Health and Beauty

Our bodies are around 60% water, keeping it properly hydratedis essential for good health and optimum physical and mental performance. so how much should you drink each day?

The answer to that is not as clear cut as it may seem. The most commonly quoted figures are 2-2.5 litres a day but as we will see there are many deciding factors that affect how much an individual should consume daily. climatic conditions, environment, gender and level of activity will all have an impact.

Why drink water

every cell in your body needs weter for nourishment and to get rid of waste. When water is in short supply your body tries to limit the amount it losses through bodily functions such as urination, perspiration and breathing. the nasal passages and the bronchi have a mucus linning which moistens air as it passes into the lungs, if the body is short of water this linning dries up leaving the way open for bacteria and viruses which can cause coughs and chest infections. Sinuses are similarly affected with the possibility of sinusitis developing.

Not drinking enough water can cause constipation and irritable bowel syndrome resulting in severe discomfort, if allowed to continue this can result in bowel and colon cancer. Drinking water also helps to lubricate the joints keeping us mobile and active. Drinking water can also alleviate headaches and can ease skin complaints and can slow down the visual effects of ageing keeping your skin supple and looking younger.

The two most obvious bodily functions that cause water loss are urinating and sweating. urination is essential for the removal of toxins from the body, when fluid levels are low the body increasingly uses perpiration as a way to remove toxins, this can have irritate existing skin complaints such as eczema.

Climatic conditions have an obvious effect on how much water a person drinks. In Summer we all drink more but winter tempatures can be deceptive and cold dry conditions can cause dehydration. the environment you live and work in has a huge influence on how much water you should drink, some forms of  heating particularly forced air systems can cause dehydration.

As a general rule men need to drink more water than women, although pregnant and breast feeding women should maintain a high level of water consumption. It goes without saying that the more active you are the more you need to drink, for professional sports men and women it would be part of their training schedule, but even if it’s a kick around in the park with the kids it is essential to maintain fluid levels.

How do you know when you are dehydrated?

That’s easy isn’t it when you are thirsty your body is sending you the message. Well actually no by this time you are already begining to dehydrated. bleow are some of the indicators of dehydration.

Thirst, headaches, cramps, irritability, dizziness, decreased performance, weakness, lethargy, dark coloured urine.

To combat this you need to drink right the way through the day. the recomended amount varies.

Per day

A healthy adult male – approx 3 litres. A healthy adult female - approx 2 litres. A pregnant or breast feeding mother – approx 3 litres. toddlers and pre school approx 1.3 – 1.5 litres. childre school age 1.2 – 2 litres. Childres consumption is relativly high due to their high growth rate.

What about other liquids?    

Drinking water becomes a habit and a good one to get into the more you do it the more the body craves it. But if you really can’t face drinking plain water try mixing in a little pure fruit juice, try squeezing some oranges or lemons to add to the water. the juice could also go as one of your 5 a day.

squashes have additives and sugars whilst tea and coffee have caffine and tannin. Try alternating your tea or coffee consumption with pure water.

If you are serious about losing weight then part of your plan or course should include drinking adequate amounts of water particularly if you are involved in hard physical exercise. the benefits are over looked by many advocates and users of weight loss plans. through not drinking enough water you will not get the best from your chosen plan, your self or your money.        

 

 

  

Tags: Dehydration, Health, Water

This entry was posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 8:15 pm and is filed under Health Drink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.