What’s behind the ‘drink 8 glasses of water a day’ message?
Facts About Water & Your Body
Your body is made up 75% water. About 10 pints of that water is within your blood circulation. But think about how much you weigh, and the fact that 75% of your weight is water. Where is the rest of the water?
There are 2 other reservoirs of water within your body. One is within the cells that make up your body and the other is surrounding the cells (between the cells and the blood vessels, this is called lymph).
The lymph, which is mostly water, bathes the cells in liquid. It floats nutrients from the blood circulation into the cells. It works the other way too. Waste from the cells floats over into the blood circulation so it can be taken away and removed from your body.
Thirst is a Poor Indicator to Your Level of Hydration
As you get older your thirst mechanism declines. For example, when you feel thirsty at age 40 your body is more dehydrated than it would have been at age 20 with the same level of thirst experienced. Also, the same level of thirst at age 60 means an even greater level of dehydration.
Your thirst mechanism starts to decline in your 20’s and other signals your body gives you when it needs water, e.g. hunger, can be misinterpreted. The result is you don’t drink enough water, but might eat too much.
Effects of Dehydration
When water is short there is a hierarchy mechanism at work in your body, with the brain sitting right at the top. For adequate water to get to the brain the blood circulatory system must have adequate volume. If water is not in abundance it will ‘borrow’ some from the lymph. The lymph in turn will ‘borrow’ some from the cells.
The result is dehydrated cells. Have you ever had a hangover? How well were you able to function in that state? Cells can’t function properly when they are dehydrated. If the lymph is running low on water it can’t function properly either. It can’t take goodies to the cells and remove toxic waste products away from the cells efficiently.
One result of this is lack of energy, but if you’re always a bit dehydrated it can set the stage or a variety of health problems.
Uber Health to you
Dr Julie
Congratulations to Diane for winning the last free place on my online weight loss course. This course isn’t going to be available again until later in the year.