There are several health benefits of water, and your body needs an adequate supply of water in order to function properly.

The human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on age, gender and amount of body fat, and water is essential to human life. Water forms the basis for all fluids in the body, such as blood and digestive juices, and it’s the catalyst in all metabolic functions throughout the body.

Your body is dynamic and always changing, and this is especially true with regard to water in your body. You lose water routinely when your body performs normal functions such as breathing, sweating and eliminating waste. In a typical day, you need to consume a substantial amount of water to replace this routine loss.

Here are the primary health benefits of water:

*Drinking an adequate amount of water prevents dehydration.
*Water removes toxins and waste products from the body.
*Water carries nutrients to the cells of the body.
*Water regulates vitamin and mineral metabolism.
*Water is a natural appetite suppressant.
*Water helps the body metabolize stored fat.
*Water enhances digestion and helps prevent constipation.
*Drinking more water can often reduce joint pain and back pain.

The first benefit is especially important because mild to moderate dehydration is actually a very common problem. Mild to moderate dehydration can cause fatigue, muscle weakness, poor concentration, headaches and dizziness. Many people who suffer from one or more of these ailments have no idea that dehydration is the cause, and that getting relief is as simple as consuming more water.

It’s commonly said that you should drink eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy, but this is just a general rule. The amount can vary widely from person to person depending on factors such as age, physical condition, activity level and climate. If you drink enough water so you rarely feel thirsty (by the time you become thirsty it’s possible to already be slightly dehydrated) and you produce urine that’s clear or light yellow, your water intake is most likely adequate.

You also need to make sure that the water you drink is as clean as possible. This is why I recommend drinking filtered water instead of tap water or bottled water. Tap water often contains lead and trace amounts of toxins, and there’s also the risk of bacterial contamination. Bottled water is less strictly regulated than tap water. Companies that sell bottled water do not have to divulge to consumers the water’s source, how the water has been purified, and what chemical pollutants the water may contain. Also, all plastic bottles leach plastic byproducts, like phthalates and BPA, into the water. Using a water filter is the only way to ensure that the water you drink is clean and contaminant-free.

In conclusion, don’t underestimate the health benefits of water. Drinking plenty of good, clean water is an easy and effective way to boost your health.

When you shop for an aromatherapy body lotion, or other skin care product, you might look at the label to see what it’s made of in the hope of determining how it will affect your skin. Yet, if you are like the rest of the population, you probably have little idea what those ingredients on the label actually do! Your next course of action may be to read the claims on the package. Unfortunately, as this article will teach you, you can’t always rely on these claims as there are few, if any, government standards and enforcement associated with them, which can create a problem for you, the consumer, particularly, as you will learn, if you are buying an aromatherapy skin care product.

Claim 1: Dermatologist Tested

This is a great claim that is made by beauty products to breed confidence in you, the user. For instance, it could say, “Tested by a dermatologist on dry skin.” Unfortunately, while this claim sounds good, it gives you really little useful information. To begin with, you wouldn’t have the faintest idea which dermatologist was responsible for the testing and analysis. Further, you most likely wouldn’t know the qualifications of said dermatologist. You could rightfully ask yourself, with no answer, “Did this dermatologist have experience with testing? Was she well educated? “ Also, you wouldn’t have the foggiest what said dermatologist actually tested for. Finally, without a huge amount of research, if it were even possible, you couldn’t tell who funded the tests. If the consumer product company that manufactured the skin care product you are looking to buy paid for the testing, it would be difficult for it to be an unbiased test.

Claim 2: Hypoallergenic Product

According to Dictionary.com, hypoallergenic is defined as, “designed to reduce or minimize the possibility of an allergic response, as by containing relatively few or no potentially irritating substances.” Unfortunately, there is no government enforced or encoded standard that a company has to meet to make this claim. This is made more troubling with any aromatherapy skin care product. That’s because any such product contains essential oils, which, when applied to the skin, can cause severe reactions in certain people, assuming they have an allergy to the particular essential oil in use.

Claim 3: Laboratory Tested

Like Dermatologist Tested, Laboratory Tested provides little value. You’d have neither knowledge of the lab’s qualifications, nor what it tested for. For example, the laboratory might not have tested for an allergy that you have, which is, again, particularly troublesome when buying an aromatherapy skin care product. Additionally, without knowledge of who funded the test, you couldn’t tell how impartial it was.

Unfortunately, given the complex ingredients found in skin care products, you often have to rely on the benefits and claims made by the manufacturer. But, as you learned, claims including Dermatologist Tested, Hypoallergenic, and Laboratory Tested offer little meaning for you. Consequently, it’s important that you not only research the product online, but also, if concerned, ask your doctor about it. Let’s face it, your skin is important, which is why you are willing to pay for expensive aromatherapy body lotion or other specialized skin care products. So, to keep your skin looking nice, research your products before you buy and apply.