You may have seen different health suggestions, such as detox teas and detox diet cleansers, to rid your body of toxins. However, there is one healthy option that is the best of all. That’s water.
One of water’s many health benefits is helping our body naturally cleanse and flush out toxins that we have either ingested or inhaled.
Our body is equipped with organs that eliminate wastes, such as the kidneys, lungs, and liver. Water ensures that these organs function efficiently in cleansing out those toxins.
How Does Water Detoxify the Body?
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Helps the Kidneys in Waste Elimination
Our kidney’s primary function is to remove waste products and excess fluids that enter our bodies and ensure that our bodies absorb the nutrients that we need to keep us healthy and robust. The kidneys then turn the wastes into urine which then exits our bodies.
Water helps the kidneys flush out wastes from the bloodstream in the form of urine. The urine that the kidneys produce is a good indicator as to whether we are drinking enough water. Dark yellow urine is a sign of dehydration. Drinking enough water also helps keeps our blood vessels open, ensuring that our blood flows freely to the different organs of the body.
Aside from assisting the kidneys in detoxifying, water also keeps the kidneys healthy. Dehydration can cause severe kidney damage. Water also helps prevent kidney stones, which are formed when there is not enough water to wash away excess salts in our blood. Keeping ourselves hydrated can help to prevent urinary tract infections, as drinking water produces more urine, which then helps in flushing out infection-causing bacteria.
Aids the Digestive System in Detoxifying
Detoxifying also takes place during digestion, and water is essential to this function. During the digestion process, our stomach and intestines break down food particles. We absorb the nutrients from our food and eliminate fractions that don’t get digested, including toxins.
Water aids the digestive system in different ways. First, water helps break down the food we eat, making digestion much more manageable. Second, water also allows our bodies to absorb the nutrients from digestion faster and more effectively. Lastly, water prevents our colon from drying out, which causes constipation. Constipation hinders us from expelling the toxins our digestive system has filtered out.
Does Special ‘Detox Water’ Work?
You might have heard of the phrase ‘detox water’ being mentioned in various health discussions. But if water itself can already naturally help detoxify the body, is there a need to drink a special kind of water specifically meant to further aid detoxification?
Detox water is simply water infused with fresh vegetables, fruits, or herbs – such as lemon, cucumber, mint, or lime. Aside from flushing out toxins, it is believed that detox water can also boost immunity, improve the pH balance of the body, and even help with weight loss.
We can attribute many of detox water’s benefits to plain water. Therefore, yes, they do work, but it is more because of the water component than the added ingredients. However, people who drink detox water do so because it makes their water taste more exciting and refreshing, making them inclined to drink more water.
How Much Water Should We Drink?
Drinking eight glasses of water a day is the standard rule. However, this number is simply an estimate. Some health professionals recommend drinking half your body weight in ounces. The actual amount of water one should consume in a day will depend on the person’s size, lifestyle, and genetics. Drink as much water as you need to prevent dehydration and ensure that your body can do its job correctly.
If your urine is dark and smelly, you need to drink more water. If it is always clear and you are constantly needing to urinate, you may be drinking more than you need.
Water, whether plain or infused with fruits or vegetables, is our body’s natural detox aid. Drinking enough water in a day and keeping ourselves hydrated will not only help our organs get rid of the many toxins in our body, but it can help in many other different bodily functions, as well. Water, along with a healthy diet and lifestyle, helps keep our bodies strong, healthy, clean, and in great shape.
