Alarms blaring, cars honking, birds chirping and neighbors shouting! These are some of the most common stimuli that force us to wake up in the morning. And if these were not enough, sometimes on the worst of the days, we are reminded of impending dues that ricochet our anxiety levels and instead of imagining a hunky-dory picture of waking up to the sound of the birds in the morning with the sun shining on our faces, we are compelled to jump straight out of our beds and into the washroom to bustle with life.
In the midst of all that chaos, we don’t remember to keep in check with our body’s needs. Sleeping eight hours a day, check. Drinking water first thing in the morning? Oops. Sleeping is something that your body can do on its own unless of course there are certain conditions in which people require pills. But, water, on the other hand, is an essential nutrient. Your body can’t produce enough water for meeting its basic needs. Ergo, you’ll have to get it from external sources to maintain your body’s health.
According to William W. Li, MD., physician and author of Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself, a normal human body loses water every day to carry out processes like peeing, sweating and even exhaling. Under such conditions, drinking water constantly becomes a prerequisite. However, while we’re sleeping, it’s impossible to continue drinking water since our body will continue using and losing fluids throughout the night. Under such circumstances, drinking water first thing in the morning is one of the most important things to be done. Apart from this, there are several benefits of starting your day with water.
5 Benefits of starting your day with water
1. Increase in energy levels
When the body is sleeping, it is certainly not getting enough water which results in dehydration. Dehydration can cause tiredness and dizziness which can result in apathy and lack of concentration in your activities. To avoid that, it’s necessary to drink a full glass of water first thing in the morning. This can ricochet your energy levels and elevate your mood as it can prompt the rehydration process, ensuring the healthy movement of the tissues and organs.
2. Stimulates your metabolism
Now, this rings true at any time of the day. Be it morning, afternoon, or night, drinking water can boost your metabolism. According to Dr Li., “Cold water triggers your body to turn on a mechanism called cold-activated thermogenesis.” This results in the body warming the water by triggering its metabolism processes by as much as 30 percent, for about an hour. Stimulating your metabolism is an extremely important thing to do since low metabolism levels can result in a variety of issues such as thyroid, gastrointestinal diseases, fatigue, insomnia, and more.
3. Improves cognitive functions
Dehydration inevitably results in a deterioration of mental performance, which can cause trouble memorizing or learning new things. According to the research submitted to the National Library of Medicine, mild dehydration corresponding to 1-2% of body weight can impede alertness, concentration, memory and physical performance. In order to avoid this situation and always show your A-game, it’s important to drink a glass of water first thing in the morning.
4. Improves your skin health
According to Healthline, your skin contains 30% of water. A severe amount of dehydration results in skin dryness and tugor. Drinking water upon waking up helps in flushing out the toxins from your body, since the kidneys, the primary functionaries of fluid balance, require water for eliminating the waste from the bloodstream. Hence, it’s important to drink water first thing in the morning as it reduces acne and gives your skin a glowing, moisturized look by removing all the toxins.
5. Escalates weight loss
This is one of the most common beliefs that you must have heard. But how does this work? Water induces weight loss as a result of its thermogenic effect, which refers to the process of warming up the cold water in the digestive system after consumption with the help of energy, that in turn kickstarts metabolism. As mentioned previously, water-induced thermogenesis can spike the body’s metabolic rate by 24-30% in adults that lasts for 60 minutes.
According to the study conducted by Michael Boschmann, Jochen Steiniger, Uta Hille, Jens Tank, Frauke Adams, Arya M Sharma, Susanne Klaus, Friedrich C Luft, Jens Jordan, titled, “Water-induced thermogenesis”, increasing your daily water intake by 1.5 liters can burn an extra 48 calories.
Based upon these observations, the bottom line is that drinking water first thing in the morning can induce some miraculous health benefits, ensuring a long and healthy lifestyle.