Do You Drink Enough Water?

One of the easiest ways to stay healthy is by drinking water.  I know that sounds too easy but the facts back up that statement.  Let's think about it, what would happen to a pond or a small lake if the fresh water supply dried up?  At first, the pond would stagnate, then it would become polluted and finally it would dry up.  Our bodies work the same way because our bodies are made up of approximately 65-75% water, our brain is made up of about 85% water.  It only makes sense that if we don't replenish our body with fresh water it will begin to stagnate and then become polluted.

According to a 2004 study, if people would just drink 40 ounces of water a day, (that's just 5 - 8 oz. glasses), they could reduce bladder, prostate and colon cancer by 50%.  That same amount would reduce breast cancer in pre-menopause women by 34% and post-menopause women by a whopping 78%.  Further studies indicated that increasing that quantity by 2-3 more glasses a day would improve each of those totals another 10 - 20%.  To me, that's a good enough reason to make sure that I'm drinking plenty of water every day.

Frankly, I try to drink 2 glasses of water when I get up in the morning just to get the cleansing and flushing process started.  Many experts believe that ideally you should drink 50% of your body weight in ounces to promote detoxification.  In other words, if you weigh 200 lbs. then you should consume 100 ounces of water per day.  Personally, I find it hard to drink 1 gallon of water a day since I weigh around 250 lbs.  My goal is to drink a minimum of 10 glasses or 80 ounces per day.  You should see to it that you consistantly drink 8 - 10 glasses of pure water every day.

Just for your information, only water qualifies as water.  Milk, juices, sports drinks, soda, coffee, tea & alcohol are not water.  Each have their own properties that offset the positive effects of water, be it protein, sugar, caffeine or alcohol, each of these require additional water to properly process them.  You can drink these but make sure that you're getting the prescribed amounts of water in your diet.  You'll be healthier for it.