The importance of water

From the entire nutrition world, water is surely the most known term. Unfortunately it is more known than understood. For the majority it doesn’t represent more than the liquid that they drink when they’re thirsty. We all know that about 65-70% of our body is water and this should be indication enough of its importance. Water can be found around all cells and in our blood. A closer look at different types of tissue show that stored fat contains about 10% water, while muscle contains about 70% of it. This means that if you’re interested in building muscle, before you rush out to buy the next miracle protein supplement, you should make sure that you’re drinking enough water. Recent studies showed that hydration level directly effects performance. A lowering of your normal amount of body water by 1-2% produces a decrease in performance by 15-20%. Use this information to your advantage and next time you want to go to the gym make sure you drink enough water 1-2 hours before starting to workout.

            When we discussed about building your diet we concluded that it’s best to eat 6 or 7 times a day and never feel hungry. Same rule applies here; it’s always best to drink small amounts very often in order to avoid the feeling of thirst. Usually when this happens internal functions suffer modifications and aren’t restored immediately after having a drink. Some confusion arise when asking how much water a person should drink. Some follow the ads on television blindly and think that 2 liters should be enough in most of the situation, but think about it... Do you need the same amount of water in the winter and in the summer? Are we all the same in body weight or height? No… we all need different quantities. The best approach is to drink small amounts, as often as you can… if you’re not going to the bathroom every 2-3 hours you should try drinking more. Of course 3 hours before sleep you should reduce the quantity and make sure you’re having an uninterrupted sleep. First thing in the morning, you guessed it… have a glass of water, it will help your body start the day. There are some moments when it’s better to not drink, like during or after a meal. What this does is dilute the acidity of your stomach, reduce the efficiency of certain enzymes, and ruin what should had been a proper digestion.

            Water is responsible lots of the changes seen on the weight scale. Just because of the level of hydration people can have up to 5 pounds less or more in different moments of the day. Don’t be fooled if you ran for 60 minutes and realized you lost weight. Most of it is water, lost through sweat, and which you’ll immediately regain.

            In the end let’s have a short look at the other functions of water: it transports nutrients from the digestive system, it regulates heat, it eliminates toxins and very important for most of us, it lubricates joints. I know people that complained about joint pains, tried expensive supplements but refused to use the most obvious and simple solution: drinking enough water. Don’t do the same mistake.

Posted in: Non-nutrient