Drinking Water For Your Health
Why You Should Drink Water
Your body needs water to stay hydrated.
The amount of water that your body needs to function normally is determined by your weight.
Other things that need to be factored in to how much water you need to consume each day are how active you are and the climate that you are in.
Remember, your body is 60 to 70 percent water and your brain is 70 percent water.
When you don't drink enough water your body starts to dehydrate.
By the way, coffee, tea, soda, juice and energy drinks don't count as water!
Symptoms of Dehydration
Some of the symptoms of dehydration:
- The inability to think clearly(confusion)
- Irritability
- Headaches
- Bloating
- Light headed feeling
- Dizziness
- Low blood pressure
- Rapid heartbeat
- Constipation
- Loss of skin elasticity (if you pinch the skin it doesn't go back to its normal state)
- Dark urine
- Urinary Tract Infections (UTI's)
- And in extreme cases delirium or unconsciousness
- Dehydration can even lead to death
Drinking Water Is Very Important For The Elderly
My Dad As An Example
Drinking water is especially important for the elderly. I will use my dad as an example. When he didn't get adequate water it was very obvious. He was confused, his gait was very unsteady and he was tired. We thought that his confusion, unsteady gait and fatigue was from his having had strokes. Some of the confusion was from the strokes but a lot of it was from dehydration. We noticed this when he was hospitalized and they gave him fluids through an i.v.and he perked up and was less confused almost immediately.
A lot of elderly people don't drink enough water daily because they don't want to have to get up in the middle of the night. To solve that problem with my dad we had him start drinking water when he woke up and continue until around 5 p.m. which gave him plenty of time to get his daily water intake. It also helped to get him the small bottles of water because it was easier to get him to drink the amount that he needed when it was in smaller quantities.
How Much Water You Should Drink?
You can easily figure out the amount of water that you should be drinking every day with this water calculator.
