Health And Fitness -- Key To Healthy & Active Life

drinking water for good health

How much water should I drink?
Water is essential for living

Water is a basic need of human beings. It is essential for living. Almost 60 % or more of human body consists of water. Our muscles contain almost 75 % of water. Red blood cells contain about 60 % of water.

When we lose water from our body, we suffer from what is called “Dehydration “. Dehydration can result in tiredness, weakness of muscles, lethargy etc. It is important to ensure that we drink about 8 to 10 glasses of clean, healthy water each and every day.

But how much water is enough?

By and large, we lose water every day through different ways. Every day we lose up to 1.5 liters of water through urine, about half liter of water through our skin ( evaporation, sweat ), about quarter liter of water through breathing & about 0.1 to 0.2 liter water through bowel movements. Thus we tend to lose about 2.5 liters of water every day.

We need to replenish this lost water by drinking about 8 to 10 glasses of water throughout the day. This could be by drinking plain water or by drinking tea / milk / coffee or fruit juices or consuming foods that contain water.

Typically doctors recommend drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water per day. Other ways of calculating water requirement is as follows:

1) Recommendations: The Institute of Medicine recommends approximate 3 liters (about 13 cups) of water / fluid consumption a day for men. It is less for women. It is about 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) per day for women.

2) Replenishment theory: As explained earlier, we lose about 2.5 liters of water through urine, breathing, sweat or bowel movements. We get about 20 % of water through the food we eat every day. Hence we need to consume about 2 liters of water / fluids every day.

Sources of clean water

1) One of the cleanest water sources is boiled water. Boiled water can neutralize bacteria and viruses. (But boiling can result in more concentration of contaminants if they are present).But, by and large, boiled water is one of the safest drinking water source.

2) Another source of clean water is bottled distilled water. Distilled water is very pure water. Water is first converted into steam and steam is then condensed to make pure water. The process of distillation almost kills all bacteria and viruses. Contaminants in the source water thus do not get transferred to distilled water.

Distilled water is safe to drink as it is close to a neutral pH and has no effect on the body's acid/alkaline balance.

Distilled water can be used both for drinking as well as for cooking.

3) Next source of safe and economical way of clean and healthy water is: Home water filter system.

Municipal water supplies in the United States, in most places, contain some contaminants. It is also not uncommon to find contaminants in many types of bottled water.

A quality water filter is expected to remove particulate matter, chlorine, lead and other organic and inorganic contaminants. Even the simplest type of filter will reduce many contaminants in water you use at home.

Multistage water filters give the best results. Use multistage filters at home. This site will help you to choose right filter by comparing the advantages of different filters available in the marketplace -- waterfiltersresearch.com

3 useful advantages of drinking adequate water:

1) Weight Loss: Water does not contain carbohydrates or proteins or fats. It does not contain any sugar or calories. Drink plenty of water if losing weight is your goal.

2) Good digestive system: Our digestive system needs water to process our food that we eat. Digestion and absorption of nutrients is facilitated by water. Constipation is one result of dehydration. Drinking adequate water alone can ease constipation.

3) Better Energy level: Even mild dehydration -- as little as up to 3 % of your body weight -- can deplete your energy. You may experience fatigue and dizziness if you are dehydrated. This can be remedied by drinking adequate water.

Drink clean water every day. It is good for your continued health & wellness.

By Pradeep Mahajan

Last updated : Feb 18, 2011