Mind, Body, & Soul

By Caitlin Roy
Round Table reporter

How many glasses of water a day have you been told to drink? Do you ever know why? Your mom might have told you that water helps curb your hunger or that your body needs it to function, and you would just stand there and roll your eyes and say “yah,yah”. Well stop rolling your eyes out of all these years of disbelief your mom is right. Water is a major part of your body and plays a major role in all its functions.  

Studies have shown that drinking water 15 minutes before eating helps regulates your appetite because you feel fuller and eat less. Water also makes you feel more energetic and boosts your metabolism by 3%. Some studies state that you should drink 1oz of water for every 2lbs of your body weight to gain the benefits of increased energy and metabolism. Many times people mistake dehydration for hunger because thirst and hunger sensations are triggered together. So when you feel hunger, first grab a drink of water. 

If you are an athlete or simply go to the gym to exercise, don’t forget your water. Experts suggest that drinking water before, during, and after exercise will help keep your energy up and also keeps you from overheating. An athlete’s mental and physical performances are affected by even mild dehydration. If you are feeling thirsty, you are already showing signs of dehydration and your body is showing signs of needing water. Remember, by drinking water your speed of recovery also increases.  

Two other ways that water helps people is that drinking water can improve your complexion and alleviate some head aches. So before going for the medicine cabinet or the pharmacy grab a drink of water. It may be the cheapest and most effective medicine of them all.