THE HUMAN “DRINK TANK”
HEALTHY AND BEAUTIFUL THANKS TO A BALANCED WATER SUPPLY
In the world today we are all becoming increasingly aware of how important good health is if we are to find fulfilment in life and how much we can contribute to this ourselves. It has long been an open secret that charisma and attractiveness are linked to personal fitness. And that living healthily and beautifully leads to a longer, better life. Indeed, each of us can take the elementary key to this into our hands – by simply making certain we keep our “water tanks” filled!
Water: the main constituent of the human body
Water accounts for two thirds of body weight and in quantitative terms is the single most important component of the human body. However, the actual percentage varies from one person to the next depending on sex, age and their specific bodily fat content. While water makes up about 75% of the body of any new-born baby, in adults the figure sinks to an average of 65% and in old age shrinks further to about 55%. These changes are due to the increase in fatty tissue and change in metabolism that come with age, the latter of which increasingly reduces the connective tissue's storage capacity.
In a healthy body, almost 70% of the water is stored in cells. There, it controls the cells' ability to produce and break down proteins and other cell components. If the water supply is disrupted, it follows that the cells cease to be fully functional. Which can trigger all kinds of diseases.
Drinking for a healthy water balance
Our bodies use thirst to let us know when we are in a water deficit. We feel the urge to drink even when the percentage of water in our bodies drops by just one or two points. The loss of more than 20% can seriously damage your health. However, quenching thirst alone does not provide us with enough water to satisfy our requirements, because our drinking behaviour is influenced by habits we pick up and external conditions, which unfortunately often mean that we do not take enough water on board. Thus, for example, mental and physical stress, which we almost all suffer in everyday life, can in fact completely suppress thirst. What is more, the sensation of thirst diminishes with increasing age anyway, meaning that the older you get, the less likely you are to correctly identify your thirst.
It bears noting that if you drink too little you risk experiencing lack of concentration which can even lead to an impairment of short-term memory. So if you want to stay fit and healthy, you should drink 1.5-2 two litres of (preferably still) water every day. And if you are very physically active or live in an extremely hot climate, then your water requirement may even increase to as much as ten litres a day!
Full water stores equals beautiful skin
Water is an essential element in every part of our body, and it is our skin cells in particular that store plenty of water.
Thanks to their high water-binding capacity, substances such as urea ensure optimum moisture penetration of the skin, protecting us from mechanical, chemical and thermal influences and regulating body temperature. For example, sweating helps keep the body temperature at a constant 37 degrees, no matter how hot or cold it is outside the body.
When the skin constantly receives enough moisture from inside the body, it looks healthy, bright and elastic. But if your water levels are too low, the body starts preparing to save water and especially uses up the water reserves stored in the skin cells in order to reduce evaporation. As a consequence, the skin receives less blood and nutrients, and enzyme function decreases. This in turn damages the structure of the skin's "stratum corneum", or horny layer, which dries out the skin and reduces its elasticity. The result: your skin may become rough, scaly or even cracked and develop small creases. And finally, because less liquid is excreted, toxins in the body are no longer sufficiently flushed out of the system and serve to promote long-term digestive problems. In a nutshell: those who drink enough water support their metabolism, support their skin in the best possible way, and can look forward to a fresh and radiant complexion for a long time to come!
Gauging it right
A healthy adult needs to offset an average water loss of 2-2.5 litres with food and drink, and the figure rises by several litres according to physical activity and climatic conditions such as intense heat and high humidity. Without that water, your body will not be able to regulate your temperature and in extreme cases the result may be a fatal heat stroke.
So how to easily integrate our individual water requirement into our daily schedule? After all, there is always something important to do and it is easy to forget to drink. The office provides you with a good opportunity. Simply put the amount of water you need to drink each day on your desk and set yourself clear goals: The first litre should have been imbibed by lunchtime, the rest by the time you down tools for the day. And always fill up your glass straight away when it is empty. If this approach is not possible at your desk or place of work, then use every other opportunity you get to drink, for example, when you go to the kitchen or the canteen. The important thing is to get that first litre flowing through your body before lunch, because then all the body's systems have enough water to work effectively.
All in all, our bodies benefit from the intake of sufficient water: it promotes circulation, improves the appearance of the skin, cleans the respiratory tracts, and promotes mental alertness. However, it is also important what drinks you consumes. Drinks like coffee, coke and black tea that contain caffeine as well as alcohol encourage the kidneys to expel more water from the body and are therefore not suitable. Ideal thirst quenchers are juice spritzers, unsweetened fruit juices, fruit teas and of course any kind of water. The more the better, because drinking plenty is the easiest and best way to stay healthy and especially important for good skin.
