Water is essential to good health

Healthy eating for optimal health and well being is important but drinking enough water every day is absolutely essential to good health. Adopt the habit of drinking eight 8oz. glasses of water a day and instantly improve your overall health and well-being.

Why is water important?

Water is one of the principal chemical components of your body and makes up about 60 percent of your body weight. Every system of your body depends on water. Water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells making it possible for every organ to do its job, and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues. Water also helps convert food into energy, protects and cushions vital organs and joints, keeps the liver and kidneys functioning properly, helps to metabolize fats, removes and detoxifies waste from our system, and is the basis for all our fluid secretions. To have optimal health in your body, you must have just the right amount of fluid inside and outside each cell, a situation called fluid balance. Maintaining your fluid balance is essential to life. If too little water is inside a cell, it shrivels and dies and if there’s too much water, the cell bursts. Nothing is more important to your overall health on an ongoing basis than the proper amount of daily fluid intake.


You may be mildly dehydrated and not even know it!

According to the Nationwide Food Consumption surveys conducted in conjunction with the American Dietetic Association, a large portion of the American population has chronic mild dehydration without even knowing it! Dehydration is a condition that occurs when you don't have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish this water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water. Without replenishing your water reserves in a timely manner, your body quickly dips into a state of dehydration characterized by dizziness, headaches, fatigue, the sensation of extreme hunger, and fuzzy short-term memory. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired.


Why should I drink pure clean water rather than other beverages?

Too often, in our modern society, to quench our thirst we turn to caffeine and sugar-laden soft drinks which only compound the problem of dehydration. It is true that beverages such as tea, coffee, wine, beer, soft drinks, sports drinks and juices contain water, but they also contain caffeine, alcohol, sugar, artificial sweeteners or other chemicals that act as strong dehydrators. The more of these beverages you consume, the more dehydrated your body becomes because the effects they create in the body are exactly opposite the ones that are produced by water. Beverages containing caffeine, for example, trigger stress responses that at first have strong diuretic effects, leading to increased urination. Beverages with added sugar drastically raise blood sugar levels. When beverages provoke such a response they trick the body into giving up large quantities of water. Regular consumption of such beverages results in chronic dehydration, which plays a part in every toxicity crisis (the body's effort to rid itself of accumulated toxins).


Chronic dehydration may lead to a “toxicity crisis” and disease.


If you have lived for many years without proper water intake, you are likely to succumb to the buildup of toxins in your body. Chronic disease is not only accompanied by dehydration but is, in many cases, caused by it. The longer a person lives on a low water diet and/or on a diet high in stimulating beverages or foods, the more severe and long-lasting will be the toxicity crisis. Heart disease, obesity, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, stomach ulcers, hypertension, cancer, MS, Alzheimer's, and many other chronic forms of disease are preceded by years of "body drought." Infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses cannot thrive in a well-hydrated body. Drinking enough water is, therefore, one of the most important disease-prevention measures you can take for optimal health and well being.

How much water should I drink each day?

Exactly how much water depends on how old you are and how much muscle and fat you have. Muscle tissue has more water than fat tissue. Because the average male body has proportionately more muscle than the average female body, it also has more water, and men need to drink more water. The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day and women consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.


Your diet will also determine how much water you need to drink. If you eat a healthy diet consisting of many servings of fruits and vegetables, you can cut back your water consumption a little because you will get 20% of your liquids from the fruits and vegetables in your diet but if you eat a diet high in protein you will require extra water to flush out the extra waste products created by an overabundance of protein.


Drinking enough water is a healthy habit.

If you are not in the habit of drinking at least eight 8oz. glasses of water a day, starting this habit and sticking to it is the most important thing you can do for your overall health and well being. Establishing a schedule of proper water consumption throughout the day is a dire necessity. Drinking all your water at once will not do you any good. The easiest way to establish a schedule is to drink one 8oz. glass of water every hour throughout the day. If you have a timer on your watch you can set to go off every hour to remind you, this will work well until a good habit is established. Another thing you should do is buy a stainless steel water bottle to carry with you at all times. Since I have started drinking the proper amount of water every day I have noticed I have more energy, get sick less often and my skin is healthier. Do yourself a favor and adopt this one habit for your long-term health and well being!