Life's Liquid Essential: Water
Something I have realized as a personal trainer and health coach is that when we are trying to lose weight all we seem to talk about is food, food, food. The truth is that we could live without food for nearly a month, but we could only survive about one week without water—that’s how essential water is to human life! We often overlook its importance in our quest for optimal health and wellness so this article is dedicated to life’s liquid essential: water!
Drinking water is healthy for several reasons, which I detail below. I’m also going to share some of my favorite odd, amusing, and fun water facts just for kicks.
Fact 1: Water weighs about 8 pounds a gallon. I have worked with quite a few that have a total freakout moment when they step on the scale to discover that their weight has gone up 3 pounds since breakfast!?! You are likely freaking out because, little do you know, a couple of glasses of water weighs more than you realize… (Which leads me to my opinion that body fat is a more important measure of success than weight anyway and here is why: click here for article Fact 2: Water makes up approximately 70% of a human’s body weight – but DON’T stop drinking water to lose weight! In fact, drastically losing water weight (whether from not drinking it, or eating certain foods that cause your body to hold onto less water weight) just isn’t healthy. You could go on a low-carb diet which would cause you to lose body water weight. However, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Keep reading to see why. Fact 3: Approximately 80% of your brain tissue is made of water.
Fact 4: By the time you feel thirsty, your body has lost more than 1 percent of its total water. Thirsty or not, get up and get a drink before reading fact 5! Fact 5: Our metabolism is influenced by our water intake. Being well hydrated makes it possible for the metabolic pathways to perform optimally and who doesn’t want a speedy quick metabolism?
Fact 6: Water helps flush toxins out of the body, and the fewer toxins that come into contact with your colon, bladder, and other organs, the less chance of developing sicknesses and even chronic diseases.
Fact 7: Drinking adequate amounts of water can reduce cavities and tooth decay. Without water we don’t product saliva, which helps keep our mouth and teeth squeaky clean. Fact 8: There is about the same amount of water on Earth as there was when the planet was formed so believe it or not, the molecules in the water you drink could have been drank by a Tyrannosaurus Rex or some other prehistoric dinosaur! RAD!! (I apologize that one is not health-related but how could I not share that?!)
Fact 9: Our brain can mistake thirst for hunger. Lots of times your body is just asking for some water, not the extra burger. Drinking water can help you to not overeat!
So the real important question: How much water should you have?
The average amount of water you need per day is about 3 liters (13 cups) for men and 2.2 liters (9 cups) for women. If you wipe your brow more than the average Joe then you should be drinking even more.
DRINK UP!!
