by Dr George Grant PhD., IMD
The human body is primarily composed of water. Water is not only beneficial but also vital to life — only oxygen is more important to human survival. Water plays an enormous role in how well our body functions.
Simply put the more fresh water we drink, the healthier we become. Water increases the quality and also the length of our lives! Try to drink the recommended 8 or more glasses of water daily. Here’s how to figure out the right amount of water you need to drink daily to stay completely hydrated.
You need to drink half of your body weight in ounces daily. Let’s say you weight 200 lbs. You will need 100 oz. of water. Divide 100 oz. by 8 oz (a size of a glass) you get 12. You need to drink 12 (8 oz.) glasses of water a day to keep your body properly hydrated. This is a minimum. Your body performs at its best when it is properly hydrated. We live in a lush world and yet you’re so dry inside our body because we don’t drink enough water.
Water helps to
- Relieve/Prevent: lower back pain, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, headaches, migraines, asthma, allergies, colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, hypertension, cholesterol, hangovers, neck pain, muscle pain, joint pain, bloating, constipation, ulcers, low energy levels, stomach pain,
- Confusion and disorientation.
- Maintain: muscle tone, weight loss, clear and healthy skin.
- Regulate: body temperature, remove toxins and wastes, cushion and lubricate joints, decrease risk of kidney stones, protect tissues, organs and the spinal cord from shock and damage.
- Assist In: the digestion & absorption of food, and in transporting oxygen and nutrients to the cells.
There’s no substitute for water!
Beverages that simply contain water aren’t good enough. Juice, soda, tea, coffee etc. counter the positive effects of water; some, in fact, may also be unhealthy. For example, drinks containing caffeine stimulate your adrenal gland and dehydrate and rob your body of important vitamins and minerals.
Beverages containing lots of sugars stimulate the pancreas, boosting your insulin levels and taking your body out of its natural fat burning state. Sodas are a quadruple whammy. Colas, in particular, contain caffeine, sugar, sodium and acid that could eat through a dime. Have you ever tried the household remedy to calcium and lime rusted toilet? Just let a bottle of soda sit in the toilet for a bit and presto — a sparkling toilet! I’m not saying that you should completely eliminate these drinks from your diet. However, you may want to replace them with water whenever possible and at least keep them at a low to moderate level.
Water and Weight Loss
Drinking water may be the most important piece to the weight loss puzzle. Water contains no calories, fat, or cholesterol and is low in sodium. It is nature’s appetite suppressant, and it helps the body to metabolize fat. Current research shows that low water intakes yield an increase in fat deposits. Conversely, a high water intake reduces the amount fat deposits. Without enough water, the kidneys cannot function properly. As a result, some of their workload is pushed off onto the liver, in turn preventing the liver from operating at peak levels.
How does all this tie into weight loss? Because metabolizing fat is a primary function of the liver, and because the liver can’t function at peak levels when taking on the added workload from the kidneys, less body fat is metabolized and more is stored. This leads to either weight gain or reaching a plateau of weight loss. When dieting, we restrict the calories we take in, to some degree. By doing so, we lessen the total amount of water available to our bodies since about 30% of the average person’s water intake comes from the food they eat. This gives us even more reason to raise our water intake.
Finally, conserve water which is essential for survival… It is more precious and scarcer than Gold!
Read more about the importance of water and many other essential health tips in Dr George Grant’s book ‘Your 101 ways to 101’ which will be published in June
For more about Dr George Grant and the International Academy of Wellness go to http://www.academyofwellness.com/
