HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD YOU DRINK?

The minimum amount of water a healthy adult should drink is 10 eight ounce glasses a day. Over weight people should drink an extra glass for every 20 pounds of weight over their ideal. The International Sports Institute recommends a daily water intake for a non-active person of ½ ounce per pound of body weight ( that’s 10 eight ounce glasses for someone weighing 160 pounds). For an athletic individual, 2/3 ounce per pound is recommended. (13 – 14 eight ounce glasses for someone weighing 160 pounds).

Your water intake should be spread over the entire day. Do not attempt to get the daily quota in a one or two hour time frame.

Your question may be: If I drink that much water, won’t I constantly be making trips to the bathroom? Initially you may, since the bladder is hypersensitive to a sudden increased amount of fluid, but after a few days your bladder will adjust and you will urinate less frequently, although in greater volumes.

It is advisable to drink water frequently throughout the day. One simple rule to follow: IF YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE THIRSTY TO DRINK WATER, YOU ARE OVERDUE. THIRST IS THE BODIES WAY OF SIGNALING A STATE OF WATER DEPRIVATION.

WATER

A human embryo is comprised of more than 80% water, a newborn is approximately 74% water, and a healthy adult is about 70% water. Next to air, water is crucial to our survival. We can live without food for two or three months, but only several days without water. Yet most people do not drink enough water to maintain even marginal health. Consequently, many of us are in a chronic state of dehydration.

When the kidneys remove wastes, those wastes must be dissolved in water and transported via water from the body. If there isn’t enough water, wastes are not effectively removed and kidney damage may occur. Water is essential for digestion and metabolism, and enables vital enzymatic and chemical reactions to take place. It helps to regulate our body temperature through perspiration, which dissipates excess heat and promotes cooling.

Water carries oxygen and nutrients through our blood stream, which is largely water, and lubricates our joints. Water is even required for breathing. Our lungs must be moist to facilitate the inhalation of oxygen and exhalation of carbon dioxide. Each day we lose more than a pint of water by exhaling. Through excretion and perspiration we lose another, approximately, three quarts.

When the intake of water is insufficient to replenish our body’s needs, the body interprets this deprivation as a need to store water. This biophysical compensation causes fluid retention, therefore, paradoxical as it seems, the way to eliminate fluid retention is to drink more water, not less. Other problems resulting from not drinking enough water are poor muscle tone, small muscle size, decreased digestive elimination efficiency, increased toxicity in the body, joint and muscle soreness (particularly after exercise) and EXCESS BODY FAT. Proper water intake is necessary for weight loss.

The metabolic process causes fat and toxins to be released from the cells into the bloodstream. The fats and toxins are filtered from the blood in the kidneys and eliminated through urination. When the process is hampered by too little water, these fats and toxins accumulate, suppressing the immune system, and setting the stage for disease.

WATER QUALITY

The quality of water varies considerably from one community to the next...and from time to time, from the same tap. Even in communities with state of the art treatment plants, contaminants can enter the water as it flows through the pipes. Therefore, it is suggested that you have your water tested and acquire a filter that will remove or lessen the toxic substances. The recent out breaks of E-coli across the country highlight this fact.

WATER VS. OTHER BEVERAGES

“I’m drinking soft drinks, tea, or coffee, so my body is getting all the water it needs.” WRONG!! Our bodies are precise chemical structures that require waters’ precise chemical structure for optimum health.

 Biochemically, water is H₂O ( 2 HYDROGEN AND ONE OXYGEN.) There is a significant difference between water and beverages containing water. Many water-containing drinks tax the body more than cleanse it. Drinking these beverages tend to cause you to lose your taste for water. The simple conclusion is that there is no substitute for water!

Sometimes hunger is a false signal. It may simply mean that your body requires water. Always try water before food. Drinking a glass of water before a meal will also curb your appetite.

For best results our recommendation is to use ionized water produced by a Regency water ionizer counter top model. This water is more easily absorbed due to the restructured hexagonal molecular structure which passes through bodily tissue faster. The alkalinity of this water will neutralize acidic waste build up and help flush it out of the body. The increased amount of hydroxyl ions present are an excellent anti-oxidant.

This information has been provided for educational purposes only.