Did you know that our bodies are 2/3 water?
Now that’s a lot! Our brain cells are 80-90% fluid and our muscles are 60-70% fluid. We all know that our bodies can survive for long periods without food, but we simply can’t survive without water.
So how much should you be drinking? The simple answer is probably MORE than you are drinking now.
There are two schools of thought about exactly how much.
1) Drink enough water to allow you to pass clear urine. (Beware-vitamin supplements will affect this)
2) Drink 1 litre of fluid for every 25 kilograms of bodyweight.
(That’s without exercising- when you exercise-you need more water)
The second one allows you to get a ball-park figure on just how much.
The first- well it’s a bit of a guessing game.
I’ve tried both ways and for my money, the second way helps me to stay hydrated. How come? Well, it’s easy. If I weigh 60kilograms, I know I have to drink approx 2-2.5 litres of water. 1 litre is about 4 standard glasses.
If I drink 1 glass before and after each meal – that’s already 6 glasses.
Then 1 at morning tea and 1 at afternoon tea – that’s 8! Hey presto- 2 litres already. I find this approach better than the “look and see the colour” method! Why? It’s systematic. I’ve tried the other way, and I just don’t seem to drink enough.
So – give both ways a try and see what works for you.
Don’t wait until you are thirsty! It’s too late!
Whatever- make sure you drink enough – and try to drink pure water- not the chlorinated stuff that so many city water supplies have.
January 27th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Hi there -this is great advice for sure. In fact I have a good friend, business associate who has a close friend who actually cured himself of cancer by drinking water. Sounds incredible, but when you think about it, water can flush out many toxins from our system.
Of course this person was drinking bottled water. I even found New Zealand artesian water in our Central Market here in San Antonio, and of course there is Fiji water and Voz (from Denmark). You could say they are a little expensive, but compared to the cost of medications they are not, not to mention water has no side effects.
I know when I drink more water, headaches don’t show up. A great number of headaches are caused by dehydration, and I am sure a lot of other ailments are caused by the same problem.
By the way, a liter is close to 1 quart for our American readers. 8, 8oz glasses sounds a lot, but one good thing about that, is once you achieve that goal (or even 6 glasses), you find yourself drinking much less coffee or sodas like Coke and the like.