Are You Drinking Enough Water?

Water

Most people have no idea how much water they should be drinking, and most Americans live from day to day in a dehydrated state. They don't drink enough water.

Without water, we would be poisoned to death by our own waste products and toxins resulting from metabolism.

Water is vital to digestion and metabolism, acting as a medium for various enzymatic and chemical reactions in the body. It carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells through the blood, regulates body temperature and lubricates our joints (which is particularly important if you're arthritic, have chronic muscular-skeletal problems or are athletically active).

We need water to breathe; we lose approximately one pint of liquid every day just by exhaling.

If you are not in "fluid balance" you can impair every aspect of your body's physiological functioning.

Dr. Howard Flaks, Beverly Hills:
"As a result of not drinking enough water, many people encounter such problems as excess body fat, poor muscle tone and size, decreased digestive efficiency and organ function, increased toxicity in the body, joint and muscle soreness (particularly after exercise) and water retention."

Proper water intake is the key to weight loss," says Dr. Donald Robertson, Scottsdale, Arizona. "If people who are trying to lose weight don't drink enough water, the body can't metabolize the fat, they retain fluid, which keeps their weight up, and the whole procedure we're trying to set up falls apart."

"I'd say the minimum amount of water a healthy person should drink is 10 eight-ounce glasses a day," he continues, "and you need to drink more if you are overweight, exercise a lot, or live in a hot climate. Overweight people should drink an extra eight ounces of water for each 25 pounds that exceeds their ideal weight."

Your water intake should be spread judiciously throughout the day, including the evening. Dr. Flaks cautions against drinking more than four glasses in any given hour. Always check with your physician before embarking on a water intake increase program.

You may ask, "If I drink this much water, won't I constantly be running to the bathroom?" Initially, yes, because of the hypersensitivity of the bladder to increased fluids. But after a few weeks, your bladder calms down, and you urinate less frequently, but in larger amounts.

There is a difference between pure water and other beverages that contain water.

Water is water. Obviously you can get it by consuming fruit juice, soft drinks, beer, coffee or tea. Unfortunately, while such drinks contain water, they also may contain substances that are not healthy and actually contradict some of the positive effects of the added water.

Dr. Jerzy Meduski, Los Angeles, California: "Beer contains water, but it also contains alcohol, which is a toxic substance. Beverages that contain caffeine, such as coffee, stimulate the adrenal glands; fruit juices contain a lot of sugar and stimulate the pancreas. Such drinks may tax the body more than cleanse it."

Another problem with these beverages is that you lose your taste for water.

The way to interpret all of this, therefore, is that the recommended daily water intake means just that--WATER! 

Lose Weight Tips

Lose weight

In my quest for weight loss I found the solution was a bunch of little free lose weight tips that gave me the most success. I found that I could be more successful and stick to smaller easier losing weight tips. If you add these tips for losing weight to your diet regime I am sure you will find the same.

Meal frequency: Try to eat more often during the course of a day. Sounds strange when we are trying to loose weight not gain it.

This means taking in smaller portions. This is not an excuse to eat more food. Rather than three big meals a day I tried eating five smaller meals aiming to maintain a more equal balance of food intake during the day. This would help to alleviate the feeling of being really hungry, eating a large portion of food and then feeling really full. By eating every three to four hours you keep your body from storing as many calories (as fat) because your body has a steady supply of food to use for energy.

A benefit of this is that it also helps to balance your calorie intake throughout the day. I focused on adding two meals. Once between breakfast and lunch and the other between lunch and dinner. When I say a meal, I do not mean sitting down with a knife and folk to eat having spent an hour cooking. I would eat some fruit, maybe with some natural yoghurt or a bowl of some natural nuts and berries for example. Eating smaller meals should be a balance, between containing proteins, carbohydrates and fat. This also helps to maintain steady insulin levels.

It can be hard to follow this losing weight tip with the daily grind of work and social commitments. I got round this by eating a reduced portion size of my three main meals and then carrying round a lip lock bag of dried fruits and nuts. Also two pieces of fresh fruit.

In order to make this as easy as possible to stick with. I would buy a bulk container of dried fruits and nuts from the supermarket and portion them equally into zip lock bags. This way all I needed each morning was grab one of my pre-packed zip lock bags ready to go.

I would even chop up the fruit and put it with some natural yoghurt in a container.

You will find this easier to stick to if you have a little system to make it as simple as possible. You will also find how delicious these little snacks are and how you start to really look forward to them!

If you follow these tips for losing weight, you are sure to notice that you will achieve some weight loss, without having to go on the latest fad diet and you will soon be back on track to being healthy and happy! Whatever you do, it is important to remember you can be successful and you will not have to lose weight without starving yourself!


More articles by Gemma Darcy


CLICK HERE to visit her website