Chronic diseases have been making the lives of many people difficult. Living with one requires you to watch everything you eat and drink. And most of the time, it gives your body limitations to enjoy even the simplest things in life like sports or anything you’re passionate about like painting or cooking.

It’s also terribly expensive to maintain. You need regular medications, so your body doesn’t succumb to the symptoms and leaves this mortal place you call home. If you don’t treat your chronic illness, you’ll suffer from a variety of symptoms, most of them painful and debilitating.

What Is A Chronic Disease?

Chronic diseases are conditions or illnesses that last longer than a year or even more to treat and require medical attention to manage. Many chronic diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide.

Today, the top ten leading causes of death globally aren’t infectious diseases but mostly chronic illnesses. Here’s the list:

• Heart disease 
• Stroke 
• COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 
• Lower respiratory diseases 
• Neonatal conditions 
• Lung cancer 
• Alzheimer’s and other dementias 
• Diarrheal diseases 
• Diabetes  
• Kidney disease 

What’s important to note is that many of these diseases are preventable, and a lot are influenced by lifestyle choices. Many of these dreaded diseases are caused by bad eating habits, excessive alcohol, smoking tobacco, and a sedentary lifestyle.

Many who are sick now probably think that if they just prioritized their health when they were younger, they might not be suffering from the symptoms of these illnesses today. If they just ate right, avoided alcohol and tobacco, became active, and drank more water, they could be living a healthy and active life now.

Water is a huge factor in one’s health. Drinking the recommended amount of water is key to keeping one’s health in excellent condition. That’s why health experts have established a guideline on how much water to drink. 

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How Much Should You Drink Each Day?

Though there’s a recommended quantity of water to drink per person, it’d still vary on the activities you do every day, where you are, and your health condition. Your body depends on water to survive. About 50-70% of your body is water.

If you constantly sweat, are active because of work and other activities, or live in a humid tropical country, you need to drink more. Ideally, you should replenish all the fluid your body loses during such circumstances because if you don’t, you’ll be dehydrated. Dehydration can cause your body to break down, and in certain instances, it could be fatal.

According to JUST Water adult men need about 3.7 liters of fluid a day while women need 2.7 liters. This covers the water and liquid in the food and other beverages you consume. Some people find it hard to drink water. If it’d help, you may squeeze a lemon in your water or add cucumber to make it more interesting to drink. Avoid relying too much on flavored water because it may contain sugar that might not be good for you.

Or, if you want, you may try alkaline water that offers excellent benefits and has a refreshing taste too. Alkaline water contains essential minerals and helps retain natural electrolytes in the body to give you efficient hydration and help your body return to its natural, normal state after a workout.

Preventing Chronic Disease With Water

Once you know the full benefits of water, you can use it to prevent chronic diseases and live a healthy life. Here’s how water could help you in that aspect:

1. Helps The Heart Pump Blood With Less Effort

Do you know how it feels when you’re exhausted and finding it difficult to breathe, say after a cardio workout? You’re trying so hard to catch your breath, and it takes so much effort that you may need to be still and probably lie down for a few minutes to recuperate.

Since you’ve spent the fluids in your body in the activity, your heart is finding it difficult to pump blood in your system. Your heart is taking more effort than usual, and if you’ve sweated a lot, the heart has a limited supply of fluid in the body to use. That’s why you need to replenish it with water and electrolytes.

If not, you may experience nausea, dizziness, and on rare occasions, a sudden cardiac arrest. That’s why it’s crucial for active people like athletes and those who participate in intense activities to drink water before, during, and after a rigorous workout or training.

To keep your heart healthy and avoid heart disease, you must drink enough water daily and replenish what your body loses in any activity. It’s better always to have a jug of water beside you and, if needed, download an app to remind you to drink water or set the alarm every hour dedicated for that.

2. Helps The Body Eliminate Excess Glucose

For people with diabetes, it’s imperative to be constantly hydrated. Water helps lower the glucose concentration in the bloodstream and lower the blood glucose value in your body system to keep it at a normal range.

When your blood sugar is high, your kidneys will find it difficult to filter your blood, and you’ll notice that your urine has a darker color. The best thing to do is always to take sips of water, especially if you’re sweating.

3. Helps The Kidney Remove Waste From The Blood

Drinking sufficient water helps your kidney function better. Since the kidney is like a filtering machine in your body, it needs water to keep the waste easy to expel. If not, you’ll notice that you’re having difficulty moving your bowels, or your urine is amber-colored and painful. When this frequently happens, you might suffer from a urinary tract infection, kidney stones, and kidney disease.

Kidney disease is complicated to treat and costly too. You’ll need regular dialysis sessions that could reach the limit of your health insurance or even drain your bank account. So, start having a water regimen today to keep your kidneys healthy. 

4. Helps Flush Toxins In Your Body

Your body becomes inhabited by toxins if you frequently consume unhealthy foods or are exposed to harmful situations. When this happens, cells in your body get attacked by these toxins and become cancer. To prevent this from happening, you need to avoid unhealthy food like junk foods, instant meals, and fast food; more importantly, drink plenty of water.

Conclusion

Water’s importance in one’s body can’t be dismissed. It helps the body function as it should, helps regulate body temperature, and keep your joints lubricated and your skin young. If only people consumed more water, many diseases wouldn’t see the light of day. For more incredible benefits, alkaline water is also an excellent substitute.