How much water should you drink each day? It's a simple question with no easy answers. Studies have produced varying recommendations over the years, but in truth, your water needs depend on many factors, including your health, how active you are and where you live.
Although no single formula fits everyone, knowing more about your body's need for fluids will help you estimate how much water to drink each day.
Functions of water in the body
Water is your body's principal chemical component and makes up about 60 percent of your body weight. Every system in your body depends on water. For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.
Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don't have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired.
Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish its water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water.
So how much water does the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate need? In general, doctors recommend 8 or 9 cups. Here are the most common ways of calculating that amount:
* Replacement approach. The average urine output for adults is about 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) a day. You lose close to an additional liter (about 4 cups) of water a day through breathing, sweating and bowel movements. Food usually accounts for 20 percent of your total fluid intake, so if you consume 2 liters of water or other beverages a day (a little more than 8 cups) along with your normal diet, you will typically replace your lost fluids.
* Eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Another approach to water intake is the "8 x 8 rule" — drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day (about 1.9 liters). The rule could also be stated, "Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid a day," as all fluids count toward the daily total. Although the approach really isn't supported by scientific evidence, many people use this easy-to-remember rule as a guideline for how much water and other fluids to drink.
* Dietary recommendations. 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.
Even apart from the above approaches, if you drink enough fluid so that you rarely feel thirsty and produce 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) or more of colorless or slightly yellow urine a day, your fluid intake is probably adequate. If you're concerned about your fluid intake, check with your doctor or a registered dietitian. He or she can help you determine the amount of water that's best for you.
You are not just what you eat; you are what you drink.
This is why water is so important to your health.
Water is the basis of all life and that includes your body. Your muscles that move your body are 75% water; your blood that transport nutrients is 82% water; your lungs that provide your oxygen are 90% water; your brain that is the control center of your body is 76% water; even your bones are 25% water.
Our health is truly dependent on the quality and quantity of the water we drink.
Dr. B's pioneering work shows that Unintentional Chronic Dehydration (UCD) contributes to and even produces pain and many degenerative diseases that can be prevented and treated by increasing water intake on a regular basis.
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER AND HUMAN HEALTH
"I'm dying of thirst!"
Well, you just might. It sounds so simple. H20. Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. But this substance better known as water, is the most essential element, next to air, to our survival. Water truly is everywhere, still most take it for granted.
Water makes up more than two thirds of the weight of the human body, and without it, we would die in a few days. The human brain is made up of 95% water, blood is 82% and lungs 90%. A mere 2% drop in our body's water supply can trigger signs of dehydration: fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on smaller print, such as a computer screen. (Are you having trouble reading this? Drink up!) Mild dehydration is also one of the most common causes of daytime fatigue. An estimated seventy-five percent of Americans have mild, chronic dehydration. Pretty scary statistic for a developed country where water is readily available through the tap or bottle.
Water is important to the mechanics of the human body. The body cannot work without it, just as a car cannot run without gas and oil. In fact, all the cell and organ functions made up in our entire anatomy and physiology depend on water for their functioning.
* Water serves as a lubricant
* Water forms the base for saliva
* Water forms the fluids that surround the joints.
* Water regulates the body temperature, as the cooling
and heating is distributed through perspiration.
* Water helps to alleviate constipation by moving food through
the intestinal tract and thereby eliminating waste- the
best detox agent.
* Regulates metabolism
In addition to the daily maintenance of our bodies, water also plays a key role in the prevention of disease. Drinking eight glasses of water daily can decrease the risk of colon cancer by 45%, bladder cancer by 50% and it can potentially even reduce the risk of breast cancer. And those are just a few examples! As you follow other links on our website, you can read more in depth about how water can aid in the prevention and cure of many types of diseases, ailments and disorders that affect the many systems of our bodies.
Since water is such an important component to our physiology, it would make sense that the quality of the water should be just as important as the quantity. Drinking water should always be clean and free of contaminants to ensure proper health and wellness.
Benefit of Drinking Water
Discover why Drinking Water is so important for your life and health...
Every part of your body is made up of cells. Protoplasm, the basic material of living cells, is made of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, salts, and similar elements combined with water.
Water acts as a solvent, transporting, combining, and chemically breaking down these substances.
A cell exchanges elements with the rest of the body by electrolysis, and in a normal case, minerals and micro elements pass through the cell membrane to the nucleus by electro-osmosis.
The body needs electrolytes (minerals like sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate) for its basic functions.
In case of water shortage, the electrolyzes cannot happen and our cells dry out and die.
Therefore, in order to keep our cells hydrated, our body's electrochemical balance and stay alive we need water and salt.
Dr F. Batmanghelidj MD reminds us that the one of the first protocols for a patient upon hospitalization is an intravenous saline solution. Doctors are well aware that dehydration, second only to oxygen deprivation, robs life fastest.
Minor dehydration - not enough to kill- is both the result and the hidden cause of many illnesses. The inverse is also true. Good hydration i s at the foundation of good health.
Drink up now, because the price for administrating and intravenous saline water solution in the hospital is approximately $350.
Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body:
2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack
You are not sick, you're thirsty!
Based on more than twenty years of clinical and scientific research into the role of health benefit of water for the body, Dr. F. Batmanghelidj MD, a pioneering physician and acclaimed author, shows how water - yes WATER! - can relieve a stunning range of medical conditions. Simply adjusting your fluid and salt intakes can help you treat and prevent dozens of diseases, avoid costly prescriptions drugs, and enjoy vibrant new health.
In his book: "Water: For Health, for Healing, for Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty! " Dr F. Batmanghelidj MD shows the crucial benefit of drinking water for our health.
From his perspective, most of so-called incurable diseases are nothing but labels given to various stages of drought. Here are only few of them:
* Benefit of drinking water Rheumatoid Joint Pain and Arthritis: Painful joints a signal of water shortage. It can affect the young as well as the old. The use of painkillers does not cure the problem, but exposes the person to further damage from pain medications. Intake of water and small amounts of salt will cure this problem.
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Low Back Pain and Ankylosing Arthritis of the Spine are signs of water shortage in the spinal column and discs. These cushions that support the weight of the body, can be seriously damage by dehydration.
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent a high level of Cholesterol
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent Heart disease and stroke: hydration is essential to help prevent clogging of arteries an the heart and brain.
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Hypertension: hydration is crucial in treating it without using diuretics or medication
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent Brain Damage
On average, the human brain weights 1.4 Kilograms (about 3 pounds). It is estimated that the brain consists of 85% water. The brain is extremely sensitive to water loss. It is said that the brain cannot tolerate even a 1% loss of water. If it were to be dehydrated to the point of being only 84% water for long, the brains would not function properly. (Remember that nerve cells in the brain are one-time-living units. They don't multiply like other cells in the body and don't regenerate). Dehydration can cause damage in the blood vessels in the brain, leading to bleedings and plaques, which are at the base of most neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Alzenheimer's disease.
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Depression: hydration helps the body naturally replenish its supply of the neurotransmitter serotonin
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Sleep disorders: hydration is needed for the production of nature's sleep regulator, melatonin
*Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Lack of energy: water generates electrical and magnetic energy in every body cell, providing a natural power boost
*Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Attention Deficit: a well hydrated brain is continually energized to imprint new information in its memory banks.
*Benefit of drinking water to prevent Osteoporosis: The strong bone formation is related to proper hydration and Dr F. Batmanghelidj MD believes that dehydration is responsible of the los of calcium from our bones as we age.
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent Cancer
* Benefit of drinking water to prevent and treat Leukemia and Lymphoma: water normalizes the blood-manufacturing system that can aid in the prevention of many forms of cancer
* Benefit of drinking water for skin health:
Skin has the ability to perspire to cool and regulate body temperature. If there is dehydration, the water reserves in the skin may be used up without being replaced at the same rate as the water lost. thus, dehydration is a primary factor in the production of dry skin:
* When the skin loses moisture it becomes prune-like
* There is less capillary circulation to the skin area to give it the healthy color it should have.
Our organs are made of cells. The cells are made of and live in a water solution. Our blood also is mostly water and serves to dissolve, process and transport nutrients, and eliminate waste materials.
" In the case of dehydration, the blood becomes thick and saturated, not being able to flow properly. The excess of toxins must then be stored within the interstitial space surrounding the cells pending elimination for life to continue, and over time this space begins to resemble a toxic waste site - an acidic medium. Since the cells cannot have the proper oxygenation and nutrition they begin to change in form and function in order to survive.* A major benefit of drinking water is maintaining the body Ph balance in order to prevent and cure disease...
The end stage of this process results in the cells not resembling normal cells at all, and they continue living by means of fermentation rather than the normal oxidative mechanisms. - This is when the oncologist will tell you that you have CANCER" - source: J.H. Tilden, Toxemia.
Dr. Sang Whang, the author of the Reverse Aging book, says the aging process is basically the accumulation of acidic wastes built up within the body...
" This book is the first common sense scientific explanation of the aging process and 'how to' reverse it. The nutrients that we deliver to our cells burn with oxygen and become acidic wastes after giving energy to our body. The body tries its best to get rid of these acidic wastes through urine and perspiration. Unfortunately, our lifestyle, diet and environment prevent our body to get rid of all the wastes that it generates. Gradually, these leftover acidic wastes accumulate somewhere within our body. Since acid coagulates blood, the blood circulation near the waste areas becomes poor, causing all kinds of degenerative diseases to develop..."
Benefit of drinking water for eye health
* Water plays a key role in the metabolic breakdown of proteins and carbohydrates. That's why neutralizing (burning) fat and assisting in weight loss is also an important benefit of drinking water.
* Benefit of drinking water in reducing water retention
If your body has a tendency to retain fluids, it might seem logical to drink less water. However, the opposite is true. To lose the excess fluids, you may need to drink MORE water. Dehydration can cause the body to retain fluid that will be released as you drink more water. The goal is to keep lots of fluid flowing through your body. To do this, drink more water along with salt intake.
Other benefits of drinking water
* Transport of oxygen to cells,
* Maintain muscle tone, and
* Regulate of body temperature.
Turn on the tap... and reap the benefits of drinking water - one of the greatest health discoveries of all time!- says Dr. F. Batmanghelidj MD
Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.Mark Twain
“Water is the only drink for a wise man.”Henry David Thoreau
