Sunday, March 15, 2009

Are you drinking enough water?

By Jeff Cline

In the classroom we learn all kinds of interesting facts about water. Molecules, atoms and how much oxygen and hydrogen is in it. But, I don't remember learning about how good it is for us and how much we should drink.

Our bodies can not survive without water. The blood pumping through our bodies is made up of mostly water. That is how nutrients are delivered to our vital organs. Our lungs, muscles and brain can not do without it. Our body temperature is supported by water.

You must consume water all day long. As the days go on water is depleted from your body. It uses it up. That is why we urinate and sweat. If you exercise or sweat more due to heat you need more water to rehydrate and make up for the loss.

You should look for signs of dehydration. Some signs are subtle others are obvious. One less obvious sign is muscle cramping. But, with mild dehydration you can also get joint, back pain and headaches. It also causes constipation and amber colored urine.

So now that we know we need water, how much do we need? A good formula to figure out how much water to drink is to take your body weight divided in half. Whatever that number comes out to be is the number of ounces you need each day.

All of the water does not have to come from straight water. Water can be found in 20% of the foods we eat. We can also count decaffeinated tea, Kool-Aid's and flavored water such as sport drinks and vitamin water.

Sometimes we are so busy that we tend to forget to get enough water through out our day. Our schedules are full enough without having to stop to drink and count our ounces. A good way to keep track is keep a log or keep an 8 ounce bottle with you at all times.

So now that you understand that water is very necessary be sure you drink plenty. Do not ignore the signs of dehydration, better yet do not let yourself get dehydrated. Make it a goal to get your daily amount of water and see what a difference it makes.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment