Best time to drink water
When you wake up
Your six to eight hours of sleep is a long period to go without water consumption.
Drinking two or three glasses of water right when you wake up is a good way to rehydrate your body quickly.
Also, when you are sleeping, your body is in repair and recovery mode. During this time, your immune system is hard at work ridding your body of toxins.
By drinking enough water, you can speed up the process in which your body flushes those toxins.
Staying hydrated is, especially essential for maintaining optimal brain activity.
It is, of course, a daylong process, but starting with a glass of water right away is a step in the right direction.
Before a meal
Drinking a cup of water before a meal can help you feel more full and help prevent overeating.
It is a great strategy if you are trying to lose weight. Drinking water before a meal not only help enhance feelings of fullness, but also decrease your intake during that meal.
For instance, one study found that drinking 500ml of water 30 minutes before breakfast reduced the number of calories consumed by 13 per cent, compared with a control group.
Also, drinking water before a meal helps in aiding digestion. Remember not to drink too soon before or after a meal as the water will dilute the digestive juices.
After a meal
Drink water an hour after a meal to allow the body to absorb the nutrients. A common mistake that people make is gulping down water during and immediately after eating.
Since we absorb water best when our stomachs are not full of food, drinking heavy amounts of water during or directly after a meal dilutes the natural juices that aid in digestion.
If you are hungry between meals, pour yourself a tall glass of water first to see if you are dehydrated. Sometimes people think they are hungry when they are really just thirsty.
Before and after exercise
When you work out, you lose water and electrolytes through sweat. Drinking plenty of water before and after exercising is important to keep your body hydrated and help replenish any lost fluids.
Excessive fluid losses during your workout can also harm physical performance and cause electrolyte imbalances. Keep yourself hydrated while exercising, but avoid drinking too much.
Excess water consumption during your workout will reduce sodium concentration in your body and deplete your natural electrolytes, resulting in fatigue or worse.
When you have headache
A headache can be a symptom of dehydration. What’s more, it can also trigger migraine attacks.
So, increasing water intake may help decrease migraine severity, frequency, and duration, suggests a July 2020 trial in adult women published in the international journal, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.
When you are tired
Drinking a glass of water when you feel tired will help to power up your brain.
Since your brain consists of 75 per cent water, drinking a glass or two when you are feeling sleepy will help to replenish vital fluid levels and increase cognitive functioning.
Drink a glass of water if you are feeling tired at work or if you have a big presentation coming up and need to focus.
If you have a hankering for a nap, but unfortunately can’t take one, drink a glass of cool water instead.
Before bedtime
Drinking one glass of water an hour before bedtime helps replenish any fluid loss that can occur during the night.
If you are hydrated before going to bed and sleeping, you may lower the risk of heart attack and stroke, as dehydration elevates the risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
In fact, according to a study in the European Journal of Nutrition, dehydration can impair vascular function almost as much as smoking a cigarette.
Tip: Try to drink your last glass of water about an hour before bed if you can to avoid waking up all night to go to the bathroom.
When you feel sick
Maintaining the hydration level is essential particularly when we are going through any medical condition.
It could be an occasional flu, a chronic ailment like acidity or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or auto-immune disease such as diabetes or thyroid.
Proper intake of water and maintaining a healthy saturation level is essential.
However, certain ailments of the liver and kidney cause restriction to fluid consumption. In such cases, medical advice should be followed.
When around infected or sick people
The best way to protect yourself in an infected environment is to keep drinking water.
In fact, doctors and caregivers of Covid-19 affected patients are advised to keep drinking water throughout the day.
Sipping warm water has been universally recommended as a preventive measure.
Since water plays a significant role in flushing out the toxins, it also keeps us protected in an infected environment.
