by A’verria Martin, Ph.D.

We hope you had a fantastic week and are ready to go out and enjoy the San Diego sunshine this weekend. With the days becoming warmer, I was reminded this week about the importance of remaining constantly hydrated. Our bodies can become dehydrated extremely quickly, which leads to a number of negative physical and mental symptoms. For that reason, I thought I would write a short piece on everyone’s favorite: Water!

Figure 1: The Benefits of Water on the Human Body

Outside of consuming healthy foods, it is imperative that you drink purified water and remain constantly hydrated! Water plays an extremely important role in the human body as it is responsible for the actions and regeneration of “fluids, tissues, cells, lymph, blood and glandular secretions” including muscles and joints. Water is also accountable for digestion, elimination, respiration and maintaining the body’s temperature. In order to provide the body with all of its necessary nutrients it is imperative to drink pure water throughout the day from morning until night. When individuals do not consume enough water dehydration occurs, which has a number of negative indicators including: weakness, headache, fatigue and irritability; merely to name a few. Interestingly, the body is comprised of 75 percent water; constituting 60 to 70 percent of our body weight. This on average equals approximately 42 liters of water, and with a deficit of not quite three liters the body begins to suffer the consequences previously outlined. The mayo clinic suggests that adults consume at least 64 to 72 ounces of water per day; eight to nine glasses. Kaiser Permanente proposes that you consider your weight, physical activity, and climate when deciding your necessary water intake. They go on to recommend that those who are physically active guzzle 75 percent of their body weight in ounces of water per day. In other words, since I weigh 125 pounds I would want to consume 94 ounces of water per day. So remember, water is essential to the maintenance and development of our bodies and should remain an important component to healthy living.

Do not forget! We will be having bay workouts at De Anza cove Saturdays at 8:00 am for the remainder of the summer! Please come out and join us!!!