You know those quizzes…what’s your favorite color, your favorite breed of dog, your favorite comfort food, your favorite drink. If you don’t check ‘water’ on the last one, you are missing out on a huge health benefit.
Up to 60 percent of an adult’s body weight and about 74 percent of a newborn’s body weight is water, making it the largest single substance in the human body. Ever think why? There must be a reason we are composed like this. Simply put, we need water to function properly.
Here is how water impacts your body: • It helps carry nutrients to all the cells in your body. • It helps carry waster products from the cells. • It helps regulate body temperature by absorbing heat generated by your metabolism and eliminating excess heat through sweating. • It helps with the digestion of food. • It helps lubricate your joints and the all-important fascia (connective tissue of the body). • It helps keep your memory sharp, your mood stable, and your motivation intact. • It keeps oxygen flow to the brain constant. • It helps with blood volume. • It increases energy and relieves fatigue. • It improves skin complexion. • It boosts the immune system. • It is a remedy for headaches. • It can promote weight loss for often ‘hunger’ signals from the body is the way ‘thirst’ can manifest itself so when you think you are hungry, try drinking a glass of water instead. You may find water was what your body was requesting.
At Legacy, staying hydrated is one of our Foundational Principles. We recommend drinking half your body weight in ounces of water daily. One-fourth of that total should be consumed upon waking: you wake in a state of dehydration since the rest and repair work is done while you sleep using the water you drank during the day. You can tell if you are hydrated by the color of your urine. Pale yellow urine, like lemonade, signals you are drinking enough water. Darker urine, like apple juice, tells you there is not enough water in your daily routine!
Dehydration can impact your cognitive function, your heart rate, and the ability to regulate body temperature and blood pressure. If you lose even 1 percent of your body weight in water, your physical performance can suffer and you feel tired. A loss of 2 to 4 percent and your mental functioning is affected. A loss of more than 10 percent constitutes a medical emergency and can lead to death if not reversed.
Bottled, tap, filtered, alkaline…everyone has an opinion. Spring water is the best in our opinion. Glass bottles are safest in terms of plastic leaching. Vary the brand of water you drink because each bottled water has different mineral content. Tap water is treated with chemicals that disrupt the good flora in the gut. If you want some information on alkaline water, click on this link for a good interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O6GhVCvVgE&feature=share
When you take that next quiz, you know the answer to check!