Importance of drinking water?

i_like_snow

I am really new to working out and eating healthy. I have never been great about drinking water. I've always mostly drank Crystal Light or Diet Soda (Bad! I know).

Can someone give me a quick run down and why it is so important to drink 8 glasses of water a day?

SavCal71

I'm not going to quote you the science ... I'm sure someone else will. However, I believe -without a doubt - that lots of water helps my weightloss. I see it on the scale. If I go 2-3 days without enough water (for me, "enough" is 80 oz), loss is sluggish, if not non-existant. I also feel it in my body when I don't have enough. I am for a min of 80 oz a day and often surpass 100 oz.

This is *on top of* 3-5 diet sodas a day.

melbaby925

Your body is mostly water. Think about how gross water gets when it's stagnant. And think about how beautiful a stream is when it's free flowing - where fresh water is moving through and keeping things clean.

if that doesn't get you drinking water - nothing will!

UrbanRunner81

Your body needs it to function.


Our body is mostly made up of water.
Protects Your Nervous System
Cushions Joints
Rids the Body of Waste
Keeps skin from drying out

sknopps

The kidneys cannot function properly without enough water. When they do not work to capacity, some of their load is dumped on the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But if the liver has to do some of the kidney's work, it cannot work at full throttle.

As a result, it metabolizes less fat.

sexyminxinthemaking

well reading those comments has inspired me to drink more water thanks guys

shesblossoming

Have you ever tried flushing poop down a toilet without water? Imagine that with your body. Totally gross.

fmeisele

Bottom line, you drink at least 64oz of water per day, your body is healthy and you lose more weight then if you don't drink enough. It's a secret of weight loss, now you know. Just do it.

pnieuw

There are lots of studies suggesting you don't need 8 cups a day, however, you need enough to stay hydrated, and if you exercise, you need to replace that water.

You get water from lots of sources - the food you eat contains quite a bit, especially if you are eating lots of fresh veg and fruit. If you drink other beverages other than water, you are still hydrating your body. Coffee, tea, even a Coke will add water to your system. The dehydrating effects of the caffeine are not a factor until you drink a lot of caffeinated beverages in a day.

So, back to water. Drink to keep from being thirsty, and keep your body happy. Good luck on your journey!

CaptainMFP

The kidneys cannot function properly without enough water. When they do not work to capacity, some of their load is dumped on the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But if the liver has to do some of the kidney's work, it cannot work at full throttle.

As a result, it metabolizes less fat.

Have seen this quoted a lot of places...really doesn't make sense to me. (I teach anatomy & physiology.) These organs work in tandem; the kidney does not "shift" its load to the liver and the liver's role if fat metabolism is misquoted a lot on here. If anyone has medical references for this I'd love to see it.

Your body needs to maintain a critical balance of ions (sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride to name four) for normal function of the nervous system and muscular system. One of the kidney's primary jobs is to maintain the balance of these ions which is achieved through the regulation of both the ions themselves and through controlling water loss. Lack of sufficient water doesn't mean less removal of waste from the body; it means more concentrated urine (i.e. more concentrated waste) to retain an appropriate volume of water for normal neuromuscular function. Failure to take in adequate water leads the body to actively retain more water which raises body weight. (Note that the kidney will increase sodium retention to promote water retention when the body is dehydrated...taking in too much sodium thus has the same effect as taking in too little water; together they are a double whammy!) Taking in adequate amounts of water allows the body to release more water (ridding itself of metabolic waste more easily), and less retained water means less fluctuation in body weight tied to water.

In addition to what occurs in the kidney (and keep in mind I've simplified this for the sake of a post), many of the chemical reactions that occur in our cells require water as a component of the reaction. This is particularly true of certain reactions that occur during the processing of sugars and fats to produce the chemical energy (called ATP) that cells rely on for survival.

There are two big bottom lines here (and these are not the only two, but I would argue the scientifically most important): (1) good water intake with low sodium intake will minimize water-based fluctuations and maximize your ability to see real weight loss and (2) water is a crucial component of metabolic reactions at the cellular level, so efficient cellular metabolism requires adequate water.

Again, anyone with primary source medical references on the liver "taking over for the kidneys and not burning fat" is welcome to message me...that gets spouted by a lot of fitness folks trying to sell a diet...but it does not jibe with physiological reality...kidna like saying insulin is a "fat storage hormone"...another inaccurate oversimplification I see on here a lot.

i_like_snow

Aww...the ATP cycle! You just took me back to my A&P days! LOL. (I'm an RN)

Very well put! Thank you everybody for your tips. I'll be drinking more water from now on!

The kidneys cannot function properly without enough water. When they do not work to capacity, some of their load is dumped on the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But if the liver has to do some of the kidney's work, it cannot work at full throttle.

As a result, it metabolizes less fat.

Have seen this quoted a lot of places...really doesn't make sense to me. (I teach anatomy & physiology.) These organs work in tandem; the kidney does not "shift" its load to the liver and the liver's role if fat metabolism is misquoted a lot on here. If anyone has medical references for this I'd love to see it.

Your body needs to maintain a critical balance of ions (sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride to name four) for normal function of the nervous system and muscular system. One of the kidney's primary jobs is to maintain the balance of these ions which is achieved through the regulation of both the ions themselves and through controlling water loss. Lack of sufficient water doesn't mean less removal of waste from the body; it means more concentrated urine (i.e. more concentrated waste) to retain an appropriate volume of water for normal neuromuscular function. Failure to take in adequate water leads the body to actively retain more water which raises body weight. (Note that the kidney will increase sodium retention to promote water retention when the body is dehydrated...taking in too much sodium thus has the same effect as taking in too little water; together they are a double whammy!) Taking in adequate amounts of water allows the body to release more water (ridding itself of metabolic waste more easily), and less retained water means less fluctuation in body weight tied to water.

In addition to what occurs in the kidney (and keep in mind I've simplified this for the sake of a post), many of the chemical reactions that occur in our cells require water as a component of the reaction. This is particularly true of certain reactions that occur during the processing of sugars and fats to produce the chemical energy (called ATP) that cells rely on for survival.

There are two big bottom lines here (and these are not the only two, but I would argue the scientifically most important): (1) good water intake with low sodium intake will minimize water-based fluctuations and maximize your ability to see real weight loss and (2) water is a crucial component of metabolic reactions at the cellular level, so efficient cellular metabolism requires adequate water.

Again, anyone with primary source medical references on the liver "taking over for the kidneys and not burning fat" is welcome to message me...that gets spouted by a lot of fitness folks trying to sell a diet...but it does not jibe with physiological reality...kidna like saying insulin is a "fat storage hormone"...another inaccurate oversimplification I see on here a lot.

HMonsterX

You get water from lots of sources - the food you eat contains quite a bit, especially if you are eating lots of fresh veg and fruit. If you drink other beverages other than water, you are still hydrating your body. Coffee, tea, even a Coke will add water to your system. The dehydrating effects of the caffeine are not a factor until you drink a lot of caffeinated beverages in a day.

Thank you! Someone else gets it! You do not need to drink 4376453474 oz of WATER a day. You need roughly 8 cups of FLUID. How you GET that fluid, is up to you!

lpeacock06

Water also helps to flush the Na...(sodium out)....believe me it took me a while to realize it too.....it's all I drink now.....can't stand coke zero anymore!!

ElementalEscapee

LOL *downs a glass of water immediately*

Have you ever tried flushing poop down a toilet without water? Imagine that with your body. Totally gross.

Salinwa

My personal gains are: I sleep better (my favorite), I have more energy, I think better, I eat less... I just feel better. I was in my 40's before I figured this all out. Once I became good with my water intake I can tell when I'm not getting enough. I know why I'm not sleeping as well or I get more tired in the day or I tend to eat more rather than drink the water that can easily replace something with calories.
And btw ~ anything with caffeine especially, but also sugar, basically with calories you should not count toward your water intake. Caffeine and sugar actually work against your water benefits.
Amount of water should be half your weight in ounces. If you weigh 140 you should drink 70 ounces, plus whatever you need to make up for caffeine or sugar, an extra cup per drink.

If that's not enough consider the fact that you are made out of mostly water (about 70%) and you have a lot going that takes aways from your water.

hayleyxxwxx

Even though i know it is important to drink lots of water, I cant stand drinking it. Does it count if you drink sugar free concentrate fruit juice diluted with lots of water???

alyssamiller77

Even though i know it is important to drink lots of water, I cant stand drinking it. Does it count if you drink sugar free concentrate fruit juice diluted with lots of water???

Yes, as was mentioned above, water is water regardless of how it comes into your body. Now you do have to also consider the effects of the substances you combine with the water (sugars, sweeteners, caffeine, etc all must be metabolized and therefore drive a need for additional water). But in the end the water is still there and just adding some juice to it doesn't magically turn it into some other substance. Just account for the calories of the juice you add to it and you'll be fine.

alyssamiller77

The kidneys cannot function properly without enough water. When they do not work to capacity, some of their load is dumped on the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But if the liver has to do some of the kidney's work, it cannot work at full throttle.

As a result, it metabolizes less fat.

Have seen this quoted a lot of places...really doesn't make sense to me. (I teach anatomy & physiology.) These organs work in tandem; the kidney does not "shift" its load to the liver and the liver's role if fat metabolism is misquoted a lot on here. If anyone has medical references for this I'd love to see it.

Your body needs to maintain a critical balance of ions (sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride to name four) for normal function of the nervous system and muscular system. One of the kidney's primary jobs is to maintain the balance of these ions which is achieved through the regulation of both the ions themselves and through controlling water loss. Lack of sufficient water doesn't mean less removal of waste from the body; it means more concentrated urine (i.e. more concentrated waste) to retain an appropriate volume of water for normal neuromuscular function. Failure to take in adequate water leads the body to actively retain more water which raises body weight. (Note that the kidney will increase sodium retention to promote water retention when the body is dehydrated...taking in too much sodium thus has the same effect as taking in too little water; together they are a double whammy!) Taking in adequate amounts of water allows the body to release more water (ridding itself of metabolic waste more easily), and less retained water means less fluctuation in body weight tied to water.

In addition to what occurs in the kidney (and keep in mind I've simplified this for the sake of a post), many of the chemical reactions that occur in our cells require water as a component of the reaction. This is particularly true of certain reactions that occur during the processing of sugars and fats to produce the chemical energy (called ATP) that cells rely on for survival.

There are two big bottom lines here (and these are not the only two, but I would argue the scientifically most important): (1) good water intake with low sodium intake will minimize water-based fluctuations and maximize your ability to see real weight loss and (2) water is a crucial component of metabolic reactions at the cellular level, so efficient cellular metabolism requires adequate water.

Again, anyone with primary source medical references on the liver "taking over for the kidneys and not burning fat" is welcome to message me...that gets spouted by a lot of fitness folks trying to sell a diet...but it does not jibe with physiological reality...kidna like saying insulin is a "fat storage hormone"...another inaccurate oversimplification I see on here a lot.

Best explanation I've read on this forum, a lot of people here should read this and understand it.

hayleyxxwxx

Even though i know it is important to drink lots of water, I cant stand drinking it. Does it count if you drink sugar free concentrate fruit juice diluted with lots of water???

Yes, as was mentioned above, water is water regardless of how it comes into your body. Now you do have to also consider the effects of the substances you combine with the water (sugars, sweeteners, caffeine, etc all must be metabolized and therefore drive a need for additional water). But in the end the water is still there and just adding some juice to it doesn't magically turn it into some other substance. Just account for the calories of the juice you add to it and you'll be fine.

Thanks.

heather7marie

Your body is mostly water. Think about how gross water gets when it's stagnant. And think about how beautiful a stream is when it's free flowing - where fresh water is moving through and keeping things clean.

if that doesn't get you drinking water - nothing will!

I don't have a problem with consuming enough water, but that is a very great way of putting it! I love it!

sandhillcrane

yup...now I don't need to say it. hubby is anatomy & ph teacher too! I am a Respiratory Therapist.