Fat, sluggish and under performing? Drink more water!

[dropcap]A[/dropcap] lot of us know that our bodies are made up of around 75% water yet many of us don’t get the amount of water needed to fully use our bodies’ functions. This could be because of the inconvenience of drinking water throughout the day or the fact that you rather drink something with flavor. Many of us have a family, job, and social life to attend to so I know drinking water throughout the day is the last thing on our mind. Whatever the case may be, you need to drink water. Here's why water is vital...

4 Important things you should know about Water and Hydration

1. Water And Body Functions

Water, like blood, is needed for all bodily functions: nutrient transportation, digestive, circulatory, excretory functions, absorption, and assimilating water-soluble vitamins.  Your muscles, joints, and vital organs also need plenty of water for lubrication. A lot of problems people have with these functions could easily be solved by proper hydration. By not giving your body the right amount of hydration it needs, overtime these functions start to fall behind and run inefficiently causing buildup and other problems.

If that isn't convincing enough how about water being the cleanser for the body? Your body needs to constantly clean out toxins and other foreign substances and water helps flush it out of the system.   For example, your liver and kidneys need plenty of water to help them do their job at purifying the blood. It cannot do its job if it does not have the proper amount of water.



One great habit to get into is drinking a glass of lemon water when you wake up. I wouldn't add the lemon every single day due to its high acidity but it does wonders for cleansing the body and liver.

2. Water and Performance

If you’re doing any type of workout, you’re going to need to stay hydrated. Just losing 2-3% of water will affect your performance. This is for many reasons. One, your muscle are an active tissue mostly made of water and need it to contract. Secondly, your muscles are controlled by nerves. A portion of the contraction and stimulation from these nerves are a result electrolyte minerals dissolved in water. Without water, your muscles will be weaker than normal because they cannot be flooded with the proper nutrients when working and contracting. Thirdly, protein and enzymes are more efficient in lower viscosity solutions (like water). This helps protein and enzymes move freely the body. Muscle building and performance are based on protein metabolism which is highly influenced by cellular hydration. If you want to build muscle and increase any type of performance, you need to drink water.

3. Drinking Water And Weight Loss

Water has tremendous benefits when it comes to weight loss. As I mentioned earlier your bodily functions need water to run efficiently. If they don’t, your metabolism will have slow down to pick the load your other organs can’t handle. By drinking water, your organs and functions will be working properly and your metabolism will run like it’s supposed to.

Another thing water does is help curve your appetite. In one study by Brenda Davy, a professor at Virginia Tech, participants who drank water before their meals lost much more weight than those who didn't drink. Researchers explain that this is because water helped squelch feelings of hunger and water acting as a thermogenesis. Not only that, studies show that people take up to 400-500 extra calories from other beverages which if done daily will equal up to 3,500 calories a weeks, the same amount of calories as a pound of fat.

4. How Much Water Do I Need Per Day?

A lot of people believe we are supposed to have just eight glasses of water eight times a day.  However, that isn't true. That was a misinterpretation dating back to 1945 stating that the average person should have about 1 ml  for each calorie he/she consumes. The average diet was about 1900 calories at the time.

I know the average daily food take is higher than that and that does not include working out. Studies show that women should take about 91 ounces  of water a day (food and beverages combined) and men should take up to 125 ounces. This sounds like a lot but you’re including water you get from your foods which on average, 25% of the water you consume is through your food.

As you can see, water is extremely important for the body. Proper hydration will not only help you lose weight and build muscle, but give you energy and wellness all around. I recommend carrying around some type of BPA free water bottles and add natural flavors to it such as mints, lemons, limes, and so forth.

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Logan Mathis is a writer for FlatStomach101. An informative site on how to lose weight and feel your best. FlatStomach101 provides tips, motivation, and the biochemistry. You can check out his free fat burning guide here. Also connect with Logan on Twitter and Facebook.