Last Updated on November 16, 2012 by Jimson Lee
I feel bad about being in the middle of August and I haven’t posted an article on electrolyte drinks or simply hydration in general.
I prefer to mix my Gatorade at half-strength, as the suggested dilution is too concentrated, and it cuts the costs in half.
Guest Blogger Wolney Filho has this to say about hydration, and of course, he even talks about the old advice of drinking eight glasses of water a day!
How many liter of water do you drink a day? Everyone should drink at least 2 liter of water per day, and if you exercise or are overweight, even more. Your body is made up of mostly of water. Approximately 85% of your brain, 80% of your blood and 70% of your muscle is water. Every cell in your body needs water to live. Water is responsible for transporting nutrients and energy to muscles and for taking waste from tissues. You can see how important water is to you.
Water helps remove the dangerous toxins that your body takes in from the air you breathe, the food you eat and the chemicals used in the various products you use on your skin and hair. Other things water does for your body is to cushion your joints. Water carries oxygen and nutrients into all your cells. Water also helps regulate your body temperature.
You need water to keep your metabolism working properly. In order for this to happen, there is a certain level of water in each of our bodies that we need to maintain. If we do not keep that amount, our bodies will start to dehydrate. An easy way to think of it is to think about the oil your car need. If your oil level gets too low, your engine will start to run rough. If you totally deplete your oil supply in your car, your engine will stop running. It is the same with your body.
Therefore it is easy to see why it is very important to drink six to eight glasses of water a day. Some of the things that may happen to your body if you do not have enough water are that your blood pressure can fall to dangerously low levels. Blood clots may form. Your normal kidney function is impaired. You may get terrible constipation.
Some of the signals your body gives you of a low water level are constipation, terribly dry skin, and increased incidence of urinary tract infections and reoccurring headaches.
If you have a problem with water retention, excess salt may be the cause. Your body will tolerate a certain amount of sodium, however, the more salt you consume, the more fluid you need to dilute it. To overcome this problem, always drink plenty of water.
Do you see relationship between body dehydration and weight increase? Water contributes to energy storage along with glycogen. Without water, extra amounts of glucose remain in the bloodstream until reaching the liver, the extra glucose is stored as fat. Your body takes water from inside cells in an effort to compensate for a dehydrated state, including fat cells. Less water in your fat cells means less mobilization of fat for energy.
One of the primary functions of the liver is to metabolize stored fat into energy. The kidneys are responsible for filtering toxins, wastes, ingested water, and salts out of the bloodstream. If you are dehydrated, the kidneys cannot function properly, and the liver must work overtime to compensate. As a result, it metabolizes less fat. So remember, if you are trying to decrease the amount of fat on your body, drink plenty of water.
Luckily, water is a great natural appetite suppressant. There are three ways we get water into our bodies. We get it from the foods we eat, the fluids we drink, and as a by-product of metabolism. It is always better to drink pure water instead of soda, tea, or coffee. These products actually increase your need for fluids because most contain caffeine, which is a diuretic. Diuretics force out stored water along with certain essential nutrients.
There are many ways other to talk about hydration of the body. The best way to do that is to drink water. Do you have any information about the water you are drinking?
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