As we all know, regular water intake is essential to maintaining a healthy body and mind. But can the way we drink water unlock more of its benefits?

What’s the difference?

Sipping is taking in very small amounts of a liquid as if to savour it. The best way to think about this is when enjoying a nice whiskey, you allow yourself a small intake, as you want to get the full taste – rather than gulping the drink down.

Swigs are, therefore, the opposite, much more akin to a gulp and a larger intake of liquid. This term is mostly used to refer to enjoying a refreshing glass of ice water, or a well-earned pint at the pub.

Whilst it is correct that we should drink plenty of water in the day, we must do this in the right way. We are often told we should drink around 3 litres a day, but this can be quite a lot!

The consequences

Swigging (or gulping) water can be a fast way to get water into the body, but it can come with some unwanted side effects.

We may often be inclined to take a big swig of water after a workout or on a hot day, to help cool us down.

Doing this with a little water won’t cause any issues, but what if we do this regularly?

Constantly gulping water can be detrimental to how our body distributes it. Our body aims to do this as efficiently as possible, as with most things; when we increase the body’s workload unnecessarily, it causes us some discomfort.

Excessive or fast intake of water can lead to ‘water bloat’. The kidneys are capable of dealing with 800-1000 millilitres per hour so when we exceed this, we can begin to ‘waterlog the body’

When we aren’t able to handle the water intake, it can cause our cells to swell; this is what leads to bloating, headaches, ‘brain fog’, and nausea.

Another issue we can have is increased urination levels. By swigging water, we can increase the number of times we need to urinate by upwards of 6 times!

This is caused by the body needing to shift the excess water, without fully absorbing any of the benefits it has to offer.

So what’s the answer?

The answer is to sip slowly. As you can see, there aren’t any downsides to sipping your water instead of swigging it.

Sipping water throughout the day may make it harder for some to get the required level of water intake, but this can be built up as an easy habit over time.

This method allows our kidneys to completely absorb all the benefits of water, while keeping us in a realm of relative comfort. Sipping keeps our urination levels in check, while also giving us drawn-out hydration throughout the day.

This should go without saying, but if you’re trying to build up a habit of sipping water, you want to make sure that the water is high-quality, clean, and refreshing – right?

Take a look at our water filtration services and see how we can help you build up a habit of sipping. Should you have any questions, you can reach us on 01462 455772 – we would be more than happy to help!