Aug 26, 2011 - Beverages    Comments Off

The Importance of Water: Keeping Your Body Hydrated

It may not seem like anything special….You get thirsty and then you drink something so that you’re not thirsty anymore. What you may fail to realize though is that when most people go to grab something to drink to counteract their thirst, instead of going for water they instead go for carbonated beverages like soda that are packed full of sugar. A sugary beverage is alright every once in a while, but here are some reasons why you should drink more water and some tips on how you can ensure that you get what you need each day.

How Much Water Every Day?

Many health organizations around the world agree that to maintain a healthy lifestyle, one should drink 8 glasses of water every day. A glass is defined as an 8 ounce serving of water. For most households, glasses come in the 10-12 ounce variety, so filling your glass up about ¾ of the way is typically enough to constitute a glass’ worth.

clean drinking water The Importance of Water: Keeping Your Body Hydrated

Water in the Body

The human body’s weight is between 67% – 72% water, making it one of the most vital substances you can keep inside of your body. Your brain is almost 95% water and your lungs 90%. That’s a lot of water floating around inside you!

We could go very in depth and outline all of the uses water has in the human body, but in short it’s safe to say that every single action the body takes to survive would not be possible without the help of water. Getting enough of it every day not only boosts your overall physical health, it can also aid in your mental health as well. Just a small drop in the amount of water your body has can impair even the most basic of cognition skills such as arithmetic and spatial reasoning.

Added Benefits

By drinking the recommended 8 glasses a day, you can reduce the risk of both colon and bladder cancer by up to 50%, and recent studies have started showing signs of reduced breast cancer risk by drinking enough water each day as well.

Tips to Get Enough

Without boring you with all of the details of how water aids immensely in your body’s health, we’ll help you save some money on water and help you get enough of it each day without even realizing that you’re chugging it down.

1. Firstly, if you don’t already own one, it’s a good idea to purchase a reusable water bottle that you can carry around with you wherever you go. Camelbak water bottles are my personal favorite as their drinking spout is easy to use and doesn’t spill. Water bottles can help keep water colder for longer and can carry up to a few glasses of water at a time. If you’re heading to the gym, these are great to keep by your side to ensure that you always have enough water by your side.

2. One reason some people avoid drinking water regularly is that the water from their home taps tastes bad. Since water inherently has no taste, any flavors that are found in water are the result of chemicals added by water purification plants or impurities that are left in the water. Buying a Brita water filter for your home tap can filter out most of these impurities, ultimately leaving fresh tasting clean water.

3. Lastly, if you find that you’re unable to carry a bottle around with you all day, you can stock your fridge in the break room at work as well as your home fridge with bottled water so that it’s always available for you whenever you need some more.

Importance of Wate The Importance of Water: Keeping Your Body Hydrated

Drinking too much Water

Yes, while rare, it is possible to drink too much water. Drinking too much water can cause salt deficiencies in your body and can ultimately lead to sickness. What many folks don’t realize is that there’s water in almost everything you eat as well as in the other drinks you consume during the day. So, say you have a few servings of vegetables and fruit during the day as well as a cup of tea in the morning. Drinking 8 glasses of water in addition to that would not only be too much water, it could be dangerous.

If you’re worried about taking too much in, all you have to do is monitor the color of your urine. Urine should have a light yellow tinge. Clear urine is an indication that you’ve been drinking too much water and you’re ultimately getting rid of most of it and dark urine is typically an indication that you’re not drinking enough. Talk to your doctor about any medical conditions that could cause your urine to change colors, but a general rule of thumb is to use your urine color to determine how much water you should be having every day.

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