Imagine you are sitting on a boat out at sea and a friend asks you the following question:
“What color is the sea?”
You glance around you, just checking that it is as stupid a question as it sounds, before confidently replying, “Blue. No, wait a minute…Green…Or maybe gray.”
At this point your friend leans down, dips a glass into the sea, pulls it out, and puts it in front of you. You stare at the glass of perfectly clear liquid and briefly consider your choice in friends. Then your mind turns to the color of the water at your favorite rivers, lakes, and coastlines, and you realize they are all slightly different…
The excerpt above is from a book, titled, “How to Read Water,” by Tristan Gooley. If you are a sea-fairer or just love the nuances of the element water, check it out.
Now let us set aside the shear magnitude of water on our planet, in all of its beauty and power and bring it much closer to home.
Our Fluid Body
I would like to bring to mind those tiny living things that have all the properties of life; including reproduction, responses to environmental signals, a need for energy and to release waste. They are called cells.
Water is essential to keep our cells alive. This master molecule [H2O] regulates our internal body temperature even in environments that are very cold or hot. Water plays a critical role in our body, including hundreds of chemical reactions.
Water is also indispensable for energy production—that’s because it carries oxygen, which is needed for your working cells to breathe and burn sugar to produce energy. Water also adds structure, filling in the spaces between cells in your body. And if that’s not quite enough, water is also needed to form proteins, absorb nutrients, and eliminate waste products.
If water were a character in a play, its main role would be “helper” and it would act as:
- Solvent (imagine something that gives balance and stability to chemical changes in the cells)
- Transport Medium (I like to imagine a mover within cells like a boat or canoe)
- Lubricant (or in other words a coating or extra layer)
Are You Dehydrated?
If you feel like you rarely get dehydrated, consider that approximately one pint of liquid is lost each day through exhaling–just through breathing! This does not take into account a highly active person or someone in very hot climates.
A lack of water for our delicate brains can appear as:
- brain fog or mental confusion
- dizziness
- mood swings
- headaches
- difficulty with short/long term memory
Dehydration occurs when we use or lose more water than we take in, and the body doesn’t have enough fluids to carry out its normal functions. Keep in mind that our brains have an even higher percentage of water to mass–almost a whopping 80%.
Want brain fog to improve? Keep the brain’s fluid balanced.
So How Much is Enough?
There is some debate over how much water we really need to drink. On average, the recommended amount is eight 8-ounce glasses each day. The amount could be higher than this–for women it could be as much as 2.7 liters daily. Adjust according to your own needs, such as age, climate and activity level.
Wondering if you can muster up the diligence to drink a bit more water each day?
I wanted to mention the importance of electrolytes. They are minerals that carry an electrical charge. They’re vital for health and survival. These little charged ions also spark cell function throughout the body. They support hydration and help the body produce energy. They’re also responsible for stimulating muscle contractions, including those that keep your heart beating.
Remember how water is our “helper?” In this example, water is the solvent that electrolytes need to be activated in our body. While there are many, three essential minerals are: sodium, chloride and potassium
Click this link to my recipe page to see a simple way to make tasty electrolyte water.
So for now, grab that water bottle that is sitting next to you and take a big gulp (or two)!
Want to share your thoughts or have a comment? I love hearing from you!
