How much water is enough for you?

‘’Water is life’’ is a common saying that we are all familiar with. We need plenty of water for our brain to work well, as a vehicle to transport the nutrients from the intestines where they are digested to the muscles and other organs where they are metabolized and assimilated and back to the bladder, rectum and skin where wastes are expelled from the body.

Water helps lubricate our body joints. Imagine a mechanical part of any machine without a lubricant: do you think movement would take place? Okay, if it would, how easy would that be?

Our eyes are well lubricated by water, not oil, so the eyes can move about with ease enabling us to see in different angles without necessarily moving the head. If the cornea, the membrane covering the front part of our eyes was left to dry out, within a few days we would be blind. No wander we all blink numerous times in a minute subconsciously to lubricate the eye as well as hydrating it.

The human body is a water machine, designed primarily to run on water and minerals. Every life giving and healing process that happens inside our bodies happens with water. Our body instinctively knows how and strives to sustain youthful longevity, and in its every effort water is the key.

The human body is made up of over 70% water. Our blood is more than 80%, our brain is over 75% and the human liver is amazingly 96% water. Our energy level is greatly affected by the amount of water we take in. It has been medically proven that just a 5% drop in body fluids will cause a 25-30% loss in energy in the average person and did you know that a 15% drop in body fluids causes death?

Water is what our liver uses to metabolize fat into usable energy. It is estimated that over 80% of our population suffers energy loss due to minor dehydration.

Functions of water

Water is a fundamental component of our lives. It is however easy to forget how we completely depend on it. Human survival depends on water because water has been ranked by experts as second only to oxygen as essential for life.

The average adult body is 55-75% water: meaning that two- thirds of your body weight is water. The human embryo is more than 80% water. A new born baby is about 74% water. Every day your body must replace 2.4 litres of water. Since such a large percentage of our bodies is water, water must obviously figure heavily in how our bodies function.  We need lots of water to stay fresh.  Water is the medium for various enzymatic and chemical reactions in the body. It moves nutrients, hormones, antibodies, and oxygen through the blood stream and lymphatic system.

The proteins and enzymes of the body function more efficiently in solutions of lower viscosity.  Water is the solvent of the body regulating all functions including the activity of every thing it dissolves and circulates.

Water helps regulate the body temperature through perspiration which gets rid of excess heat and cools our bodies. We even need water to breathe well. As we take in oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide, our lungs must be moistened by water. We lose about a half a litre of water each day through exhaling.

This article was written by Mr. Semujju a clinician and lecturer in the department of health sciences in Uganda Christian University in the University Bulletin called the Standard.