Oxygen is critical for our survival. If we are starved of oxygen, we will die within minutes.
Out of food and water, which is the next most important for our survival? Water. You will be able to survive weeks without food, however, after about 10 days with no water, you will be dead.
If you think about our bodies, we are soaked! Water, water, water! It's in our brains (76% water), our blood (84% water), our lungs (90% water) and our blood plasma (98% water). You can't digest, excrete, have proper blood circulation, maintain body temperature, grow and other critical functions without water. Therefore, it is important for us to stay soaked, or better said, keep hydrated.
How do you know if you are NOT hydrated?
Waiting until you feel thirsty is way too late! Dry mouth is the last outward sign of dehydration. Also, our ability to gauge thirst deteriorates with age. You can also check for dehydration by checking out the colour of your urine (fun!). Specifically,
- Orange or dark colour urine means you are severely dehydrated
- Yellow urine means you are somewhat dehydrated
- Colourless urine means you are hydrated (yay!)
Examples of side effects of dehydration include:
- Stress
- Headaches
- Back pain
- Allergies
- Weight gain
- Asthma
- High blood pressure
- Alzheimer's disease
Even though we are soaked, we lose a lot of water daily through activities such as respiration, perspiration, urination, defecation, exercise, etc. In order to stay soaked, we need to drink, and drink and drink. However, we want to be reasonably soaked, not water logged! So, how much water makes sense?
Each day we need to drink half of our body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, you need to drink 90 ounces of water. Yum! Also, drink up in the morning, that's when we are our most toxic and dehydrated. Delay the coffee, sip on the water. To help your digestion, you should also drink prior to eating, but never during your meals (my parents have been telling me that since I was 3 years old, and it finally registered!).
A key champion for the wonders of water is Dr. Ferrydoon Batmanghelidj. He was a political prisoner in Iran and while in captivity experienced in himself, and noticed in others, the benefits of water. For example, increased in take of water diminished a fellow prisoner's pain from a peptic ulcer disease, and decreased the Dr's own hunger pains. Dr. Batmanghelidj subsequently devoted his life to studying water as a medication and wrote about how medicine inaccurately diagnosed varying manifestations of the body simply crying out for more water. He died in 2004, but created a great service for us all through his research. If you are interested in learning more, please read "The Bodies Many Cries for Water" and go to the following website: http://www.watercure.com/.
Water is critical for life. Let's stay soaked, and remember if you wait until you feel thirsty, it's already too late.
Happy drinking!!!
Source: Tony Robbins, Dr. Ferrydoon Batmanghelidj
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