Water is absolutely essential for life. You could probably survive without food, but you can live only a few days without water. The human body consists of 50-75% water. Our body is a fine-tuned water-cooler machine. It is a delicate process dependent on adequate water intake and the function of the circulatory system and sweat glands to control its temperature. Water is the most critical link in this process!!Many people think water is primarily to quench the thirst. Did you realize that:
• 83% of your kidneys is water
• 80% of your brain is water
• 75% of your muscles is water
• Your eyes are constantly taking a “bath” so you can see
How much water do we need in a day to keep our fine-tuned water-cooler going?
On an average day a 150-pound person loses water four ways:
1. Skin (sweat) 2.0 cups
2. Lungs (breathing) 1.5 cups
3. Bladder (urine) 6.0 cups
4. Bowel (stool) 0.5 cups
Total 10.0 cups/day
Water is received in three ways:
• Through food 3.0 cups
• From food expended 1.5 cups
Total 4.5 cup
You need a minimum of 4.5 cups of water each day to make up the difference. Now if you do any extra labor or exercise, then you should increase it to10 glasses/day.
How do we get those 8 to 10 glasses into our body?
• Drink a full glass or two of water when you first get up in the morning. This helps to cleanse and rehydrate your system. It also helps to get things “on the move”. This is a very important habit to establish
• Drink water between meals instead of snacking will alleviate the “munchies” syndrome and save on calories from snacking! Water drinkers tend to lose weight faster!
• Drinking more water will avoid colds and flu and relieve fatigue. Water is our body’s cleansing agent.
• Carry a bottle of water with you all the time or take a drink of water each time you pass a drinking fountain (13 swallows equals about one 8-oz cup of water)
How Much Water? And When?
Another way to figure out how much water to drink is as follows: Take your body weight in pounds and divide it by two. This is the fluid ounces you need daily. Divide that number by eight, and you have the number of
glasses of water you need to drink each day. For example: (150lbs/2): (8) =9.4 glasses (9 or 10 glasses/per day).
Do not drink with your meals; this dilutes your digestive enzymes, making them less effective. Drink water not less than a half hour before and after a meal.
Drink enough water to make the urine colorless and odorless.
Now let’s take a closer look at the importance of water in our own bodies. As babies we are approximately 75 to 80% water and as we grow older this percentage decreases until the percentage is reduced to approximately 60 to 65% for men and 50 to 60% for women. The human brain is about 85% water and our bones are between 10 to 15% water.
The ability of water to disassemble and rearrange other molecules is essential to the chemistry of life. It does this by forming weak bonds with the other molecules. This is often why we refer to water as the universal solvent. Water is a perfect conductor of electricity and this becomes important in the day to day operation of our bodies.
For example, the electrical potential is shared between the brain neurons through electrochemical transmitters. This electrical potential of brain chemistry must be present for any of our "thoughts" to take place.
Water is without a doubt one of the very best diet aids and fat reducers: look at what it does . . . Suppresses your appetite. Reduces sodium buildup and helps maintain muscle tone. It helps the body eliminate waste and toxins. Relieves fluid retention. If you don’t give your body water, it holds onto water tenaciously so it won’t run out.
Reduces fat deposits in the body by helping the body metabolize the fat that is stored in the body, however when your kidneys don’t get enough water, this causes the liver to become overloaded. Since the liver is the organ that metabolizes the fat, it can’t do that if it’s doing the kidneys job.
The real truth is that water is one of the best cures for our most common ailments. The flip side of this is that there is very little money in selling water and for the most part it is free.
Doctors almost never write a prescription for water and yet look what all it can treat: allergies, asthma, depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, headaches, chronic fatigue syndrome, colitis, alcohol dependency, lower back pain, neck pain, and on and on.
Now don’t be fooled by considering the coffee, tea or soda pop that you drink as part of your water intake, because if these products are caffeinated (and most they are) it has just the opposite effect on your bodies. Caffeine acts as a diuretic to our system and actually results in water reduction to our bodies. The same applies to drinks with alcohol.
Does it make a difference what kind of water I drink? It is truly disappointing how much hype and false information is in the marketplace today. Remember that water is the most "perfect" element that has been provided for us on this earth. I personally do not believe it was by accident. To try changing the chemical structure of water is almost sacrilegious.
I’m sure you have all read the hype on distilled or de-ionized water being much better for you and even many of the bottled "spring waters" are proving to be extremely deficient in mineral content. It has been established that the magnesium deficiency in our waters contribute to millions of deaths each year, causing everyone to examine the myths of "PURE" water.
Water is an active participant in Hydrolysis, which is a major chemical process of the body. During this process water molecules separate into hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) groups, each of which reacts with other substances
Sucrose, the common sugar, for example, is hydrolyzed into fructose and glucose forms, which can be utilized by body cells. In addition, water serves as a reactant in intracellular reactions and plays an important role in the maintenance of our electrolyte balance.
Approximately 60% of the bodies total water content is contained inside the cells and makes up the intracellular compartment. The balance of the extracellular compartment has two major divisions.
The intravascular fluid represents 20% of the extracellular fluid in the body and is the liquid component of the blood and is present in the heart, our arteries, veins and capillaries.
The interstitial and trans cellular fluid account for 80% of the extracellular fluid in the body. These fluids include the fluids that bathe all the cells, spinal fluids, ocular fluid for lubricating the eyes, the synovial fluid that lubricates joints, various secretions such as (saliva, bile, gastric juice, mucus) and lymph.
This is just a short discussion of how water works in our bodies. Naturally, it is a very complex subject. I hope I have given you a better idea of how our bodies work and how important water is to maintaining a healthy state.
Considering these factors, we need to emphasize the importance of consuming appropriate amounts of water that is in a form that is usable by the body.
Remember; please drink water about 8 to 10 glasses a day.
How Is Your Health?
Daftar Pustaka:
John. A. Siregar PhD,MPH- Rebuska 22 November 2013.
