Water - Are You Drinking Enough?

Water. H2O. Whatever you may choose to call it; it is the most valuable beverage you will ever consume. Although some nutrition companies will advocate their vitamin drinks, or other potion; water is the only drink that we truly can not live without. It is vital to our bodies for the very basic of needs.

Are You Drinking Enough?
Drinking the correct amount of water provides many health benefits. How do you know if you are getting enough water? Some of you may answer that question by saying eight 8oz. glasses of water, is how much we need! I would challenge you to think again. Unless you are 128 lbs, you need more water then that!

We live in a society where we are growing more and more overweight. Yet our dietary recommendation is based on the average needs of a 128 lb person? Something sounds odd about that! When considering that we, the USA, are an overweight country; we may blame that on not enough water as well. Water is not always the most sought after drink on the market.

Water competes with other other tastier beverages such as, soda, artificially flavored water, juice, sports drinks, and nutrition drinks. Jjust to name a few. Many kids, starting at the toddler age, stop drinking water by it's self. Instead, they insist on juice or another beverage. Adults are even worse. Some adults even consider their morning coffee as their daily intake of water!

Well, perhaps we have not changed our recommendation for water intake due to the fact that many of us feel that we already inadequately consume enough water at the recommend amount of 64 ounces daily. To let the truth be told, most of us should actually be drinking more then that. To accurately find out how much water you should be drinking simply take your weight and divide it in half. Next, divide that by eight. That is how many 8 ounce glasses of water you should personally consumer each day.

For example: A 175 pound person needs to drink 10.94 (about 11) glasses of water daily. Given that they are drinking out of an 8 ounce glass. Many of us use 16 oz glasses without even realizing it! In that case they would need about 5-6 glasses of water. When put like that it may seem like too much water to consume. Th truth is though, when you drink this much water, you will be eliminating your constant thirst for hight calorie, high sugar drinks. You will also ensure that your hunger is not driven by thirst, which eliminates unnecessary calories consumed throughout the day.

What Are The Benefits Of Drinking That Much Water?
There are many other benefits of drinking the correct amount of water. These benefits include:

*Regulating your body temperature.
*Cushion joints
*Remove built up toxins and waste in the body through urination
*Relieve constipation
*Make nutrients more available to the body
*Control hunger
*Aide in weight loss
*Curb food cravings*Keep your body working at peak performance

The above benefits should convince you to start drinking more water each n every day. You do not need to over do it, forcing the last 3 glasses down your throat before bed, only to wake up 2 hours later with an intense urge to use the bathroom. The easiest way to consume water is to always have your glass, or water bottle near by for sipping. When it is empty, fill it up again. You will notice that consuming water that way leads to less bathroom annoyances, although that is very common in th first few days. your body will adjust and frequent bathroom trips will subside.

More Helpful Information:
The are three groups of people that mus have the proper balance of water daily in their lives. Although we can all benefit from drinking enough water,
*Elderly
*Pregnant woman
*Children/adults engaging in outside activities (especially in the summer months)
VITALLY need to have enough water throughout the day.

Some quick tips for downing water include:
*Add lemon to your water for a yummy taste and added vitamins for kids and adults a like!
*Add crushed ice, most people enjoy a cool crisp drink, ice water has the same refreshing feeling when properly chilled/iced.
*Pour in 2-3 oz of juice for an added punch, just be sure it's 100% no sugar added juice
*Herbal teas can be part of your water intake, but not coffee!

So drink up!