The Misunderstanding of Water

Our bodies can live without food for weeks at a time. Getting what it needs through existing muscle and fat. However without water you will die within days, or even hours if you're in a really hot climate! your body is 60-70% water. The rest is made out of Macro(big) & Micro(small) Nutrients. Water is needed to help digest food,cleanse our bodies (in and out),keep our core temperature at bay & more!
Everything we do day to day, we are losing water within our body. We lose water when we breathe and through our normal daily activities. Heres an idea,get your self a glass and breath on it through your mouth,what do you see? Just imagine you are breathing for 8 hours through your sleep,breathing every second.That's a lot of water being lost and thats just when you wake up from bed!


"Your body is 60-70% water. The rest is made out of Macro & Micro Nutrients. We need it to eat our food, Cleanse our bodies (in and out) and keep our core temperature at bay!"

Its funny. Drinking water more regularly is probably the simplest & healthiest thing you can do, yet not many people know that! I hear a lot of people always having headaches & relying on paracetamol and Ibuprofen. Whereas the main reason they get these headaches is down to lack of hydration.

Here are some common effects from dehydration:

• Headaches 
• Delayed reaction times 
• Loss of appetite
• Concentrated dark-yellowish-brown coloured urine. Urine should be pale yellow straw coloured. The clearer your Pee the better!
• Constipation
• Reduced Muscular strength and Physical endurance ( Your muscles are made out of water too you know? not just Protein) 
• Nausea/Dizziness 
• Poor concentration or decision making
• Loss of appetite 
• Impaired short memory 
• Fatigue  

Why water is needed:

• Digestion of food. Your saliva, containing enzymes that are the catalyst to break down your food into the nutrients it needs is primarily down to consumption of water. Without water, no saliva to help breakdown & swallow your food. When was the last time you ate something with dry mouth?
• Cleans your body from Toxins (poisons) and waste via Urine and kidneys. 
• Help your metabolism to work through chemical reactions in the body.
• Sends electrical messages between cells so that your muscles can move, eyes can see and brain can think. 
• Act as a lubricant in joints, eyes, saliva & mucous membranes. 
• Cooling your body temperature so your body doesn't over heat preventing illness. 

Hydration problem. There is a pub nearly everywhere and alcohol is key to dehydration. Ever wondered why they sell salty nuts at a pub? if someone is hungover, what is the first thing they want when they wake up from a night sleep?

Tips:

- First thing when you wake up from sleep, before breakfast, before anything you eat, drink at least 1 litre of water. Don't down it! take sips. This will help replenish your body especially as you have lost a lot of water while sleeping. Great for weight loss too!

- Fail to plan, plan to fail. Have a water bottle with you. keep drinking water throughout the day, you'll be saving yourself from the disadvantages I talked about. Personally id use a big 1.5-2 litre bottle because then ill know how much iv consumed in larger amounts & saves me from refilling all the time but small bottles are fine, your preference bro.

- Don't forget that too much water can kill so drinking 3-5 litres throughout the day will be sufficient. If you're exercising, don't forget that you have to drink more to replace water lost through sweat.By doing this, you should feel better and have a great start to the day!

- Most importantly......Don't forget to pee


References:

Denby,N Baic,S Rinzler,C A (2011). Nutrition for dummies . 2nd ed. West Sussex,England: John Wiley & Sons. P163-172.

Radio interview via Ummah Radio 95.6 FM, (2012) Reading,England with Strength,conditioning coach & nutritionist Ruben Tabares (Twitter: @RubenTabares) 

Food Matters documentary: David Wolfe, Raw food Nutritionist.