The Beauty Of Hydration

Guest Post by Jenny Dean (owner and operator of antioxidant-fruits.com)

We all know the importance of hydration, not only as an overall detoxifier but also as a weight maintenance agent. The human body is about 60% water. 75% of that 60% are your muscles and brain, blood is 82% water and bones are 25% water. That’s a lot of body water!

Stay Hydrated, Stay Beautiful!

We need to consume a lot more water than we do. In fact, many of us are chronically dehydrated. Often times our thirst mechanism that tells us when we are dehydrated is often mistaken for a feeling of hunger. So next time you are between meals and are hungry, reach for a glass of water and see if that doesn’t curb your hunger.

Why Hydrate?

A study at the University of Washington found that even if you are suffering from mild dehydration, your metabolism can be slowed down by as much as 3%. Here are some other great reasons to hydrate!

• 1 glass of water can eliminate midnight hunger
• Dehydration is the first trigger for daytime fatigue
• Hydration can relieve joint pain
• Hydration helps to reduce bladder infections
• Hydration helps to eliminate waste in the body
• Dehydration triggers fuzzy-short term memory trouble with basic math
• Hydration reduces the risk of colon cancer by 45%
• Hydration reduces the risk of breast cancer by 79%
• Hydration reduces the risk of bladder cancer by 50%

Are familiar with the knowledge that you can go weeks without food, but only days without water? The reason is because water is a necessity for basic physiologic functions, like our blood pressure, body temperature, hydration and digestion. The human body needs 1.5 milliliters of water to absorb each calorie ingested.

8 Glasses a Day?

We’ve all heard that we should have 8 glasses of water a day, however, when you really think about it, it doesn’t make sense how and why that applies to all body types, weights and sexes.

After all, how are 8 glasses of 8 ounces each the necessary water in a day for a 150 lb. woman compared to a 250 lb. man? Or what about a 200 lb. woman who is 5’8” compared to a 200 lb. man that is 6’3”? Is there a difference? You betcha.

Although 8 glasses of 8 ounces of water is the general rule, the amount of water you need varies depending on your weight, activity level and the climate in which you live. To figure out how much water you need for you, simply take your current weight in lbs. and divide by two to get the number of ounces of water you need each day.

For example, if you are 220 lbs, divide by 2 = 110 ounces. So, in other words, you need 110 ounces of water a day. So if you are drinking out of 8 ounce glasses, then you need to drink 13.75 glasses! That’s nearly 6 more glasses than the standard 8.

If you know your weight in kilograms, then just take that number in kilograms divided by 30 to get the number of ounces that you need.

You are welcome to read more about the beauty of hydration.