Water is Important

We know water is important — but why? Not only does water make up a majority of your body weight, but it’s also involved in many important functions. Drinking enough water every day is good for overall health. As plain drinking water has zero calories. Water carries nutrients to all cells in our body and oxygen to our brain. Water allows the body to absorb and assimilate minerals, vitamins, amino acids, glucose, and other substances. Water flushes out toxins and waste. It also helps to regulate body temperature. Drinking more water may help with some health problems, such as constipation and kidney stones. Water Protects Your Tissues, Spinal Cord, and Joints Water does more than just quench your thirst and regulate your body’s temperature; it also keeps the tissues in your body moist. Do you know how it feels when your eyes, nose, or mouth gets dry? Keeping your body hydrated helps it retain optimum levels of moisture in these sensitive areas, as well as in the blood, bones, and the brain. Most people don’t need to consciously think about their water intake, as the thirst mechanism in the brain is very effective. However, certain circumstances do call for increased attention to water intake. Because your body loses water through breathing, sweating, and digestion, it’s important to rehydrate by drinking fluids and eating foods that contain water. Drinking water can cause mild, temporary increases in metabolism, and drinking it about a half-hour before each meal can make you automatically eat fewer calories. Both of these effects contribute to weight loss. At the end of the day, no one can tell you exactly how much water you need. This depends on the individual. Try experimenting to see what works best for you. Some people may function better with more water than usual, while for others it only results in more frequent trips to the bathroom. If you want to keep things simple, these guidelines should apply to the majority of people:

1. When you’re thirsty, drink.
2. When you’re not thirsty anymore, stop.
3. During high heat and exercise, make sure to drink enough to compensate for the lost fluids.

How to manage water intake in a day? 1. Drink Water When You First Get Up: A glass of cool water right after you wake up tells your body that it’s time to get going. Like a gently flowing stream that pushes along debris and rocks, your circulatory system needs fluid to get rid of stubborn free radicals and residue from burned calories used during the night’s metabolism. 2. Drink Water Before a Meal: Drink one glass of water 30 minutes before a meal to help digestion. Remember not to drink too soon before or after a meal as the water will dilute the digestive juices. Drink water an hour after the meal to allow the body to absorb the nutrients. 3. Drink Water When You’re Hungry If you’re hungry between meals, pour yourself a tall glass of fresh drinking water first to see if you’re dehydrated. Sometimes people think they’re hungry when they’re really just thirsty. 4. Drink Water Before a Workout Depending on the temperature, humidity and your body’s fluid levels, you may need one or several 8-ounce glasses of water to protect against dehydration during and after your workouts. 5. Drink Water After a Workout Following vigorous exercise, you may need to drink a lot of water to replace fluids lost through perspiration and urination Drink More Water When You’re Ill The advice your mom gave you still applies: When you’re sick, you need to drink plenty of fluids, including water, to get better. Drinking eight glasses of water daily (8 ounces per glass) is still a good goal for most people, but other fluids like tea, juice and soup count toward your total intake, too.