Water: Who Needs it? (And how do we get it?)

Once, when I was in fourth grade, it was so hot outside that I fainted in the school playground. When I came to, they offered me water. I declined. My mother had to be called in to bring me lemonade. That's how much I hate drinking water!

It's a well known fact that up to 60% of our body and 70% of our brain is composed of water. Many experts recommend drinking as many as eight glasses of water a day. And yet I've never drunk water. A concerned friend once told me: "Aya, if you don't drink water, you'll die!"

The fact is that there is water in many foods and beverages. There is water in milk, in blood, in fruits and vegetables, and many of the healthiest foods contain large volumes of water.

When someone is dehydrated, he needs to ingest more water, but it is not advisable to correct this problem by drinking pure H₂O. Experts will tell you that you need to maintain your electrolytes, and that other nutrients should be present in the liquid you drink.

Drinking too much water in its pure form can drain your body of vitamins and minerals, and guzzling water in great quanitities can lead to water intoxication and death.

In some parts of the world the water supply is not enough or not clean enough for all to drink. People still manage to keep themselves hydrated by eating foods rich in water. You don't need to ingest water in a liquid form. You can eat foods that seem solid, but like our own bodies, are composed primarily of water.

Despite my friend's concern, I am in no danger of dehydration, although I seldom drink water. I did go through an unhealthy phase when I was addicted to Coca-Cola, and I'll admit that wasn't very good for me. But these days I get the majority of my water intake from the foods I eat. I also drink fruit juice mixed with seltzer water.

It is better to get our water intake in the form of natural foods than to eat dry cereal products on the one hand and to supplement what we eat with many glasses of water a day. When the food we eat contains a large percentage of water, we don't overeat, and the water we do take in from fresh fruit and vegetables is mixed with fiber, minerals and vitamins, so we never dilute our other required nutrients by ingesting the water of life.

(c) 2008 Aya Katz