Japanese Water Therapy

Why I don’t like to drink cold water

The (early) hours in the morning are the ‘’golden hours’’. A lot can be done before starting the day. Oil pulling, drinking lemon water, dry brushing, meditation/praying and squeezing in a quick work out are all examples of how to start your day healthy and set the tone for the rest of the day. According to the Japanese we should add one more very healthy habit, the Japanese water therapy. For decades the Japanese have been drinking water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

Drinking water is of course generally good for our health. Water is a great source of life and it is a necessary element for every cell and function in our body. There is no life without water. There have been scientific studies on the effects of drinking water for years.

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What is the Japanese water therapy?

Japanese traditional medicine recommends drinking water just after awakening because of its natural health benefits.

For decades, it is a well-known habit in Japan to drink water immediately after waking up every morning (on a empty stomach) although I couldn’t find any studies on this.

For serious diseases as well as minor illnesses the water treatment has been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a natural remedy in cases of:

headache

body ache

heart problems

arthritis

fast heart beat

epilepsy

obesity

bronchitis asthma

meningitis

urine and diseases

vomiting

gastritis

diarrhea

piles

diabetes

constipation

all eye diseases

menstrual disorders

ear-, nose-, and throat diseases

The Japanese Water Therapy Steps

What are the correct steps to follow the Japanese water therapy? If you have kidney problem or severe health issues, ask your doctor before starting the Japanese Water Therapy. Here are the steps you need to follow to carry out this therapy.

  1. After you wake up drink 4 x 160ml (22 ounces) glasses of water (not cold) before you do anything else, including brushing your teeth.
  2. After you finish your water, you can brush your teeth, but don’t eat or drink for 45 minutes.
  3. After 45 minutes you may eat and drink as normal.
  4. After every meal or snack, don’t eat or drink anything for 2 hours. 
  5. If you are sick, elderly, or not used to this, you can start this process gradually that eventually equals 22 ounces per day.

It is recommended to continue this therapy and to make this procedure a routine in our life. The Chinese and Japanese tend to drink hot water with their meals, not cold water. Maybe it’s time we adopt their drinking habits? Also in Ayurveda they are very sensitive to the temperature of their drinks. They believe drinking liquids too cold or too hold can cause many diseases.

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Why should we believe the Japanese?

There are some remarkable facts why we should adopt some of the Japanese healthy habits. Japanese have the most longevity life as nation and there are quite some Japanese older than 100 years.

The Japanese Water Therapy, similar to the water therapy in Ayurveda, has been around for a very long time. In fact, the Japanese Water Therapy is extremely popular not just in Japan, but throughout the world. As you know, our bodies are made up of 60-70% water. Hence, when the amount of water in our body reduces, we face health problems since our organs can’t function without water.

Disclaimer

Don’t ever overdo this water therapy. Drinking excess water in a short time can lead to what is known as “fatal water poisoning”. What can be considered as excessive water depends on factors like age, person’s fitness level, weight, climatic conditions etc. Too much of a good thing is not good either, and this certainly goes for Japanese Water Therapy as well.

The information provided here is not intended to form the basis of regular medical treatment or function as a replacement for the advice provided by your general practitioner or a medical specialist.

Have you ever heard of the Japanese water therapy?

 

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177 gedachten over “Japanese Water Therapy”

    • You can add salt in your water, but that is a different therapy. In this therapy just water is advised. However, I drink lemon water in the morning and switch later on to normal water.

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  9. Hi,
    I’m a racing cyclist and it’s important for me to hydrate, so waiting for hours after breakfast before taking in more fluids seems counter intuitive. Can you explain a way there may be around this?
    Steve

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  10. Hello!
    Firstly, thanks for your articles. I just found this site and I’m already loving it haha
    Quick question, could this method be done with lemonwater instead of normal water or what would you suggest to mix these two morning routines?

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    • Hi Joseph,

      Thank you! This water therapy is with water alone. You can do this for a period and then switch to the normal lemon water in the morning again.
      Hope this helps!

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  11. I am 62 and started the Japanese water treatment today, 8/20/16. At 60 yrs of age I began to noticed significant aches, general fatigue(naps may become my norm) and mood flux. I am a former punter with the NFL that didn’t suffer many injuries but enough to spend years trying it all.
    Now I’ve stopped alcohol, accepting what I cannot change and reading good material like yours is the right pattern. (Stopping alcohol changed my moods and sleep patterns for the better.) I will report back after 30 days my findings on the Japanese water treatment. Stand by.

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    • Hi Beth,

      Yes, it can but it depends on many more different factors. Loosing weight comes down to what you don’t eat, how active you are and if your hormones are balanced for example. Since you’re breastfeeding I would not recommend a diet or anything to lose weight quickly (a lot) since breast feeding on its own takes a lot from the mother. But I don’t know anything about how you eat and live so please consider this as a general advice. You can always email me ([email protected]) if you need more help.

      Warm regards,
      Bianca

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  13. i’m 24years old and having a condition called “scrotal hemangioma”. i have undergone to a surgery last july 9, 2016. i noticed that the condition stated above is beginning to come back again on my balls. does the water therapy can help? im using ozonated water. hope you can help me.

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  14. Hello All
    Thanks so much for the water therapy. It’s helping me a lot.
    Please I take 1.5 liters in the morning before brushing teeth. Is this advisable?

    How much liters can one take in a day
    Thanks once again.
    Daniel

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    • Hi Daniel,

      That’s good to hear.

      I would recommend to stick to the recommended amount of liters per day for this therapy.

      How much water you can drink per day depends on how much you weight, and how active you are. Normally around 1900 ml per day.

      Hope this helps.

      Best,
      Bianca

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  15. Hello Guys,

    I’ve been following this procedure- the Japanese Water Therapy since 2011. It does good to my health, I proved it to myself thus I recommend it to all my friends specially those who are suffering from dysmenorrhea and gastric problem. The mentioned complaint were my problems before. Amazingly, I didn’t suffer from it anymore. I used to brought always with me at work Aluminum hydroxide and the likes for my gastritis. Thanks to my old work mate’s fb friend who shared Japanese Water Therapy so then I followed it. This therapy is really true. Thanks for sharing them Bianca!!
    Have a healthy life guys!! It’s a matter of commitment to yourself.. Good luck!!

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  18. Hello everyone.
    Back in 2010. I had gouty arthritis, high blood pressure, overweight at 98 kilograms for a 5’9″ height, arrhythmias, bad eye vision and a daily bleeding hemorrhoids. I was about to have a surgey for that but i refused to be cut so i research and tried this Japanese Water Therapy. After 2 weeks my bleeding stopped and the rest eventually were gone too in less than 6 months. Now i weigh 77 kilograms. Thanking the Japanese people.

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  21. Hi i am starting the water therapy in the morning. I seen in earlier comments that intake should be around 1900ml a day is the water you drink in morning included in that?

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  25. I am oil pulling every morning and usually perform it before eating or drinking anything. So, will the water therapy interfere with the effectiveness of oil pulling? Thanks.

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  28. I started Japanese Water Therapy 2 months ago. I observed that my skin shade has lightened and its soft supple, qulaity of my hair improved, now its not that rough and dry. People tell me that I look fresh nowadays even after office in the evening. I drink 1.5 litre immediately after I wake up in the morning. My total water inbtake in a day has reached to 4 to 4.5 litres. I am 36, my weight is 69 Kg, height 169cm. Is it fine to continue with this much qty.?

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  29. hi Bianca i read the article and started the treatment before three days. i,m a nursing mom is that be a problem? and after eating our meal we have to wait for two hours to drink anything but does it include hot drinks like tea, macchiato or coffee? tnx

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    • Hi Sosina, your question is very personal and I’m not able to answer it with the given information. Yes, drinking also includes tea and coffee. Hope this helps.

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  30. Hi I have applecider vinegar and lemon juice & honey when I first wake up, can I drink the 22oz of water right there together, in two containers?

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  31. While water therapy is vastly recommended for disease free life importance should be given to the quality of water intake. Water should not only be very pure but it should be a bit alkaline for maximum benefit.The ideal PH value of the water taken should be 8.5-9 as advised by a physician.But the main problem is to procure such high quality water.

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  34. Hi Bianca,
    This therapy works wonders! No more back-pain, no more dry skin,no more fatigue! I am 53 yo but I feel a lot younger than that! Thanks you.
    Best regards,

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  35. Hi Bianca,
    This therapy works wonders! No more back-pain, no more dry skin,no more fatigue! I am 53 yo but I feel a lot younger than that! Thank you.
    Best regards

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  36. Dear Bianca, me and my sister have started the water therapy and today is our 6th day. I feel less tired and breathe better. I hope that my HBP and Menorrhagia is cured. My sister is also experiencing some form of healing. We will update after 1 month. Thank you.

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  37. Hi forum!

    Reading such valuable comments and experiences of different people, I am also motivated to start water therapy for my weight, breathing problem (asthma) and arthritics like problems. I am 47 with 102 Kg and 5′ 7″.

    Thanks

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  41. This needs clarification. In step 1 it says: After you wake up drink 4 x 160ml (22 ounces) glasses of water .
    4 x 22 ounces = 88 ounces, That cannot be right. The sentence does say “glasses”. I think it should be just one 22 ounce glass. What do you say?

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  49. I’m 56 years old and tired of feeling fatigue. I started the Water Therapy on Saturday the 10/14 and so far I feel better. Looking forward to even more amazing results.

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  50. Anybody get nauseas with water therapy? I have had this several times and a friend actually vomited 3 times when she did it. Not a pleasant way to wake up!

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  53. Hi, I am 32 yrs old (male). I am drinking water every morning after I wake up since I started Intermittent Fasting (16/8 Method). It gives a miraculous results, from 160 lbs to 142 lbs in 6 months, notice lean muscle and reduce size waistline from 36 to 31. I do feel clear minded and do have alot of energy everyday. I do believe this water therapy is very sustainable if you really want to have a healthy body. I hope everyone will try this.

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  57. Not sure how to incorporate this water therapy with oil pulling due to tje fact that one is instructed to oil pull before brushing teeth, drinking any liquids or eating.

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  58. Hello Bianca. Happy Easter. As you mentioned it has been the practice in India with a small twist to it, namely, such as adding dates to the water over night, copper vessel usage for keeping the water, but at room temperature. Got interested to re-start the age-old Ayurvedic practice as one of the chat members of a Drs. Chat group recommended this procedure. I will start it next week as soon as I check with my gerontologist in view of my advanced age. Sincerely appreciate your timely responses besides being candid. May God bless you. Sesh

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  59. Hi As I was doing Web search on this beneficial practice I came to know from Dr. Srivatsava on YouTube that it helps better to have pH value of water in the range of 7 to 9 (Alkaline). In terms of taking water after food with 45 min gap it is better to sip hot water than cold as it flashes out all the fatty and other stuff for healthy digestive track. As always, please consult your physician and practice under his guidance, lest he or she would feel getting his or her practice affected. Happy Easter to you all.

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  60. Question; I’m on psychiatric treatment for bipolar, so every morning I HAVE to take my anti-depressant and mood stabilizer. Is it okay to take my pills WITH these 4 glasses of water or would I have to wait those 45 minutes?

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  61. Hi, I’m doing this therapy since 1 month, after reading this article. First I’ll drink water then oil pulling, that’s it. I’m not following afternoon lunch method, big change is I was suffering from my childhood severe uncontrolled cough, that now vanished, thank you for your article dear, God bless you!

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  63. Hi, this is my first time doing this therapy. But it says there that I should not eat or drink anything after meal. Does that include water? Thanks for the tips.

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  64. Thanx a lot for the article, I have been doing this for two days, I hope very soon I will see good results as many of my friends did.

    I have a question here.

    Won’t it be better to brush first and then drink, since before brushing we could swallow a lot of toxic stuff along with the water.

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  68. Hi Its Calvin. Reference to the Japanese Water Therapy. Did you say you drink 4 x 160 ml (4 x 4 glasses of warm water per day when you wake up and before eating or drinking anything. Can i smoke before or after drinking warm water in the morning and what about drinking warm water during the day

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  69. According to it, we have to not drink water for two hours after having food. I wanted to know after how much time should we have our next meal after drinking water.

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  70. According to it, we have to wait for at least two hours to drink water after having food. How much time should we wait for next meal after drinking water?

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  71. I’m wondering how to incorporate this with morning exercise. I usually do yoga and it is not good to do yoga or other exercise with a stomach full of water. It makes sense to me to do the yoga BEFORE drinking the water, but the instructions are so insistent that you have to do it right away upon waking up. Do you know why?

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  72. How do you work this around morning exercise. I do yoga and that should not be done with a stomach full of water. Why is it so important to drink the water immediately upon waking? Can you do exercise first?

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  73. HI Bianca,
    As mentioned in article i am quite impressed that Japaneses water therapy cures 100% arthritics but i curious that will it be curable for Rheumatic arthritics.
    Second thing is i always go for 15 minutes morning walk, so is it recommendable after taking water.

    Thanks
    Sangay

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  80. My grandma lived to be 103 and drank I cup of hot water every morning first thing. She lived at home had 15 children never had any surgeries and didn’t end up in the hospital until she was 102 when she fell and broke her hip..
    I personally have cared for someone in ICU with water intoxication. It takes a lot of water though to get to this point and I don’t mean drowning.

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  82. I loss 40 pounds and my type 2 diabetes following this water therapy. I added fresh squeezed lemon juice.. Now it’s my daily routine! Never gained the weight back!

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  83. Hi I started the therapy few days ago. I understand I’m not supposed to drink for 2h after a meal but how about during a meal am I allowed to drink with food?

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  86. Hi All

    Is it very important you exercise during this? As I find I feel like I’m holding on to the water? Like water retention, which obviously I do not want

    Also just to clarify I can drink water with breakfast lunch and dinner but nothing in between for 2 hours?

    Thanks in advance
    And I hope we all have wonderful results

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  87. I discovered this by accident… I started drinking lots of water about a week ago for no reason… (I just feel like it), because I think I have been drinking too much sugared water all my life.

    I am a 45 year old male…, a week after drinking lots of water daily.. (I have no idea how much though)… I noticed when I wake up every morning… my ankle arthritis pain is gone!!… OMG!!!.. what have I done to myself!! I can wake up straight from bed and walk.. and I don’t feel anything!!…

    This made me curious… could be the water is healing me??.. so I googled up a bit and ended up on this site!… I will surely make this a habit from now on!… I WILL drink 1 litre of water every morning before anything else!… and drink plenty of water in between the day… I will report back my finding in a month…, 6 months… and a year from now!…

    Cheers!

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  88. I had previous knowledge about Japanese water therapy,but i didn’t feel to practice.
    Now after looking through this article i feel to start water therapy as my daily routine.

    Thanks for this article and special thanks for all those shared there experience.

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  90. I used to drink 1 litre of water on empty stomach everyday from the last 6 years without missing.
    My health and immunity is awesome
    Thanks for Japanese water therapy

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