Scientists have taught us that the total mass of the earth is about two-third water. Most other things in life also contain water in very significant quantities. Talk of the food we eat and the fruits too. It could not be strange to discover that, those hard materials you see daily and everywhere have their respective significant amounts of water. The human body is noted to be made up about 60% water.
Take a glass of water, even when you are not thirsty, and you will feel a kind of satisfaction. Whenever thirst sets in, drinking water creates a special mode of relief that can only be surpassed by gaining breath during resuscitation. Water is life; it is the second most important substance after the air we breathe in. Its essence is hard to quantify in words and numbers, because it does so much more than we already and can even imagine.
In the fruits we eat, despite their varying levels, water still institute their biggest proportion by mass. Let us look at the following list as an example:
Food / Percentage / Water
Lettuce / (1 c cup) / 95%
Watermelon / (1 c cup) / 92%
Grapefruit / (1 c cup) / 91%
Milk / (1 cup) / 89%
Orange juice / (3/4 cup) / 88%
Carrot / (1 c cup) / 87%
Yoghurt / (1 cup) / 85%
Apple / (one medium) / 84%
WHAT AMOUNT OF WATER DO YOU NEED DAILY?
The amount of water needed by an individual daily is dependent on a number of factors. Although in the past, we had been made to accept the notification that we should drink a minimum of eight glasses of water everyday; results of recent researchers have overturned this near misconception. It is never in doubt that water is good and very important; however its consumption should be governed by size, level of activity, the weather, and your general health.
Following the results of the researchers conducted by Heinz Valtin, published in the American Journal of Physiology in 2002, in which question the old belief of 8 glass cups of water a day, he concluded that the major determinant of water consumption quantity should be thirst. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in America also agreed with his findings. They published new guidelines, in 2004, which removed the eight-glasses-a-day recommendation, and say healthy adults may use that to determine their fluid needs. Despite the little controversy, the significance of water has never been in any serious doubt.
The IOM report was based on surveys and it recommended 11-plus cups a day for women and 15-plus cups a day for men. These are for total fluid intake, including fluid from all food and beverages.
Some 80% of our water consumption is through drinking water and other beverages, while the remaining 20% is obtained from food. Assuming these percentages are accurate for most of us, the recommended amount of beverages, including water, would be approximately 9 cups for women and 12.5 cups for men. A lot of our foods are significant water, particularly, fruits.
WHAT WILL DRINKING WATER DO FOR YOU?
Honestly, drinking water will do more than you can imagine. Water is life; it brings satisfaction whenever you it. Eating without drinking water can choke especially if starchy foods like eba (cassava extract) is involved. To say that water is essentially a part of a balanced diet is to say the least. We can look at the following as other benefits of water.
IT BOOSTS YOUR ENERGY LEVEL
Drinking water does a lot to help you gain energy, when taken in moderate quantities to requirements. Thirst is due to dehydration and the only remedy is hydration: drink water. There is an experience of tiredness when thirsty due to dehydration. The energy level increases once water is consumed. But when too much is taken, weakness sets in.
IT LOWERS YOUR STRESS
Some four out of five of the tissues in the brain are made up of water. When there is dehydration, there is shortage of water. This condition leads to stress. However when water is consumed, the tissues become hydrated. Consequently, stress is reduced or eliminated. Drink water regularly and momentarily.
IT BUILDS YOUR MUSCLE
You need to know the meaning of turgidity. That is strength in a way. Water fills the muscles and makes them strong from being enlarged. It is never a serious way of building large muscles, like the body builders we see in the magazines, online and television as models. It also helps the muscles to prevent cramps and lubricates the joints. In addition, when you drink enough water, you will last longer in your exercise sessions.
IT NOURISHES YOUR SKIN
Dehydration causes wrinkles and lines on your skin. It makes skin looks old and ugly. Nature, however, provides a beauty cream in the form of water. The skin cells are hydrated and pumped up to make the skin look young and beautiful. It glows because water flushes out impurities in the blood, improving circulation and blood flow.
IT REDUCES KIDNEY STONES
Kidney stones are crystals formed by excess salts and minerals in the urine as it passes through the kidney. Drinking enough water regularly dilutes the urine inhibiting the formation of kidney stones. Diluted urine does not allow kidney stones to form. Drink a lot of water.
IT HELPS DIGESTION
This, sometimes, is the most important benefit. Water aids the digestion of foods. Waste particles are, also, easily dissolved and passed smoothly through the digestive tracts. In a case when there is dehydration, the body absorbs all the water; makes it hard for digestion and passage of waste.
IT HELPS WEIGHT LOSS
This can never be stranger than it is; yet it can also never be truer. You should exchange the mineral (soft) drinks that are laden with many calories with drinking more water. Metabolic reactions are increased to improve the burning of more calories. When you drink water, especially chilled cold one, the body generates heat to warm up the water, in the process burning off a few calories.
Water is life and its universal significance can in no way be substituted for any other substance. It is filling and fulfilling. It is healthy and invigorating. It is surplus and indispensable. Above all it is basic in the constitution of all cells, tissues, organs and systems of all organizations.