This week’s wellness challenge is to drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water a day, for four or more days this week.

Here are some reasons to make sure you’re drinking enough water every day:

• Drinking Water Helps Maintain the Balance of Body Fluids. Your body is composed of about 60% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.
• Water Can Help Control Calories. For years, dieters have been drinking lots of water as a weight loss strategy. While water doesn’t have any magical effect on weight loss, substituting it for higher calorie beverages can certainly help. Food with high water content tends to look larger, its higher volume requires more chewing, and it is absorbed more slowly by the body, which helps you feel full. Water-rich foods include fruits, vegetables, broth-based soups, oatmeal, and beans.
• Water Helps Energize Muscles. Cells that don’t maintain their balance of fluids and electrolytes shrivel, which can result in muscle fatigue. Drinking enough fluids is important when exercising. Follow the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for fluid intake before and during physical activity. These guidelines recommend that people drink about 17 ounces of fluid about two hours before exercise. During exercise, they recommend that people start drinking fluids early, and drink them at regular intervals to replace fluids lost by sweating.

  Here are some tips to increase your fluid intake and reap the benefits of water:

  – Have a beverage with every snack and meal.
  – Eat more fruit and vegetables. Their high water content will add to your hydration. About 20% of our fluid intake comes from food.
  – Keep a bottle of water with you in your car, at your desk, or in your bag.

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