Got Water?

I. THE BASICS: 

1. H₂O (two hydrogen bonded to each oxygen atom) is the basic building block for all of life. It regulates everything in our body from our temperature, to potassium and calcium concentrations in our blood, to our body weight. The human brain is made up of 95% water solution, the blood 82%, and the lungs 90%.  
2. Every day you lose water through your breath, urine, perspiration, and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish its water supply by drinking enough water.
3. A mere 2% drop in our body's water supply can trigger signs of dehydration: short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on smaller print, such as a computer screen.   

II. WHY DRINK MORE?                                                                                                                

1. Water, the simplest ingredient for optimum health, is so many times overlooked when dietitians create diet plans. The reason for this is probably because they assume that because water is such a simple and obvious element in a one’s diet, it need not be mentioned. Well, I say it does. So many people I speak to are not drinking enough water, and are dehydrated. And most are not even aware of it. 
2. Most people only drink water when they feel thirsty or have dry lips. The problem with this is, at this point your body has already been dehydrated for some time.
3. Another common habit is to eat when you’re really thirsty. We do this all the time without realizing it; and we keep eating because we still haven't fixed the problem. Our bodies keep asking for water, while we keep feeding it food; and so we overeat. You wouldn't take stomach-ache  pills when you have a headache? The same thing is here; we need to stop eating when we're really thirsty. 

III. HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH WATER?

1.  The old advice of "Drink at least eight 8-ounce cups of water a day" no matter the size or exercise level is a good rule of thumb, but is nevertheless not up to date with the USDA or the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics . 
2. To figure out how much water to drink simply take your weight in pounds, then divide that number in half, this new number is the amount of water in ounces you should drink daily.*
3. So if you weigh a hundred and fifty pounds you should drink 75 ounces of water daily; or if you're 130 pounds then you would drink 65 ounces of water daily and so forth.* 

*The above is an average; more active people will need to drink more while less active people will need to drink less and so forth. Do not switch to the amount of water you need overnight, rather increase it gradually over a week or so.  

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Mendy