Nobody likes to get sick – coughs, colds and other illnesses can be a huge inconvenience, as well as making us social pariahs – as human beings, we do share our germs! This article will explain how drinking water can improve your immune system, keeping you healthy all year around.
Getting sick from time to time is an unfortunate fact of life, no matter how much we do our best to avoid it. We live busy lives in the 21st Century and we’re going to interact with all kinds of different people over the course of the day.
Think about those meetings that begin with handshakes, hugs with friends and family members, shared living spaces with spouses, kids or flatmates and public transport when we’re trapped in tin boxes with countless sniffling strangers – potential germs that aim to lay us low with a bug are all around us, all the time.
Succumbing to a sneeze isn’t a sign of weakness, but it can be avoided if we take the necessary steps to boost our immune system – the stronger our immunity, the less likely we are to cave into the dreaded bug that’s struck down our friends and colleagues.
Happily, this can be achieved without marching to a health food shop and spending the equivalent of a month’s rent on supplements. Tap water can be a hugely effective tool to keep you feeling fantastic all year round if you follow these easy steps to stay healthy.
Many of these reasons come down to simple biology. Water helps to oxygenate the blood found in our body, and that pumps up our cells and helps them function at full capacity. Healthy, happy cells that are packed with oxygen mean that our muscles and organs are firing on all cylinders – helping us feel our best, and allowing our bodies to enjoy a superior immunity to foreign invaders such as germs.
The kidneys are arguably the best example of this. The more water we drink, the better our kidneys operate in flushing out any unwelcome toxins through urination – and our immune system is not weakened by firefighting elsewhere in the body. The brain also gains a boost from water, though – regular hydration produces melatonin, among other chemicals, which will help you sleep. As any insomniac knows, not getting enough quality sleep can be a real blow to the human immune system!
Another way that drinking water boosts the immune system is through the production of lymph. This fluid runs throughout the human body, with a very simple job – collecting bacteria from the body and transporting it to the lymph nodes, where that bacteria is destroyed like the unwelcome and unhelpful parasite that it is. Think of a glass of water as a waterfall, cascading into your body – the more that you manage to consume and within normal guidelines, the more work your lymph nodes can do. This will also benefit you hugely in the long-term, as lymph fluid can prevent extremely serious diseases such as leukaemia.
In addition to this, water offers a general cleanse of your body and all its working parts. The more we drink, more moisture will be located in our eyes and mouth. This will prevent infection from gaining access to our bodies and launching an attack on our immune system – as well as offering all kinds of aesthetic benefits and preventing the discomfort of dry eyes or skin. Look at this way – we wash our hands with regularity in order to stay clean, so why would we not do the same for our precious interior organs?
Of course, one of the great things about water is also its flexibility. If the idea of drinking tap water with regularity leaves you cold as you consider it to be boring, add a little citrus fruit such as a lemon. Not only does this change the taste sensation, but you’ll also be giving yourself a boost of Vitamin C, which is the simplest possible boost that we can give our immune system.
Slipping a little lemon juice or a slice into a HydrateM8 tracker bottle is a great way of ensuring that you’ll get the best of all possible worlds – you’ll be drinking plenty, which will fend off coughs and sneezes, as well as that little extra that Vitamin C can provide.
There’s no need to worry about your general health as long as you’re drinking enough fluid – if you find yourself particularly susceptible to a streaming or congested nose, it may be a subtle sign from your body that you are not getting enough water in your day. Try a new regime of increased clear fluids and see if you can notice any difference to your general health – we’re confident that you’ll reap all kinds of benefits.
