How Water Keeps You Healthy
Like the earth itself, our bodies are made up mostly of water. It is not only essential to our cognitive and physical functioning, but it plays a vital role in health. This, no mat...

Like the earth itself, our bodies are made up mostly of water. It is not only essential to our cognitive and physical functioning, but it plays a vital role in health. This, no matter what way you look at it, is pretty good news. Drinking water to maintain health is cheap, easy, and something people can't fairly detest: no one can really claim to hate the taste of water.

It used to be that drinking eight glasses a day was enough to quench our bodies thirst, but nowadays eight glasses doesn't seem like nearly enough. With exercise routines, hot temperatures, and the consumption of spicy foods, most people find themselves doing their best camel impersonation as they down liter after liter of H20.

But, water isn't merely about quenching thirst, and fighting off dehydration. Water - a multi tasking substance - aids health in ways we are just starting to discover. So, next time you raise a glass to this hydrogen and oxygen molecule, remember that it's doing the following:

It Keeps us on Our toes: When we think of dehydration, most of us probably picture running a marathon on a hot day. Surely that's what it would take to become dehydrated, right? Not exactly. It's actually very easy to dehydrate your body. In fact, simply feeling tired or being lethargic could be a sign of mild dehydration. Headaches, diarrhea, and muscle cramps are also signs. Staying hydrated, on the flip side, helps us avoid all this while staying awake, alert, and well quenched.

It Keeps us From Being Constipated: When it comes down to it, water is nature's laxative. It might not be as potent as chocking down an ex-lax, but it's also not drastic and completely natural. Water flows through our system and regulates all of our functions, including the functions of our digestive system. The more water we drink, the more our intestines and kidneys flush out excess waste.

It Regulates our Body Temperature: We get hot, we get cold, we get just right. Water helps us do the latter. When we perspire, we lose body fluids, a loss that can result in dehydration and other ailments. Not only does drinking a lot of water keep our cooling and heating systems on track, but it also lubricates the joints and prevents dry mouth.

It Regulates our Metabolism: In a society as weight conscious as ours, there may be no function of the body quite as well studied by the laymen as metabolism. We are always looking to increase it. The function that allows us to burn calories and rid excess pounds is regulated by - that's right - metabolism. Keeping a regular metabolism helps avoid unwanted loss of muscle and unwanted gain of fat.

It Helps Prevent Disease: Disease is like a visit from the in-laws: it's something no one wants. There are a variety of things in our world that cause disease. But, luckily - in the grand yin and yang fashion of the Universe - there are also things that prevent it. Water belongs in this category. Water can help prevent colon cancer, bladder cancer, and a slug of other illnesses. It can also help people heal from everyday colds and viruses. Feed a fever, starve a cold, but drink water for both.