The body can last few weeks without food, but will not survive the same length without water. Water is extremely vital to the human body. Your body is composed of 55-75 percent of water. This liquid serves as the basis of urine, digestive juices, perspiration, and even blood, and is retained within the lean muscles, bones and fats.
Since the body cannot naturally store water, you need to replenish it with fresh supplies each and every day to make up for the lost amounts from you skin, feces, lungs and urine. Water is necessary to keep your body in shape and your muscles and cells well functioning. Among the many uses of water in the body, it aids in regulating the bloodstream for convenient circulation through the blood vessels, helps in eliminating unnecessary wastes from metabolism, flushes out unwanted toxins, regulates the body’s temperature by sweating, cushions and lubricates joints, carries oxygen and nutrients to the different parts of the body. Actually, these are just few of the substantial uses and importance of water within the human body.
Fresh water consumption is vital to keep you hydrated and to reduce the chances of several diseases. Taking more alcoholic drinks or decaffeinated beverages increase frequency urination. By this, you lose body water. Alcoholic and decaffeinated drinks bring on some diuretic effect into your body, which means they triggers the kidneys to discharge more urine. In doing so, you not only lose water but other essential nutrients and soluble vitamins like vitamin B or thiamine, vitamin C, and vitamin B complex. It is advisable that for every cup or glass of that alcoholic or decaffeinated drink you gulp, add an extra glass of pure and clean water.
A good diet consists of several servings of vegetables and fruits are extremely beneficial. It is not only rich with nourishing supplements, but it is sure to provide you with an approximate four cups of refreshing water supply every day. But even with a diet filled with these fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, you still need to take six to eight more cups of glasses of water daily to reach the sufficient water level your body needs every day.
When the water level in your body is not enough to supply its need for normal functions, you will be dehydrated. Dehydration results to many unfavorable and miserable maladies that if not given attention to can result to more severe and even fatal conditions. To avoid such alarming predicament, do not forget to increase your fluid intake. Dehydration can be detected by symptoms of lethargy, headache, slow responses, mood swings, cracked lips, dry nasal passage, dark-colored urine, hallucinations, tiredness, confusions, and weakness. Other symptoms not mentioned may also be indicated by dehydration cases. As soon as some abnormalities are observed, seek medical help right away. For worst scenarios, a dehydrated person stops urinating, and there will be some kidney malfunctions, and waste products cannot be naturally removed resulting to accumulation of toxins within and unfortunately, leads to something fatal as death.
As plain as it is, water is therefore, extremely important to one’s body and health in general. A recommended minimum of eight glasses must be consumed daily. This is enough to provide the body with its needed liquid supply for its system to function normally and healthily. It is imperative that if you exert in a more stressful and physical activity, you double your water intake, as such activity requires much water fueling.
Matt Smiths is a writer for Super-Food-Guide.com, where you can read on how certain foods are essential to our body.