How Much Water Should I Drink Each Day?
Why is Hydrating your Body so Essential to Optimal Health?
As a massage therapist, I have been praising the benefits of water for years. Simply because it seems to help with the overall effects of a massage. Recently, I have learned more about the benefits of water from a nutritional perspective and why staying hydrated is so essential to your daily living.
According to Dr. Batmanghelidj in the book Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, we should be drinking at least half of our body weight in ounces each day. We should drink even more water if diuretics such as soda, caffeinated drinks, and alcohol, etc. are consumed. And, when exceeding 100 ounces of water per day, we must consider the delicate balance of electrolytes in the body as they assist in the transport of water from outside of the cells to inside.
That is a lot of water and your body needs it! What are some of the benefits of staying hydrated, you might ask? According to Dr. Batmanghelidj, we all manifest dehydration in different ways and there are many degenerative disease conditions which begin as dehydration. Our bodies are great at compensating and are amazing at conserving water if we do not drink enough each day. Some symptoms of dehydration can begin with fatigue and headaches and more chronic dehydration can lead to other conditions like arthritis pain, lower back pain or heartburn, to name a few.
When you consider that our body is made up of 55 to 60 percent water and that we could only survive days without water, then you realize how essential this nutrient is! It is one of the most easily obtainable nutrients, yet an alarming number of people are dehydrated, especially, those who eat a highly processed diet which lacks vital minerals and those who drink diuretics instead of water.
To make it easy to remember how much water you have consumed each day, I spoke with Victoria Robinson, a professional organizer and the owner of Clutterbucks, to find a solution. She offered a brilliant idea! Select a container that you can refill with water throughout the day and place the number of rubber bands around it for the number of times you will need to refill it. Each time you consume the water in the container, remove one of the rubber bands. Refill and repeat until you have taken off the last rubber band! This is an easy way to keep you honest about your water consumption each day. Choose fresh and filtered water and avoid plastic containers as they can degrade over time especially, when heated.
I challenge you to find a container and begin to drink half of your body weight in ounces each day. Please do not exceed 100 ounces without adjusting for electrolytes. Sip the water throughout the day. See how you feel after one day and then, one week! Continue for a couple of months and see if there is an impact on the less vascular areas of the body like ligaments, tendons and cartilage tissue. You will be amazed at the healing powers of water when your body is hydrated properly.