Kirsty's Vitality

Water - Why is it important?

We've all heard about the importance of water as part of a healthy diet, and the fact that we need it to stay hydrated and healthy. However, many of us don't really understand exactly why water is such a vital part of a healthy diet, and exactly what purposes it serves aside from quenching our thirst.

If you were to break the body down into its individual components, you would see that 70% of our bodies are made up of water. While it's possible for the human body to survive for approximately 5 weeks without any food, we can only survive for up to 5 days without water.

Water - what does it do?

The water in our bodies helps us in nearly every one of our internal processes. Water plays an essential role in digestion, absorption, circulation and excretion, as well as being the key player in the transportation of the nutrients we intake around the body - therefore making it vital for each of the bodies building functions.

Water also helps us to regulate our body temperature and to remove waste materials from the body.

We are continually losing water through processes such as sweating, passing urine and waste removal, so it's essential to drink enough water to replace that which we lose, in order to keep our body in balance and mainatin the benefits of following a healthy diet.

How much water should I drink?

Because water is such a vital ingredient for life, it's important to ensure that we get enough. Therefore, we should be aiming to drink 8 x 8 ounce cups or glasses of water every day as a minimum, and you should also ensure that the water you drink is of a good quality. Don't neglect water when weighing up your healthy diet plan - put it near the top of your list!