Doctor with 23 years of experience explains why water is so important to feel good, be healthy and live long
Let's try to clarify the information about water, since not everything is true.
Why is water so important
Water is the main medium for metabolism.
- Metabolism is impossible without it;
- Without water, you will not lose weight and will not recover even from a common cold;
- The amount of water in the body is an indicator of youth;
- Water is one of the most important participants in the regulation of body temperature;
- Transport for beneficial nutrients in the body;
- Even oxygen in red blood cells is also transported by water;
- It also transports waste, harmful substances and removes them from the body;
- Water humidifies the air coming from outside;
- It creates hydrostatic, that is, water pressure in the vascular system and tissues, again providing metabolic processes.
- And if you do not drink for a long time, then you will remember that it is also very tasty.
We are more than half water
When we are born, it makes up just over 80% of the total body weight.
In middle age, men are 60% water and women 50%.
By old age, we completely dry up - contain only 40-45% water.
The water in the body is divided into sectors.
2/3, that is, almost 40% of the body weight is contained within our cells. All biochemical processes occur only in waterwhich is why it is so important.
The rest of the water is divided into 3 sectors:
- the liquid part of the blood, the so-called plasma, that is, the intravascular fluid,
- intercellular fluid, which, in addition to metabolic processes, also acts as a reserve with a lack of water in cells or vessels;
- extracellular fluid that is found inside the joints, in the ducts of the glands, in the spinal canal or in the skull.
Blood plasma and intercellular fluid are very similar in composition to each other. There are slight differences. For example, plasma contains slightly more calcium and potassium, proteinate.
The extracellular fluid contains more sodium, chlorides, and vice versa, there is practically no protein. But the intracellular fluid is fundamentally different from other fluids - it contains more potassium, magnesium, protein, and no organic acids. These differences are not accidental, since, thanks to the gradient, liquid or trace elements can leave the cell, be stored inside, or vice versa enter it.
How much water should you drink
The largest amount of water comes from outside - from food and drinks. This is the so-called exogenous water. With drinks (juices, tea, coffee, etc., except for water), from 500 to 1700 ml per day is supplied. We get another 800-1000 ml with food and in ready-made meals.
The same water that is formed in the body itself, as a result of the oxidation of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, is called endogenous. It can be from 300 to 400 ml per day.
In total, from 1600 to 3100 ml are supplied per day.
The kidneys excrete from 1400 to 1800 ml per day on average, another 500-600 ml permeates through the skin. With breathing, we lose an average of 400 to 500 ml of fluid. These are the so-called intangible losses.
However, it is important to understand that the temperature and humidity of the environment can change this amount. As well as body temperature. For instance, with an increase in body temperature by 1 degree, intangible losses increase by 500 ml per day. This is essential. It turns out that on average we lose from 2300 to 3100 fluids per day.
To feel good, be healthy and live long, you need to strike a balance between how much water came in and how much water came out.
WHO believes that a person needs to drink at least 30 ml per kilogram of weight. That is, a 70-kilogram person needs 2 liters of 100 ml of water per day.
How much water do you drink a day? How did you develop this habit?
Your Doctor Pavlova
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