How Increasing Water Intake Can Help You

Americans have been trying to get healthier and lose weight, and we have new diet trends and workout programs popping up everywhere. The one thing you don't hear about is the most basic need of all; increasing water intake. Water is so important, and yet it gets very little press. Water is a natural resource that we have, but that we use so little of. We think of it as something we cook with, or something we do laundry with, but we don't drink nearly enough. So, with this colorless, tasteless, and readily available commodity, why don't we drink more of it?

Why We Need Water

Our bodies are said to be roughly 70% water, and blood is mostly water despite the rumors. Additionally, our muscles and joints utilize water to help regulate our body temperature, especially when we are in extreme heat, or when we are working continuously. Water is also like the boat that gets the nutrients to the necessary places in our body, and helps us in eliminating waste.

How to Know When You Don't Have Enough Water

Because the body uses water and largely depends on water, your body will give you signals and warnings that you aren't getting enough of it. We eliminate water every day when we use the restroom, and if we drink caffeine it is a natural diuretic helping to flush the body of excess water. This is why coffee drinkers get a dry mouth like sensation when they continue to drink coffee. Drinking a glass of water for every cup of coffee you have may be helpful to eliminate that, and if anything it may be well worth it to just see how you feel.

Not everyone is the same, and we all don't crave water. I personally drink several bottles of water a day, equaling about two gallons of water a day. I learned early in life as a bodybuilder that water is necessary to keep you hydrated and keep you going. While tap water isn't safe in all communities, clean water is readily available to us. We can get filtered pitchers and faucet filters to help strip the water of harmful chemicals so we can keep up our intake of fresh tasting water. Bottled water has become quite a commercial item, and everywhere you go you can now find yet another company name or insignia from a new company offering their bottled spring water.

How Much Water Should You Drink?

According to Dr. Naila Goldenberg of the Jewish Metabolism Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, our water intake should be determined by how much we weigh. This is simply figured by taking your body weight, diving it in half, and that will give you the number of ounces of water that you should drink every day. So, while 8 glasses of water a day sounds good, your body may need more. It is our responsibility to take care of ourselves, and know more about how our body works, and not necessarily what a textbook says.

Ask your doctor if you aren't sure how much you weigh, and let them know about any concerns you have. Making a decision to be healthier will never disappoint any physician.

Naila Goldenberg, M.D.

The Jewish Hospital Metabolism and Endocrine Center

Assistant Director

Cincinnati, Ohio