Bad Water Drinking Habits: Only Drinking 3 Glasses of Water a Day
Drinking water is a small matter, but drinking it incorrectly can harm your health, turning it into a big issue. How much water should you drink daily? Is the water from the water dispenser safe? Is there a right way to boil water? How should you drink water if you wake up early and sleep late? Have you ever thought about these small questions regarding water intake? Below, we remind you to avoid these bad water drinking habits:
Bad Habit: Turning off the kettle as soon as it starts to whistle.
Correction: Many households use kettles to boil water and turn them off as soon as they whistle, then start drinking. But did you know? The tap water we drink is disinfected with chlorine. After chlorination, tap water contains harmful substances such as haloforms. Boiling water is a good way to reduce these harmful substances to a safe level. However, when the water temperature just reaches 100°C, the content of haloforms and chloroform is 110 micrograms and 99 micrograms per liter, respectively, both exceeding national standards. After boiling for 3 minutes, these two substances rapidly decrease to 9.2 micrograms and 8.3 micrograms per liter, respectively, which are within the standard. If the water continues to boil, the content of haloforms and chloroform will decrease further, but the amount of other non-volatile substances in the water will increase, which is also harmful to the human body. Therefore, the best way to boil water is to let it boil for about 3 minutes.
Correct way to boil water: Boil water in an iron kettle; When the water is about to boil (80°C~90°C), open the lid, let it boil for another 3 minutes after it comes to a boil, then turn off the heat.
Reminder: Do not boil water for too long. It is best to finish the water boiled on the same day. It is better not to drink water left until the next day; it can be used to wash vegetables or dishes.
Bad Habit: Water from the water dispenser is the cleanest.
Correction: A nutrition expert once revealed in an interview that she never drinks water from the office water dispenser, saying that the office water dispenser is rarely cleaned, posing a health hazard, so she avoids it.
Tests by the National Environmental Sanitation Monitoring Department show that if the cold and hot water tanks in a bottled water dispenser are not cleaned for 3 months, bacteria and viruses will multiply in large numbers, such as Escherichia coli, fecal streptococci, Bifidobacterium, enteroviruses, Escherichia coli phages, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
In addition, aquatic fungi, actinomycetes, red worms, sediment, heavy metals, and even red worms can breed in a long-un cleaned water dispenser.
Reminder: Home water dispensers must be cleaned once a month; It is best not to drink bottled water that has been opened for more than 15 days, as long-term exposure can also lead to impurities and bacterial growth.
The steps for cleaning a home water dispenser are: Unplug the water dispenser; Drain the remaining water from the water dispenser through the water outlet; Clean the exterior of the water dispenser and the base interface; Pour the special cleaning and disinfectant into the water tank; After 10 minutes, open the red and green water faucets until the disinfectant is completely drained; Unscrew the drain valve on the back or bottom of the machine to drain the disinfectant from the water dispenser; Rinse repeatedly with boiling water or purified water until there is no smell; Tighten the drain valve, and the disinfection and sterilization operation is complete.
Bad Habit: Only drinking 3 glasses of water a day.
Correction: Some people don't like to drink water, thinking that one glass in the morning, one at noon, and one in the evening is enough. Even if you are not thirsty, your water intake is too low. The "Chinese Residents' Dietary Guidelines" recommends that adults with light physical activity living in a temperate climate should drink at least 1200 milliliters of water daily, which is about 6 glasses. If you are very active and sweat a lot, you should increase your water intake accordingly to replenish water in a timely manner.
Bad Habit: Not drinking water in the morning or at night.
Correction: "The plan for the day depends on the morning." The first glass of water in the morning is particularly important. While sleeping at night, the body loses a large amount of water through urine, skin, and respiration. After waking up in the morning, the body is in a state of physiological dehydration. The body loses about 450 milliliters of water overnight. Drinking water in the morning can replenish the water lost by the body's metabolism, stimulate gastrointestinal motility, moisten the intestines, soften stools, promote bowel movements, and prevent constipation. When you wake up in the morning, the stomach and intestines are already empty. At this time, drinking water can wash and clean the gastrointestinal tract, dilute stomach acid, reduce irritation to the stomach, and keep the gastrointestinal tract in the best condition. The water drunk after waking up will be quickly absorbed by the intestinal mucosa into the blood, which can effectively increase blood volume, dilute the blood, reduce blood viscosity, promote blood circulation, prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and also allow the brain to quickly return to a clear state. Therefore, it is important to develop the habit of drinking water in the morning from a young age to prevent the high incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in middle and old age.
Many people do not like to drink water before going to bed. However, excessively restricting fluid intake before bed can easily lead to insufficient water in the blood, which may increase the risk of cerebral infarction or myocardial infarction. If you do not drink water from after dinner until you get up the next day, the water in the blood will be insufficient, which can easily lead to blood clotting.