Water The Elixir For Life – Are You Drinking Enough?

There are many things we cannot live without and one of them is water. Everybody knows that water is ‘good’ for our body, but do you know how essential it is to one’s well-being or what happens to your body if it does not receive its daily requirement of water?

Our bodies consist of over 70% water, contained in and around every cell.  Without water the cells cannot function.  If we stop drinking water, within about 3 days we start seeing detrimental effects to our wellbeing. Amazingly the body can lose up to 50% of its protein, fat and glucose whilst a total loss of only 10% of its water can cause physical and mental deterioration such as fatigue, headaches, dizziness, constipation and dark coloured urine.  A total loss of water of 20% can be fatal!

One of the questions that I always ask my patients is “How much water do you drink?” and most of the time the answer is “Ummm….not much but I drink tea/coffee. Does that count?”  And my answer is usually ‘’No, but its better than nothing’’  Or they may say “If I drink water I am going to the toilet every five minutes”. The latter answer usually tells me that the water that they are drinking is not actually getting into their cells.

On a daily basis we are constantly losing water through breathing, sweating, urination and defecation. To keep our body fluids balanced, we should ideally drink around 4 pints (2 litres) of water per day and more in hotter weather.  It is important to note that fizzy drinks, many commercial fruit juices, tea, coffee and alcohol actually causes the body to lose valuable water.

Although I would question my patients about their intake of water, I was never good at drinking enough water, so I was able to understand their struggles when it came to drinking water and empathise with them.  However, I recently read a book which has been sitting in my bookcase for years (If you are anything like me, I have a habit of buying books which then get left unread on the bookshelf gathering dust) called ‘Your Body’s Many Cries For Water’ by Dr F Batmanghelidj.  This book totally opened my eyes and gave me a greater insight and understanding of how important it is to drink enough water.  So, I decided to use myself as a little guinea pig and set myself a challenge to drink 2 litres of water every day for one month.  I really wanted to see what effects drinking 2 litres of water would have on my body and general wellbeing.  I will be posting my results of this challenge on my new Youtube channel ‘Filling The Gaps to Health’, so watch this space!

10 benefits of drinking water:-
  • carrying nutrients and oxygen to your cells.
  • stops the blood from thickening, putting less stress on the circulatory system.
  • flushing toxins and waste from your body.
  • aiding digestion.
  • preventing constipation.
  • normalising blood pressure.
  • lubricates and cushions bones and joints.
  • protecting organs and tissues.
  • regulating body temperature.
  • keeps skin moisturised and hydrated leading to looking younger and healthier.

So, my parting note is – drink more water, your body will be glad you did!

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