We perhaps don’t think about it much, but water is essential for the human body to function. About 50% to 80% of our body weight is made up by water and it plays a vital role in bodily processes.
eBook | Look inside
For instance, water regulates our body temperature through sweating, water is the main component of our blood, the latter being essential to transport nutrients and oxygen to the cells in our body, water detoxifies our body through waste removal (typically through urine), it aids in digestion and helps prevent constipation, it lubricates joints, which makes us move smoothly while it prevents friction, it’s vital for brain function, and it keeps our skin hydrated and healthy.
Hence, staying properly “hydrated” at all times is absolutely vital for our overall functioning and health. Moreover, hydration of our body is especially important after intense sweating, after sports, physical exercise, or in hot weather.
Typically, we take in water by drinking it on a daily basis, throughout the day. We drink it pure, or mixed with coffee and tea, or through soft drinks and fruit juices, and so on. We also consume it through cooked food, for instance, when we eat boiled pasta or rice. And, of course, it’s obvious that we “drink” water when we eat soup.
We also use water to dissolve herbs and medication, to afterwards drink it for health benefits. In a more general sense, we could say that we drink water when we feel thirsty, which is our body’s way to signal that we need more fluids to maintain proper hydration for our body’s functions.
eBook | Look inside
It is important to realize that the water we drink is seldom really pure. Pure water would be water that is composed only of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, with no other elements or compounds in it.
We can obtain pure water through a water distillation process, but what we normally call “pure water” typically contains various “extras” such as a range of minerals, chemicals, or even certain impurities.
The above does not mean that impure water would be necessarily unhealthy. By contrast, sometimes (for instance, due to certain minerals in it) it is sort of healthier than pure water, but then again one needs to know what compounds exactly are dissolved in the water we drink to be sure.
Compared to food, which we could do without for about three weeks, we cannot do without drinking water for more than three days. Water sustains life perhaps more than anything else does, and drinking enough of it on a daily basis is an absolute necessity.
