Clean Drinking Water Is Crucial for Preventing Sickness

March 27, 2020

During flu seasons, you’ve probably heard people recommend you drink lots of water to help you avoid getting sick or to speed up your recovery if you’ve fallen ill.

While water isn’t a magical cure for illnesses of any kind, staying well hydrated does improve your overall health and your body’s immune system. Despite this, many medical professionals estimate about three quarters of all Americans fail to get the recommended amount of water every single day. This means most people, by not hydrating, are failing to perform what is just about the simplest task there is to protect the body against illness.

Here’s a quick overview of what you should know about how clean drinking water prevents sickness in Scottsdale, AZ by boosting immune system strength.

Water and illness

As we mentioned before, simply drinking your daily recommended amount of water isn’t going to keep you from getting sick, but it does improve your odds, and it does help your body to fight off illnesses faster when they occur.

One way in which water helps your body is that it helps keep the mucus membranes in your nasal passages moist. Moist mucus membranes will be better able to trap viruses before they pass into other areas of your body, meaning you’ve successfully strengthened your first line of defense against illness. In addition, fluids help your body more efficiently circulate blood, which means you’ll be able to transport white blood cells to their targets faster so the virus doesn’t have as much time to replicate and spread.

Oxygen is a primary component of water, and drinking water helps deliver more oxygen into the bloodstream. Oxygen is a crucial aid in removing toxins and hastening your recovery if you become ill.

You should also consider all the fluids you lose when you’re sick. When you become congested, sweat due to a fever or vomit due to stomach illness, you lose fluids. There are also medications you can take to help clear out your system, but in doing so they can contribute to dehydration. For these reasons, it becomes especially important for you to drink even more water than normal when you’re sick, so you can keep your fluids at appropriate levels.

When it comes to fluids, water is absolutely the best thing for you to drink when you’re sick and when you’re healthy. But if you want to add some variety, there are some other beverages that can be helpful. Hot liquids like herbal teas and soup can be helpful for clearing out congestion and relaxing your throat. However, you should avoid hot caffeinated beverages like coffee, or other caffeinated beverages like soda or energy drinks. Aside from water, tea is the best thing you can drink when you’re sick.

There is a common misconception that sports drinks like Gatorade can help when you’re sick, but generally these beverages have too much sugar and not enough potassium or sodium. While they’re beneficial following periods of exercise, they are not beneficial for people with illnesses.

For more information about how our clean water solutions in Scottsdale, AZ can help ensure your drinking water is healthy and safe, contact WES Water today.

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