Water makes up more than half of your body weight. Water is one of the main components in your body that keeps you healthy on a daily basis. People lose water every single day through regular bodily functions. You will become dehydrated if you do not replenish the water you have lost throughout the day.
Significance
Water is the single most important element in the body. Water helps protect your organs, aid in the digestive process, regulate your body's temperature and transfer oxygen throughout your body. You give your body the necessary element it needs to survive by hydrating your body. Humans cannot sustain life for much longer than a week without water. Dehydration can happen fast if you do not properly hydrate yourself with water throughout the day.
Symptoms
Your body will let you know if you are not hydrating it with enough water. Some signs will be an increased heart rate, elevated body temperature, low endurance, fatigue and a dry mouth. In very extreme cases of dehydration the body will begin to shut down. The organs in your body will stop working, making it impossible to live. A person can die within a week without water, however certain conditions can increase or decrease this amount of time according, to Active Nutrition website.
Features
The Food and Drug Administration recommends that you drink six to eight glasses of water a day that contain at least 8 oz. You lose water through sweating, using the bathroom and even carrying out regular bodily functions such as breathing. Dehydration can lead to dizziness, tiredness, headaches and extreme thirst. You should not wait before you are dehydrated to drink water. Being dehydrated for long periods of time can make the body very sick with muscle pain, stomach pain and even cause you to have a hard time breathing.
Prevention/Solution
To avoid dehydration you should follow certain steps to always stay hydrated. Do not wait till you are thirsty to drink water. Proper hydration consists of drinking water every couple of hours to keep the body hydrated. Drinking too much water is generally not a problem because the kidneys regulate the water in your body and make you pee out the excess water.
Considerations
Carrying a bottle of water with you to constantly hydrate throughout the day. If you are going to engage in some sort of physical activity then drink water before, during and after the activity in order to stay hydrated. Drink water early on in the day to replenish the water lost while sleeping and drink some water before going to bed since you won't have any till the next morning. Try flavoring water with a lemon if it is to plain for you to drink.
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