If you were to run your car without water (coolant) in the radiator, it would stop running in a short period of time.  Yet people who maintain their cars religiously fail to maintain their own body radiators.  And since every cell in our bodies requires water to transport vitamins, minerals, glucose, and numerous other nutrients to the most remote locations in the body, not supplying the body with what it needs to accomplish this task just isn’t the smart thing to do. 

The average person loses about 2% of their body weight in perspiration and urine every day.  If you are active, over the age of 55, large in stature, or sick, you will lose more than that. 

To make sure you drink enough water, the brain has special sensors that monitor sodium levels in the blood.  When the Sodium level rises, that indicates a low water level in the body.  The brain then sends a signal which tweaks your thirst sensors and you head for the water cooler.  As we get older, however, those thirst sensors become less sensitive than they were when you were younger.  As a result, older people do not drink as much water as they should.

We all know smoking is bad for your heart.  Not drinking enough water could be just as bad for your heart.  And drinking soft drinks, coffee, or beer will not help the heart at all.  Drinking water will prevent kidney stones, and if you ever had to pass a kidney stone you will be a water lover for life.  Men say it’s like having to pee razor blades and women say the pain is worse than the pain of child birth. 

So how can you tell if your body needs water ?  Try this simple test.  After urination, check the color of your urine.  If it is clear or pale yellow, you’re OK.  If it is deep yellow or darker, you need more water in your system.  To assure accuracy, do not perform this test in the morning.

OK, so we know water can prevent blood clots and kidney stones.  What else can it do ?  Water can keep your stools soft which prevents constipation, the major cause of hemorrhoids, diverticular disease, and even prevent colon cancer.  So you can safely say the consumption of water in sufficient quantities plays a major role in the prevention of colon cancer, diverticular disease, and hemorrhoids. 

Water is also a major fatigue buster.  How many times have you been watching a sporting event when, during a time-out, a sweaty seemingly fatigued player is seen consuming water ?  Then after the time-out they seem to have found a new source of energy.  They actually have, and here are the mechanics of the process. 

When they became dehydrated, the cells throughout their entire bodies started to become dry.  To replenish the lost fluid their bodies drew it from the most convenient source, the bloodstream.  This action made the blood thick and harder to pump.  The thick blood required the heart to work harder resulting in a reduction in the energy level of the athlete.  And they don’t have to go bone dry to feel the adverse effects.

Trying to lose weight ?  Have a drink of water.  Feeling hungry ?  Have a drink of water.  Water has few calories and fills you up so that hungry feeling goes away.  And if you drink ice water you actually burn calories because your body will try to raise the temperature of the cold water to body temperature (98.6 degrees).  This process causes the body to burn a little less than one calorie per ounce of water.  So if you drink eight glasses of ice water a day, you will burn somewhere in the neighborhood of 62 calories, 434 calories a week and you didn’t even break a sweat.