Daily Water Minimum

How important is water to our diet? By weight, our body is about 72 percent water. Our blood, the very substance of our existence, is more than 83 percent water. Our brain is over 80 percent water.

Many factors influence the amount of water our bodies need. In general, eight cups to a gallon a day is a good starting point. A more specific calculation for minimum ounces needed per day would be .66 times your body weight in pounds. The following factors increase the amount of water you should consume daily: exercise, a high protein diet, altitude, heat, humidity, pregnancy, breast-feeding, caffeine, alcohol, and diarrhea or fever.

Our body's energy level is related to fluid intake. A 5 percent drop in body fluids will cause a 25 to 30 percent loss of energy in most people. A 15 percent drop in body fluids can cause death!

Proper hydration can also help you with your diet. As Bob Greene points out in Get With the Program! Guide to Good Eating, dehydration can make your body go in search for water, perhaps signaling you to eat more food. It also causes your digestive system to slow down, reducing your body's ability to metabolize nutrients, and again, perhaps signaling for more food.

As with all good things, don’t over do it. A moderate excess intake of clean water supports our body's detoxification system, which is very important to optimum health. Drinking water to excess leads to water intoxication, referred to as hyponatremia, diluting the salt content of the blood. Such a loss can interfere with brain, heart and muscle functions.

Drink water steadily throughout the day. High water content fruits like apples, oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes also help your hydration. You can tell if you are getting enough fluid if your urine is very pale yellow. Dark-yellow, strong urine indicates the need to drink more. If you suspect you are drinking too much water, completely clear urine may be a sign that you can reduce your fluid intake.

This page is a help entry for the Free Simplebean Health Guide. To plan a healthy diet, use this MS Windows software to quickly calculate important health info such as your BMI, BEE, personalized daily calorie requirements and targets in carbs, proteins, and fats, and the target weight for your build. It is great for weight loss or maintenance. Click here for additional Help Topics.

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More about The Get with the Program! Guide to Good Eating: Great Food for Good Health by Bob Greene Greene, an exercise physiologist and Oprah Winfrey's trainer, focuses on diet with a wealth of sound information and helpful strategies. Greene starts with a cutting overview of destructive diets, including those popular today. Then, after reviewing exercise essentials, he presents a refreshingly sensible plan for nutritious, healthy eating, with tools for keeping intake moderate.

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