What Hydrating Can Do For You

It is easy to get wrapped up in life, work, the kids and everything else and forget to drink water. Sometimes we don't even know we are thirsty until we see someone else drinking water and then we start feeling the thirst. Guess what? you are most likely dehydrated at that point. You can still function and are most likely still healthy but your kidneys and rest of the organs are working 10 times harder to do their jobs. Now, we all know what happens when we get overworked for too long: stress, weakness, susceptible to sickness, etc. Our organs are no different.

Water is so essential to our bodies that it accounts for 50% to 70% of our body weight and not drinking enough of it can affect our metabolism, make us feel fatigued, can cause problems with digestion, and it can even affect our appearance. Our skin loses elasticity, we get dark circles under our eyes and because it messes up with our metabolism, we feel hungrier more often than we should which will have an end result of weight gain.

OK, so if we don't drink enough water eventually bad things happen... you get the picture. So, how much is enough?

There is no magic number. WHAT?... Yeah, that "8 glasses a day" is not really a number that can apply to everyone and I'll tell you why:
- How much water you drink depends on where you live. If its a hot weather like Miami you will sweat more and need more hydration that if you like in say, Alaska.
- Your daily activity. If you have a sedentary lifestyle in which you are sitting down behind a desk at work and then go home and read a book and then go to bed, you won't need as much water intake as someone who works in retail and then gets out of work and goes for a 3-mile run (and then we factor in the weather: running in a hot weather versus a cold weather).
- Your age and Weight. At a certain age, your body starts needing a little extra help to stay healthy, water will make a huge difference. Also, if you have a heavier body frame, the effort your body will do to perform all its functions will be greater and water will help with the process.

The "8-glasses a day" rule is a good guide to follow but keep in mind you may need to consult a professional to get an individualized number that applies to you.