HOW IMPORTANT IS WATER TO US?
The answer to that question is..very! An average person's body consists of about 75% water, depending on your age and gender. Everyday, you lose water in urine, sweat, faeces and even while breathing. Most of the time, however, we fil to replenish what we lose.
RUNNING ON EMPTY
Water is the medium in which all metabolic reactions take place in our body, such as digestion, absorbtion and circulation. The body cannot live or work without it, just as a car cannot run without petrol. It also helps maintain our body temperature through perspiration.
did you know that our brain is actually 95 percent water? A mere 2% drop in the water supply in our body can lead to fuzzy short-term memory, daytime fatigue, trouble even with basic math and difficultiy in focusing on small prints!
Just imagine if you didn't have any water. Your body heats up, but you can't perspire. You suffer from constipation and your mouth is constantly dry. Your lips crack, your throat hurts...just thinking about it makes us thirsty!
But thirst is not the best gauge in determining whether we are dehydrated or not. By the time we realize that we are thirsty and experience a "dry mouth", we are very dehydrated. A better way is to take a look at your pee the next time you go to the toilet. a hydrated body produces urine that's either colorless or pale yellow. The darker the color, the more water you should drink!
Original article taken from SPA magazine issue 1 September 2006 GrandSun.
