Captain Ahab’s BodyBlog

Do we really know why we need to drink as much water as the experts say we should?
I know that my body is made up of about 70% water and if I don’t get enough I will die but other than that what does it do?
I hear a lot of people say that just drinking plain water is boring and it doesn’t have any taste. Along with that they say they can’t possibly drink the 6 to 8 glasses that once again the experts recommend and if they had a choice they would have a Coca Cola or the second place cola whatever that might be, or the myriad of other colas out there. But if this is true then why are bottled water sales soaring and the various cola company’s selling water in a bottle?
So regardless of how you view water we should all know the important connection between drinking it and losing weight, building bigger and better muscles and staying healthy.
It is the most important nutrient surrounding and filling every single cell in our bodies and it is truly the elixir of life. We know we can survive a week or more without food, which is longer than we can without water but do we realize that it is a vital element for every bodily function?
Our bodies need to be hydrated to operate at peak efficiency or like a plant on your balcony, well watered.
We can all expect to lose about a liter or more just through our skin and lungs every day and if we are doing serious workouts we can lose over 3 times that amount. If we don’t drink enough water we won’t metabolize fat or digest out food as efficiently as we need to. Also, especially at this time of year we may need to involve a more rapid heart beat or extra exertion and find ourselves the victims of heat stroke and as I have had heat stroke it is no fun and can sneak up on you even though you think that you are feeling fine. It is absolutely paramount to all of our health and the effectiveness of our workouts that we replenish our cells with water on a regular and constant basis.
Water detoxifies and cleanses us of waste and if any of us notice our urine has an odor (other than after eating asparagus) it is because it is probably too concentrated and we are not receiving enough water. Another benefit of being properly hydrated is that nutrients are better delivered to all parts of our bodies especially our muscles when they are saturated with fluid.
Equally, if we don’t consume enough water it can trigger a message from our brains to our stomachs tricking them into thinking they are hungry because the brain knows that if we are not going to pour water down our throats then we may well put some food in our bellies and from the food being digested they can extract the much needed water.
The experts say that when we are trying to lose weight that we should drink water to quell our hunger pangs.
When should we drink all of this water that they say we should drink?
Well, we sure should not wait until we are thirsty because usually by then our bodies are already in need of it and have dipped well into our reservoir.  When working out in the gym I advise people to have a bottle of some type containing water with them and to drink from it before and after each set and if they are doing an aerobic exercise then have the water bottle close and drink from it regularly every few minutes.
Water is a much needed nutrient and to perform at our best while we are trying to be our best we should make sure that we do follow what the experts say because on this occasion they are right on target.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 7th, 2007 at 4:32 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.