Water, water everywhere and we're not drinking enough of it.
Very few of us drink enough water for optimal health. How much is enough? Remember the old advice about 8-12 glasses per day? That is still good advice today. Why, you ask? Water is the universal solvent. It carries away waste products from the cells, keeping every part of us clean. You might think that since our bodies are at least 70% water, and water can be reused, that we don't need to keep drinking it. Wrong. We lose a great deal of water every day through urine, feces, sweat, and exhaling. You can go without food for weeks at a time. After two days without water, chances are you will be dead. Besides, do you really want to have the same water re-circulating in your body, never able to fully clean your cells? You don't want to drink waste water, why should your internal organs? Yuck!

What are the symptoms of not drinking enough water? Achy, sore, tight muscles, fatigue, light-headedness or mental confusion, headaches and a general feeling of malaise. What are the reasons that we don't drink enough water?"I'm not thirsty." If your body is accustomed to being deprived of water, you will not be thirsty. When you begin drinking more your thirst will return.

"I drink plenty of other liquids." Sorry, other liquids may contain water, but no other liquid has quite the cleansing and replenishing effects of water. Many liquids such as coffee, tea, alcohol, most vegetable or fruit juices and herb teas are actually diuretics. That means that the more of these you drink, the more water you lose. Sweet drinks such as soft drinks require water to dilute them. That's also true of sports drinks. When you are exercising, the nutrient you need most is water. Most of the electrolyte drinks on the market are designed to be diluted with seven parts water to one part sport drink. Of course it's not sweet that way so most people won't drink these sports drinks diluted. "I don't want to spend all my time in the bathroom." If you urinate less than 10-12 oz. each time you go to the bathroom, you're problem is not too much water but too little bladder control. Inadequate bladder control affects over 12 million Americans - one in every 21 people. Most people aren't aware how common it is because they are too embarrassed to ask. Normally urination occurs 4-6 times per day and once, if at all, during the night. If you are urinating much more frequently or wetting yourself when you cough, you may have inadequate bladder control, though it is wise to check with your medical doctor as sometimes urinary frequency is a symptom of another illness such as diabetes. The most common reason however, is lack of tone in the muscles that control the bladder.

The way to increase that tone is to practice "holding it" or doing an exercise for the pelvic floor muscles (called a "Kegel" in childbirth classes). To locate the correct muscles, next time you urinate, try to stop the flow of urine by contracting your pelvic floor. If you are successful, you can be sure that you are using the right muscles. You can practice contracting and relaxing the pelvic floor to keep those muscles in good shape. So if you aren't drinking enough water, try having 8 glasses a day for a week or two and see how you feel. Chances are, some long term aches, pains and fatigue will disappear. Bottoms up!

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