Water is a nutrient essential to life. Your body is almost three quarters water and water plays several crucial functions that allow your body to function. To maintain adequate levels of water, it is important you drink several cups daily. In addition to water taken in the form of beverages, a significant amount of water comes from the foods you eat.
Digestion And Transport
Water plays an essential role in digestion and the transportation of nutrients through your body. The chemical processes that break down protein and carbohydrates in the stomach require water. Digestion begins in your mouth with saliva, which is primarily water. Metabolic wastes are removed from your body in water as urine. Useful nutrients are circulated through the blood, which is also primarily water.
Temperature Control
Water is a good medium for regulating temperature. It changes temperature slowly and so helps the body remain in the narrow range of temperature necessary for life. Because your body is mostly water, it is able to prevent losing heat very rapidly. Water also helps keep you cool. The evaporation of sweat helps cool the surface of the skin. According to scientists at the University of Nebraska, you lose up to a pint of water in sweat every day even without strenuous physical activity.
Structure
Another crucial role water plays in the body is providing structure that protects vital organs. Your eyes, brain and spinal cord all sit in a protective fluid layer made mostly of water. Without this fluid barrier, minor bumps and shakes would cause structural damage to these delicate and sensitive organs. Water is an essential part of making the body structure more durable and capable of withstanding the significant jostling of physical activity and even daily life. Water is also essential to tissues that allow for the smooth motion of joints.
Dehydration
The most pressing reason to drink water is to avoid dehydration. If you go too long without adequate hydration, you will soon suffer loss of motor function and cognitive skills. The conditions will worsen until unconsciousness and ultimately death result. Without water, you would die within three days under normal conditions. Strenuous activity or exposure to sun increase your sweat production and speed dehydration. Consumption of alcohol and other diuretics, including coffee or tea, increase the natural rate at which water is removed and also speed the onset of dehydration.
Getting Enough Water
Because the amount of water necessary varies for each person's size, lifestyle and physical activity, there is no single recommended daily intake level for water. It is recommended an average adult drink at least six to eight cups each day. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, average adults take in between nine and 13 cups of water each day including all types of beverages. About 80 percent of total water intake comes in the form of beverages with water in food making up about 19 percent.
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