How much water to drink? Drinking Water: A Key Nutrient!

Posted In Healthy Living | Add Comments
Posted By Sanj on September 3, 2010 at 5:09 pm

Have you considered the actual role fluids play in your overall well-being?
Asking yourself, how much water to drink daily?
What you drink effects how you feel the rest of the day. Consider what you had to drink yesterday and jot it down. Now, how much water did you have? Most of us are aware that the health experts state we need 8 fluid cups daily to prevent dehydration symptoms but that can include other beverages. However, if you are thirsty right now, that means you are already at a dehydrated state. Being dehydrated causes your metabolism to malfunction and leads to dehydration symptoms, such as being lethargic and not motivated to work, play or workout.

Dehydration Symptoms include:
Headache
Constipation
Fatigue
Irritability
Depression
Weight gain
Water retention
Dry skin
Skin blemishes
Toxicity (in blood)
Bladder infections

Caffeine: Robbing Body of Fluids
Beverages with caffeine such as coffee, ice tea, and soda are not going to help our body with hydration. Caffeine is a diuretic, which means it makes your body flush out fluids. Yes, you go to the bathroom soon after drinking beverages with caffeine. While it is “okay” to drink these beverages, remember they do not help keep you hydrated. To hydrate yourself, it takes 24 hours. Just to drink 16 oz of water when you are thirsty does not bring your body to a state of proper hydration.

Tired? Try drinking water!
If you are thirsty, that means you have lost about 2–3% of your body fluids. Remember your body is 70% water. If your weight is 150 pounds and you are thirsty, that means you lost 3 pound of fluids. Just losing 1–3% of your body weight causes such symptom such as chronic tiredness, headaches, grouchy and hunger that leads us into another area of concern. What do you do when you are tired? Many people eat when they are tired as taught by their mother while very young. If you have children, you may find yourself feeding your cranky child and noticing that they become more reasonable after being feed. Food does provide some needed fluid but not enough. Eating when you are tire may also contribute to unwanted weight gain. So next time you are feeling tired, try drinking water instead.