Water

Water is really the key to a healthy body. Being fully hydrated should be your daily goal. Our bodies are two-thirds water. Our blood is 90% water and our muscles are 78% water. We have all heard that we can go 5 or 6 days without food but only 1 or 2 without water, the functioning of all our organs depends on adequate hydration. When we are fully hydrated our whole body works like a well-oiled engine. It’s when we become dehydrated, even slightly, that little problems start to arise.

Water is essential to our optimum health and the simple fact is that we don’t drink enough! We need to replace the 1.5 litres we lose every day through breathing, sweating and going to the bathroom. Therefore on average we should be drinking 2 litres of fresh, clean, pure water every day. . And, no, the water in your tea and coffee doesn’t count! Caffeine is a diuretic, as is alcohol, which makes your body expel more water…hence the hangover!! Most of us are slightly dehydrated on a daily basis therefore we are playing ‘catch up’. Minor everyday niggles such as headaches, lethargy, stomach upsets, sore throats, bad moods, could all be down dehydration. If you feel tired and know you shouldn’t be, drink a big glass of water and the tiredness usually lifts.

Another few good reasons to drink lots of water, apart from great skin, hair, nails, organs etc. is that we can lose stubborn fat pounds. Why? We often mistake the signal for thirst and hunger and therefore could be eating extra food unnecessarily. If you feel hungry and you know you really shouldn’t be as you have eaten recently…drink a glass of water and then wait ten minutes, see if you are still hungry. If you are, well, then eat something, if not, well then it was just thirst. 8/10 times it is just thirst. Also when we are fully hydrated our liver and kidneys work at their optimum level and so we metabolise fat more efficiently…so get drinking!!

Emma Buckley B.Sc