Importance of water for human beings

More or less we all know that water is an essential part of our life. We can live for weeks without food but without water we can live only few days. Water is essential for our whole body. When our cells lose water they lose their shape.

Water plays an important role in digestion and absorption as well as circulation and is essential in the regulation of your body temperature, lubrication of joints and the texture of our skin. Water is the carrier of nutrients through the body and essential in the removal of metabolized waste material.

If you're active and exercise regularly, you should be drinking at least the minimum of 8 glasses of water a day. (2 liters) If you plan to engage in prolonged and strenuous exercise you should drink 500mls of water two hours before exercise to allow time for adequate hydration and excretion of excess water. While exercising vigorously, you should be drinking 150 ml to 350 ml of water every 15 minutes to match sweat loss. After all, sweat is 90-99 percent water.

Let's know how much of our water we retain in our bodies?

Between 55 and 65 percent of the human body is made up of water.

* Our blood is 83% water.

* Our brain is 75% water.

* Our muscles are 76% water.

* Our liver is 70% water.

* Our kidneys are 82% water.

* Our skin is 70% water.

* Our bones are 22% water.

* Even our fat is 20% water.

Why we need to drink enough water?

Because water regulates body temperature.

* serves as a solvent for minerals, vitamins, amino acids, glucose and other small molecules, aiding their assimilation into the body
* carries oxygen to all parts of the body
* lubricates the areas around our joints (especially important for athletes, people with arthritis and those with chronic musculoskeletal problems)
* is necessary for chemical reactions in the body
* acts as a shock absorber inside the eyes and spinal cord
* removes the waste products of our metabolic processes

What happens when we are dehydrated?

Dehydration increases muscle glycogen use, which leads to premature fatigue. A slight 3 - 5% decrease of water in the body can lead to light-head ness, headaches, dizziness and nausea. In fact, when you're dehydrated by just 4.3 percent, your performance drops by 22%. A 7% decrease can lead to hallucinations or worse, major organ stress.

Dehydration also raises the body's core temperature, which can lead to delirium, heat stroke or in extreme cases, death. The solution, of course, is to keep hydrated and drink plenty of water.

With two thirds of the earth's surface covered by water and the human body consisting of 75 percent of it, it is evidently clear that water is one of the prime elements responsible for life on earth. Water circulates through the land just as it does through the human body, transporting, dissolving, replenishing nutrients and organic matter, while carrying away waste material. Further in the body, it regulates the activities of fluids, tissues, cells, lymph, blood and glandular secretions.

An average adult body contains 42 litres of water and with just a small loss of 2.7 litres he or she can suffer from dehydration, displaying symptoms of irritability, fatigue, nervousness, dizziness, weakness, headaches and consequently reach a state of pathology. Dr F. Batmanghelidj, in his book 'your body's many cries for water', gives a wonderful essay on water and its vital role in the health of a water 'starved' society. He writes: "Since the 'water' we drink provides for cell function and its volume requirements, the decrease in our daily water intake affects the efficiency of cell activity........as a result chronic dehydration causes symptoms that equal disease..."