a better look and texture, transporting oxygen and nutrients to our cells and regulating our body temperature, there are even more reasons to drink water.

When we need that extra boost of energy, whether for late night studying or during that afternoon lull – reach for a glass of water instead of coffee. Before giving blood, down a couple of glasses of water to prevent that fainting response.   And when you think weigh loss, think and drink water.

Enough said – drink up ladies!

Source: Eureka Alert
Vanderbilt University Medical Center