Water is Vital For Good Health: Symptoms You Are Not Getting Enough

Up to 70% of the adult body is water!  Wow that's a lot of water.  83% of your blood, 75% of your brain, 79% of your heart and 75% muscles are water.  Those are huge percentages and makes water a vital nutrient for good health. 



Given the large percentage of water in the human body, it is not surprising it is critical for many bodily functions.  Even a slight imbalance of water will negatively affect the body’s ability to function properly (1).  Here are some of the major functions of water in the body:

One of water’s major function is helps transport nutrients and oxygen to cells.  So water helps take all the food we eat, the beverages we drink and the air we breathe get to their intended place.  That allows all our systems to work properly.

Even a slight decrease (1-2%) in water balance will affect the body’s ability to deliver nutrients and oxygen to cells (1) (2).

 

This leads to:

 

 

 

Feeling sluggish lately? Having headaches or experiencing constipation?  Dark urine or dry skin?  All are symptoms you are not getting enough water.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) does not provide a hard guideline for water, because it is depends on climate, activity level, health status, age and sex (2).  Instead, it recommends a total fluid intake from food and beverages of:

 

• 91 ounces of fluids/day (11.38 cup/day) for a healthy adult woman
• 125 ounces of fluids/day (15.62 cups/day) for a healthy adult man (3)

You are probably thinking, "I thought it was 8oz –eight glasses per a day".  Remember the IOM is including water from food in their recommendation.   Their research shows the most people get 80% of their water intake from fluids and 20% from food (3).  There is no upper limit for water, but there is a thing as too much water (Hyponatremia).
 

One of the better indicators of dehydration is dark urine, with the exception of morning urine.  To bring your body into balance (a hydrated state) you need to drink more water and/or eat more fruits and vegetables.
 

Fruits and vegetables are mostly water. Most fruits run 84-92% water (bananas are 74%) , while most vegetables run 91-96% (peas and white potatoes are both 79%) (4).

Drinking more water has great nutritional benefits -yet people walk around dehydrated. There is no need for it. Commit now to drink more water.  You will be amazed at much better you feel.  Your cells and body will thank you.

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