Water is Essential for Good Health and Weight Loss

Water is ranked by experts second only to oxygen, and is essential for life. The water you drink literally becomes you -- a human embryo is said to be 80%, a baby 74%, and an adult 55 to 75% water. Since such a large percentage of our bodies are water, we need lots of fresh water to stay healthy.

I've always heard we should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day; however, upon researching the subject, I came upon sources that said the best way to calculate how much you need is to "take your weight in pounds and divide it by two to get the number of ounces of water you should drink per day." For instance, if you were a 200 lbs person that would mean you'd have to drink 12½ eight-ounce glasses or about 5½ bottles; a 150 lbs person would drink 9½ glasses or 4 bottles of water.

Here's a few more tips about drinking water:

1. Drinking water can accelerate weight loss. In a German study at Berlin's Franz-Volhard Clinical Research Center, within 10 minutes of drinking 17 ounces of water, participants' rates of burning calories increased by 30% for both men and women, and this burn rate reached a maximum after about 30 to 40 minutes. It's felt this increase in metabolic rates is caused by the body's attempt to heat the ingested water. From Wedmd
2. "Water can decrease your appetite," said Mara Z. Vitolins, R.D., Dr. P.H., at the Center for Research on Human Nutrition and Chronic Disease Presentation. "It is hard to distinguish between being thirsty and being hungry, so try drinking water and waiting 20 to 30 minutes to see if you're still hungry." From Science Daily
3. Drinking water also may help you cut calories. Instead of drinking sodas, coffee, tea and other such beverages, replace these higher calorie drinks with plain water to significantly reduce calories. Some of these drinks also contain caffeine, which acts as a diuretic that causes you to lose fluids and become dehydrated. "By the time you feel thirsty, you already are dehydrated." From Science Daily
4. Your body loses water via the skin through perspiration, kidneys by urine, lungs by exhaled water vapor, and intestine by feces. So it's always important to replenish it to keep your energy up, weight down, muscles strong, joints supple, and digestive system smooth. From Everything Atkins

• Water:

1. regulates body temperature
2. makes up 83% of blood
3. removes waste
4. composes 75% of brain
5. helps carry nutrients and oxygen to cells
6. moistens oxygen for breathing
7. helps convert food to energy
8. protects and cushions vital organs
9. helps body absorb nutrients
10. accounts for 22% of bones
11. cushions joints
12. makes up 75% of muscles
13. makes up 90% of lungs

From Everything Atkins