Why Stay Hydrated?

Your body depends on water to survive. Every cell, tissue, and organ in your body needs water in order to work correctly. You’ve probably heard that up to 60 percent of your body is composed of water, but let’s get more specific: The brain and heart (arguably the two most important weight-loss organs) are 73 percent water and the lungs about 83 percent. The skin is 64 percent water; the muscles and kidneys, 79 percent. Even our bones are 31 percent water! Stomach health, skin health, kidney, and urinary tract health, and even cholesterol regulation are all affected by hydration or the lack thereof.

Hydration also plays a key role in helping your body maintain its temperature, remove waste, and lubricate joints. Keeping your body hydrated helps your heart pump blood through the vessels more easily, meaning your heart doesn’t have to work as hard.

Let’s talk about the symptoms of dehydration. Most likely you have felt them, but as the majority of people do incorrectly attributed them to hunger. I will be important that you being to understand and get to know your body and learn to distinguish hunger from thirst, emotional hunger from real hunger, and the need for sleep from the need for food.

Dehydration symptoms include actually feeling thirsty or having a dry mouth, but also headaches, constipation, and dizzy spells. Another symptom of dehydration I sometimes experience (again, I’m not perfect ;-)) is impaired memory and loss of concentration. Dehydration can make you feel foggy and fatigued, affect your mood, and even give you muscle cramps.

If you aren’t sure whether you’re dehydrated, the color of your urine is a pretty good indicator. If it is clear or a light-straw color, then you are properly hydrated. If it is darker, guess what? You are dehydrated. What’s crazy is it’s estimated that 75 percent of the American population is chronically dehydrated. That is a huge number!!! That means that, as you read this, you are probably dehydrated. (If I were you, I would get up and have a glass of water right now!!!)

Let’s talk real quick about those fad detox diets that have swept through our culture: These diets are based on the idea that we need to “detox” our bodies from whatever substances in food or the environment that the diet has deemed toxic. Often these programs advocate extreme regimens (like subsisting only on juice) with little basis in science or medicine.

The simple fact is that your body is already equipped with a powerful detoxification apparatus from amazing organs like your liver and kidneys to your respiratory and lymph systems. This apparatus works extremely well as long as it is hydrated enough to do the job it was built to do.

Most of these cleanse and detox protocols include extreme hydration to flush out toxins. How about if we simply hydrate and flush on a daily basis?

Hydration is a serious piece of your overall health and wellness. It is not an optional extra or something to do twice a year as part of a short-lived “cleanse.” We must build the habit and make it a part of our daily lives.