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Writer's pictureSash Moreaux

Water and Skin: A Love Story


A Love Story About Water and Skin

By: Sash Moreaux

It seems obvious that you should drink water to keep your skin healthy and soft, but as with almost everything else, there is a lot of misinformation about how important water is for your skin. Almost every day, and if you do a quick search on Google, you'll find a bunch of beauty blogs that say water doesn't help your skin and that the idea that it does is a myth. My favorite thing to do is to ask questions, do research, and then see for myself. Even though I think it should be common knowledge that our bodies are mostly water, that most of our cells are water, and that when we are dehydrated, the skin on our lips deteriorates quickly, this false information can make even the most basic information confusing for estheticians and clients alike. Many people think that drinking water doesn't have much to do with skin health, but water is important for skin care and skin health (preventing aging). I looked at one of the many studies (there are thousands) that looked at how water affects the body. The goal of this study was to find out how the amount of water in food affects how the skin works. A Food Frequency Questionnaire was used to find out what 49 healthy women, all of whom were around 24 years old, ate. The most important thing was how much water they drank. This allowed us to divide the participants into two groups: Group 1 (38 people who drank less than 3,200 mL/day) and Group 2 (11 people who drank more than 3,200 mL/day). People in the Groups had about 2 L of water added to their daily diets for a month to see what effect it had on the way their skin worked.

At several anatomical sites on days 0 (T0), 15, and 30 (T2), measurements of epidermal surface and deep hydration, trans epidermal water loss, and several biomechanical descriptors were taken (face, upper limb, and leg). This test (adding 2 L of water a day for 30 days) made a big difference in how hydrated the top and bottom layers of Group 1's skin were. The same thing happened with the most important biomechanical terms. So, this study shows that drinking more water as part of a normal diet could be very good for healthy skin, especially for people who don't drink much water every day.

Aside from this fact, water keeps the body in homeostasis. Food and drink companies have done a lot of research to show that drinking more water may be good for our health and help us live longer. This is true but also, most cells, tissues, and fluid parts are made up of water. At birth, water makes up 75% of the body. As an adult, water makes up 60% of the body. It is a necessary nutrient that helps cells stay in balance and breaks up ionic compounds and solutes. Water runs all forms of transportation and keeps the volume inside and outside the body stable, which prevents life-threatening dehydration. Water cools the body, lubricates joints, and absorbs shocks. Several studies have shown that the water in meals and drinks, as well as the water used to make cells work, isn't enough to meet the body's daily water needs. Unlike other essential minerals, there is no set recommendation for how much water you should drink every day. Some recommendations make sense. The "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010" say that men and women ages 19 to 30 should drink 3.7 and 2.7 L of water, respectively. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends that women drink 2 liters of water per day and men drink 2.5 liters. Other doctors say that you should drink half your body weight in ounces of water every day, or more if you sweat a lot or work out.

The skin's "barrier" and "envelope" functions depend on how much water is in it, and a lack of water is linked to a number of skin problems. To protect the barrier, this water application must be taken in and put on the skin in the right way to be effective. If you want to know how important water is for skin, don't look it up on Google. Instead, go to your local medical journal library. There are many studies that show how important water is for the skin and body. It's so easy for clients to check off one box for free that will help their skin look better and improve their overall health and well-being.


Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4529263/

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