Water.
We all get that it is important to our health, when you consider that at least 60% of you is made up of purely water and you can not live more than 3 days without it…Yea…it is important.
But, do you really need the 8 glasses a day recommended for the average person or the 1 gallon a day recommended for optimal weight loss?
The short answer is…YES.
And NO.
You see, with any hard-and-fast-rules, the one factor we don’t consider is listening to our own bodies! I have done the gallon-a-day trick and gone for a period with little to no water at all. And here is what I have learned.
Water is your Number #1, your go-to drink, your first choice of all beverages. It is highly crucial to just about every process that your body endures. It flushes out toxins and bacteria. Makes our minds more alert (your brain consists of 70% water) Keeps us hydrated, because dehydration will cause the shut-down of, well…
EVERYTHING.
BUT…When is it too much?
You have all heard that you can have too much of a good thing. This goes for water as well.
Yes, it is good to drink while working out to cool the body and keep hydrated. Yes, it is usually thirst that we feel instead of hunger, so go for the water glass first.
But, when can water hurt us?
Well, for one thing, it can blow your cells up. That would be a bummer. Hardly likely any of us would encounter this in our lifetimes, unless you are crazy enough to enlist in one of those crazy ‘How much water can you drink?” Contests.
It is more subtle than that. Actually, it is about your enzymes. Not well understood by the scientific community, these little gems are crucial to many, many body processes; digestion, being one of them. You know that sensation you get before you eat? Salivating you when see and smell food. Those are your enzymes activating. Problem is, if you start sloshing a bunch of water down, you wash(dilute) those enzymes with it! Sipping with your meal? Not a problem. But unadulterated guzzling? Not recommended.
Long story short?
Drink your H20. Preferably 1/2 your body weight in ounces. I weigh 163lbs, so I would drink 80 or so oz. of water. And not juice, or coffee. Clear beautiful, life-giving water. And common sense would tell you that if your are working out extra hard that day or it is extra hot…maybe drink a little more, eh?
