Hydration Time

Hey folks!

Eight glasses a day may or may not be enough.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of water in our diet. By not drinking as much as we should, we're allowing a host of issues to potentially affect us. Generally speaking, 2/3rds of the body is water. Getting a little more specific: 



- Muscle consists of 75% water
- Brain consists of 90% of water
- Bone consists of 22% of water
- Blood consists of 83% water
From a functional standpoint, water:

- Gets nutrients and oxygen into our cells
- Helps protect vital organs by helping them absorb nutrients more efficiently.
- Regulates body temperature
- Helps get rid of toxins
- Helps our metabolism
Lack of water leads to:
- Sluggishness
- Headaches
- Muscle cramping
- Kidney stones
- Constipation
We need to take in at least half of our body weight in ounces of water each day.

So, if I weigh 100 pounds, I need to take in at least 50 ounces of water. Fruit drinks, coffees, sodas and sports drinks do not count. Good ol' water. You can drink the other stuff, too. But that doesn't count toward the water intake.

Now if you'd like to take it further, drink at least 25% of that total within the first 30 minutes of waking up in the morning. That, mixed with a protein-laden breakfast does an amazing job of helping us stay even-keeled throughout the day. We'll get into water a lot more later. But for now, here are few websites you can visit if you want to learn a bit more about water and its importance. http://www.thefactsaboutwater.org/health/the-functions-of-water-in-the-body/ .......... http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jenheath4.htm ..........http://www.active-water.com/en/regulation_water_body.html .......... (Water is crazy important to our economy, too!) http://water.epa.gov/action/importanceofwater/index.cfm