Water, like air, is a primary requirement for all living things to survive. It is an omnipresent chemical substance made up of two gases - hydrogen and oxygen. It is interesting to note that the constituents of water are gases; water itself is a liquid at room temperature. It is important to note that water is essential for carrying out each and every life process in our body. Name any process and you will find the essentiality of water in each of them. For instance, water is required for blood circulation, digestion, moving nutrients to all parts of the body and even in the process involving the eradication of waste substances and toxins from our body.
Water provides our body with the essential trace elements and is required in minute quantities for physiological functioning. In addition, water is also responsible for upholding the balance between acid and alkaline contents in our body. Of the total composition of the human body, water constitutes anything between 55 per cent and 75 per cent and hence, there is a constant need for water refill. In fact, slender people contain more amounts of water in their bodies, as our muscles retain more water in comparison to fat. Although it may seem to be incredible, our lungs throw out anything between two and four cups of water daily through normal respiration and this amount could be even more in cold conditions. People whose feet sweat, lose more water, probably one more cup of it. Again, if you visit the toilet for about six times a day, you lose another six cups of water. And in case you sweat considerably, you stand to lose another two cups of water from your body. Remember, this does not include sweating induced by work-outs or exercises.
When a person is said to be dehydrated, it means he or she has lost around 10 per cent of their body weight in fluids, mainly water. However, even losing as little as 2 per cent of the body weight in fluids may have an effect on an individual's athletic feats and result in exhaustion. On the other hand, drinking sufficient amounts of water will help in evading several physical conditions, such as kidney stones, constipation and keep away from colds and flu. In addition, consuming enough water regularly helps to keep the joints well oiled.
As discussed above, water is not only essential for our wellbeing, but also our survival. On an average, water comprises 60 per cent of our body weight and all the systems in our body depend heavily on water. Not consuming sufficient amount of water regularly may result in dehydration, a physical condition that takes place when one does not have sufficient fluids, especially water, for performing the normal activities of the body. Remember, even slight dehydration caused by losing a small amount of water, for instance 1 per cent to 2 per cent, may possibly drain out your energy and make you feel exhausted. In fact, dehydration is a great health risk to the young as well as the aged and, if severe, may even prove to be fatal. Common symptoms of dehydration are:
Whether it is perceptible or not, you lose a lot of water from your body through perspiration every day. In addition, you also lose body fluids through exhaling, urination as well as bowel movements. Thus, in order to enable your body to carry out its normal functions appropriately, one needs to replenish the lost water by drinking lots of water and beverages as well as foods that enclose water. Many people often ask how much water they precisely need for maintaining a good health. By no means, it is easy to provide a satisfactory answer to this crucial question. In fact, the daily fluid intake of a healthy adult may generally fluctuate considerably. Usually, majority of the people drink water or beverages to satiate their thirst, supply the necessary water requirements or simply owing to their habit. There are a minimum of three methods or approaches that help to gauge the entire fluid or water requirements of a healthy, inactive adults residing in temperate climatic conditions.
Here it needs to be mentioned that an individual may opt for any of these approaches for fluid consumption in order to measure the amount of fluids that his or her body requires daily. However, if one drinks sufficient water to satiate his or her thirst, produces a colorless or somewhat yellowish normal quantity of urine and feels healthy, it may be said that their present fluid intake is just alright.
There are several issues or aspects that may influence you to adjust or change the total amount of fluids you may be consuming currently. In fact, the factors on which your total fluid intake may depend on include the state of your physical activeness, the climatic condition, the state of your health as well as whether you are pregnant or breast-feeding. Some of these factors are discussed below in brief.
When we talk of consuming water or other fluids to replenish the loss of body fluids, it does not essentially denote that you need to sip water from a water bottle or drink tumbler-full water throughout the day with a view to fulfill the water requirements of your body. Apart from the water you drink, the diet, including beverages you consume, is able to supply large amounts of your basic fluid requirements. As discussed earlier, in an average adult person's diet, foods provide approximately 20 per cent of the entire fluid intake. The outstanding 80 per cent of the body's fluid requirements is met by all other types of beverages.
Normally, people who are in the pink of their health and are not enduring drying out conditions, utilize thirst or the craving for liquids as a pointer for drinking water. However, it is important to note that this process is not always correct, as thirst cannot be used as an appropriate measure to understand the fluid requirements of your body. In other words, thirst always does not signify that your body requires fluid refills. Although it may appear to be amazing, the fact is that the older one grows, the lesser he or she feels that they are actually thirsty. What is worse is that when you are undertaking any strenuous activity there is a possibility that your body may lose considerable amounts of fluids even before you realize that you are thirsty. In such cases, an individual may collapse owing to extreme dehydration and, at times, this may even prove to be fatal. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that you remain adequately hydrated before, during as well as at the end of any strenuous activity, such as vigorous work-outs.
It may be noted here that when an individual experiences augmented thirst as well as urination, both in terms of volume as well as frequency, it may be very well considered as symptoms of diabetic conditions. When you develop diabetes, you have a surplus of blood sugar or glucose in your body and it pulls in water from the tissues giving rise to a feeling of dehydration. In order to satiate your thirst, you consume plenty of water and other drinks, which, in turn, results in more amount and frequency of urination. Therefore, if you ever experience inexplicable augmentation in your thirst and urination, visit your physician to find out if you have developed diabetes. In fact, increased thirst and urination does not always mean that you are enduring diabetic conditions, as it may mean something different too. Actually, there are numerous people who experience increased thirst as well as urination without being affected by any disease or medical conditions.
In any case, always make a deliberate endeavor to maintain the fluid level of your body and, hence, remain hydrated. In addition, it would be really great if you made water your preferred drink. In order to remain healthy and hydrated, all adults may mull over the following guidelines:
