Water – why the need?

The average amount of water is around 605 - 65%, but the percentage of water in one person may be quite a lot different compared with how much is in another. Age, gender, and fitness are big factors in how much water is in the body...

There are plenty of reasons to drink water. In fact, drinking water is essential to your health.

Fluid losses occur continuously, from skin evaporation, breathing, urine, and stool, and these losses must be replaced daily for good health.

When your water intake does not equal your output, you can become dehydrated. Fluid losses are accentuated in warmer climates, during strenuous exercise, in high altitudes, and in older adults, whose sense of thirst may not be as sharp.

Reasons to drink water....

1. Drinking Water Helps Maintain the Balance of Body Fluids. Your body is composed of about 60% - 65% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.
When you're low on fluids, the brain triggers the body's thirst mechanism. And unless you are taking medications that make you thirsty, you should listen to those cues and get yourself a drink of water, juice, milk, coffee -- anything but alcohol.
Alcohol interferes with the brain and kidney communication and causes excess excretion of fluids which can then lead to dehydration.
2. Water Can Help Control Calories. For years, dieters have been drinking lots of water as a weight loss strategy. While water doesn't have any magical effect on weight loss, substituting it for higher calorie beverages can certainly help.
What works by choosing water or a non-caloric beverage over a caloric beverage and/or eat a diet higher in water-rich foods that are healthier, more filling, and help you trim calorie intake.
3. Water Helps Energize Muscles. Cells that don't maintain their balance of fluids and electrolytes shrivel, which can result in muscle fatigue. When muscle cells don't have adequate fluids, they don't work as well and performance can suffer.
Drinking enough fluids is important when exercising. It is advisable to drink a small amount of water before exercising, and to drink after exercising at regular interval to replenish your fluid loss.
4. Water Helps Keep Skin Looking Good. Your skin contains plenty of water, and functions as a protective barrier to prevent excess fluid loss.
Dehydration makes your skin look more dry and wrinkled, which can be improved with proper hydration.
5. Water Helps Your Kidneys. Body fluids transport waste products in and out of cells. The main toxin in the body is blood urea nitrogen, a water-soluble waste that is able to pass through the kidneys to be excreted in the urine, Your kidneys do an amazing job of cleansing and ridding your body of toxins as long as your intake of fluids is adequate.
When you're getting enough fluids, urine flows freely, is light in colour and free of odour. When your body is not getting enough fluids, urine concentration, colour, and odour increases because the kidneys trap extra fluid for bodily functions. ( there is a risk of a UTI – urinary tract infection ) from the toxins not being flushed out fully, and we see on occasions patients on the ward with bizarre behaviour caused by this and only a urine sample under testing will show this...
If you chronically drink too little, you may be at higher risk for kidney stones, especially in warm climates.
6. Water Helps Maintain Normal Bowel Function. Adequate hydration keeps things flowing along your gastrointestinal tract and prevents constipation. When you don't get enough fluid, the colon pulls water from stools to maintain hydration -- and the result is constipation.
Adequate fluid and fibre is the perfect combination, because the fluid pumps up the fibre and acts like a broom to keep your bowel functioning properly.

It’s so, so, so important to have a good intake of fluid, especially water.....