Water is the number one component of all the bodily fluids: blood, lymph, digestive juices, urine, tears, and sweat. As well, it is involved in almost every bodily function: circulation, digestion, absorption and elimination of wastes. Water requirements vary greatly from person to person, the environment, activity level and diet all influence our needs for water.
Water is unsurpassed in its ability to heal and is fundamental to life. On average, we need about 12 cups of water each to stay hydrated. We average about 4 cups of water from a day’s food and the breakdown of this food provides us with an additional cup. The remaining water must come from what we actually drink. For your cells to function properly the water equation is one half your body weight, in ounces, daily. For example, if you are 140 pounds, half of this would be 70 ounces. This is about 9 full 8-ounce glasses.
Most people will need between 8 to 12 cups of water daily. Balance is the key, more is not always better, too much causes havoc with our electrolytes. Yes, you may need to go to the bathroom every hour, but that is a sign of a healthy bladder. When you first begin drinking larger amounts of water, you may need to go every 15 – 30 minutes. This is due to you saturating your cells, and will level off over time.
Soda pop and coffee detours water. Coffee is a diuretic and can cause us to excrete more water than it contains. Pop, with its concentrated sugar, also upsets our water balance. When this high sugar concentrate enters our body it can cause the body to “steal” water from elsewhere to dilute the pop and make it less concentrated. Cutting back is the best answer, or drinking extra cups of water per coffee or pop consumption will help.
The number one process of the large intestine is to extract water from the food we eat. If you are dehydrated, your stool will be hard, lumpy and difficult to eliminate. Drinking the correct amount of water each day is essential to a healthy colon!!