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Water - The Overlooked Nutrient

We can live weeks without food, but no longer than a week without water. For health, a balance of fluids is necessary for all of our cells to be happy.

Our body is composed of 50 - 70% water. The fluid in our body is divided into two main groups. There's the fluid inside our cells (intracellular) and fluid outside our cells (extracellular). Fat cells don't contain a lot of water, so if you're overweight, you'll have less intracellular water than a thinner person. The total body weight of a healthy person should be about 40% intracellular and about 20% extracellular water.

Here's how water is used in our body:

• It fills out and gives shape to the cells of our skin
• It's part of the lubricant in our joints and our eyes
• It acts as a cushion in our joints between our bones
• It's part of the temperature regulating system - sweating
• It's essential for digestion and absorption of nutrients
• It's the main component of blood and carries nutrients around the body
• It removes waste products from the body - urine, feces, sweat
• It's essential for many chemical reactions that make our body work
• It protects the lining of our intestinal tract from being burned by digestive enzymes

When you drink, water is absorbed slowly from the intestinal tract. The maximum absorption is around a quart per hour. So it's best to drink water all day long.

When you're thirsty, you're experiencing the major regulator of fluid intake. One of the problems we have is that our brain is asking for water when we're thirsty, not juice, coffee, tea, soda, beer or any other beverage. Thirst is caused by changes in the extracellular fluid that make the mucous membranes of our mouth dry. This in turn stimulates our brain to create the sensation of thirst. Normally, the brain then monitors the amount of fluid being taken in to return our extracellular fluid to balance.

This of course is dependant on what you drink, Remember, your body assumes you're drinking water, not other beverages. Can you guess what happens if you choose the wrong beverage? Choosing alcohol slowly increases your drinking in an attempt to bring your body back into balance. Instead it leads to overconsumption of alcohol. Drinking caffeine stimulates your body to release fluid, quickly drying you out. For every 1.5 oz of alcohol and 8 oz of coffee you drink, take 8 ounces of water to make up for what was pulled out by these water-wasting fluids. If you choose a beverage high in sugar content, such as soda, you'll take in excess calories trying to restore balance.

As you might imagine, many people don't drink enough water. If you are on the low side, it negatively impacts your health. There are many different formulas to determine how much water you should drink. The problem with these systems is they don't take into account variables such as body size, the outside temperature, your physical activity, etc. One states you should have 1 - 1.5 ml of water for every calorie you eat. Others are simple, drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water every day. A more accurate measurement is one half ounce of water for every pound that you weigh. So if you weigh 160 pounds drink 80 ounces of water every day.

Taking into account the changing variables of weather, physical activity, etc, a simple method states that your kidneys should be putting out urine at a specific rate. That means if you're taking in enough water, you should be urinating every 2 - 3 hours during the day. If you adjust your fluid intake to maintain this rate, you should have adequate water to keep your body working well.

Look for the following symptoms to tell you if you're not drinking enough water:

• Decreased physical performance
• Constipation
• Dizziness
• Irritability
• Confusion
• Extreme thirst
• Dry skin
• Dry mucous membranes
• Wrinkles
• Joint aches and pains
• Increased heart rate

With too little water you're also prone to gastrointestinal ulcers and kidney stones and your risk of developing colon, breast and urinary cancers will increase.

If you have questions about your fluid intake, please ask your doctor. Sometimes simply increasing water will make dramatic changes in your overall health.