Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

June, 2001
Common Sense Nutrition News
It's summer�time for iced tea, iced coffee and other cold drinks. One thing to ask yourself, though, is...

AM I DRINKING ENOUGH WATER?

Water is the most abundant substance on earth. It's also the most abundant substance in our bodies and we can't survive more than a few days without it. Every function in our body occurs in water. A human embryo is more than 80% water, a newborn baby about 74%, and a normal adult about 60-70% water. Yet most people have no idea how much water they should be drinking. In fact, many of us live from day to day in a dehydrated state--that is, we don't drink enough water.

What does water do?
Without water, we would die from internal poisoning by our own waste products and the toxins resulting from metabolism.

We all know that the kidneys remove wastes, such as uric acid and lactic acid, from the body. What we may not think about is that, in order to be removed, those wastes must be dissolved in water. If there isn't enough water, wastes are not removed as effectively, and it may be damaging to the kidneys. Water also is vital to digestion and metabolism--it acts as a medium for various enzymatic and chemical reactions in the body. It carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells though the blood. Water helps to regulate our body temperature through perspiration, which gets rid of excess heat and cools the body. Water also lubricates our joints--an important function if you are arthritic, have chronic muscular or skeletal problems, or are athletically active.

We even need water to breathe. Our lungs must be moistened by water in order to effectively take in of oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. We lose approximately a pint of liquid each day just exhaling!

So, if you don't drink enough water to be in "fluid balance," as doctors call it, you can impair every aspect of your body's physiological function. Excess body fat, poor muscle tone and size, decreased digestive efficiency and organ function, constipation, increased toxicity in the body, joint and muscle soreness (particularly after exercise), and water retention may all be related to lack of water.

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Water and weight loss:
Although most of us take it for granted, water may be the only true "magic potion" for permanent weight loss. Water may be the key to taking weight off and keeping it off.

"Proper water intake is the key to weight loss," says Dr. Donald Robertson, director of the Southwest Bariatric Nutrition Center in Scotsdale, Ariz. "If people who are trying to lose weight don't drink enough water, the body can't metabolize the fat, they retain fluid, which keeps weight up, and the whole procedure that we're trying to set up falls apart."

Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits.

Here's why: As we said, the kidneys can't function properly without enough water. When they don't work to capacity, some of their load is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But, if the liver has to do some of the kidney's work, it can't do its own job as effectively. As a result, it metabolizes less fat; so more fat remains stored in the body and weight loss stops.

Drinking enough water is the best treatment for fluid retention. When the body gets less water, it perceives this as a threat to survival and begins to hold on to every drop. Water is stored in spaces outside the cells. This shows up as swollen feet, legs and hands. So, paradoxical as it may seem, the way to eliminate fluid retention is to drink more water, not less.

Some people choose to use diuretics. However, these offer a temporary solution at best. They force out stored water along with some essential nutrients. Again, the body perceives a threat and will replace the lost water at the first opportunity. Thus, the condition quickly returns.

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How much water should you drink?
Of course, people trying to lose weight are not the only ones who need to drink a lot of water. We all do. Count the glasses if you must to ensure that you get the proper amount.

"I'd say the minimum amount a healthy person should drink is 10 eight-ounce glasses a day, "says Dr. Flaks, bariartric physician in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Bariatrics is the branch of medicine dealing with obesity.). "And you need to drink more if you're overweight, exercise a lot or live in a hot climate. Overweight people should drink an extra glass for every 25 pounds they exceed their ideal weight."

A formula developed by East German physicians is:
o a daily water intake of � ounce per pound of body weight if you're a non-active person (that's 10 eight-ounce glasses a day if your weight is 160 pounds),
o 2/3 ounce per pound if you're an active athletic person (13 to 14 eight-ounce glasses a day if you're 160 pounds).

Your water intake should be spread judiciously throughout the day, including the evening. Try not to drink more than four glasses in any given hour. And remember you should always check with your physician before embarking on a regimen of increased water intake.

You may be wondering: If I drink this much water, won't I constantly be running to the bathroom? Initially, the bladder is hypersensitive to the increased amount of fluid, and you have to urinate frequently. But after a few weeks, your bladder calms down, and you urinate less frequently but in larger amounts. [Mine never did, but I feel so much better and sleep so much better when I drink enough water, that it is worth the extra trips to the bathroom.]

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Gretchen

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