How much water do we really need?

This may sound crazy, but one of my goals (see yesterday’s entry) is to take better care of myself which means that I need to drink more water. This may sound silly or easy – but it’s not for me.

Water makes up an average of 60% of your body weight, and every system in your body depends upon it. It carries nutrients throughout your body, flushes out toxins, and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.

The rule of thumb is to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. According to the Mayo Clinic, women should drink 2.2 liters of water, and 3 liters for men. Now all of this depends upon your climate, daily activity level, and general health.

Still sounds like an easy thing to do, but I’ve found that I just don’t make multiple trips to our office’s water cooler throughout the day. I get absorbed in my work, and before I know it, it’s lunch time. The end of day arrives soon after and I’m lucky if I have refilled my first glass of water.

I’ve come up with a solution that seems to be working for me… First, I bought a new water bottle because all of ours were those old plastic ones that you fit into the water bottle holder on a bicycle that smell like plastic, and make the water taste the same. Camelbak makes a great water bottle that is BPA free (no chemicals leeching into my water) and I’m convinced that the water actually tastes better. I fill the bottle up at home with ice and cold water and then refill it once during the day. That covers my 2 liters. As for the 0.2 liters, from doing some research on the internet, I’ve learned that I can eat my fluids! Did you know that tomatoes and watermelon are about 90% water by weight? Food actually supplies about 20% of the fluids we need, which means that the last .02 litres is more than covered!

Now the real challenge will be when my husband and I are in China for two weeks. From the accounts that I have read, travel writers describe people filling water bottles from local streams in which waste is also dumped. I’ll keep you posted on my progress and travels. During my two week hiatus, Zoe Foods marketing manager, Kim, will write some posts for my blog, and when and if I have an internet connection, I will post some news as well.