Michael Lam, MD, MPH
www.DrLam.com  

Water is the most important nutrient for ensuring optimal bodily functions. It is also the most overlooked.  Without exception, every function of the body is tied to an optimum flow of water.  A well-hydrated cell is a healthy cell. A healthy cell lives longer.  Maintaining well-hydrated cells is what forms the foundation of a comprehensive anti-aging program.

No one can doubt the fact that serious dehydration can cause death.  The question lies in the reference point of what is considered normal and what is not. The traditional signs and symptoms of dehydration are dry mouth and dizziness, which are late signs of a severely dehydrated body. However, these are not sensitive enough from an anti-aging perspective. For optimum health, new reference standards for the threshold  

To put it simply, your body needs a minimum of 8 glasses of pure water a day in order to maintain basic functionality.  An intake of 12 to 15 glasses is recommended for optimum anti-aging health.  Drink any less, and you are already in a state of dehydration from an anti-aging perspective.


Water

Water is the most plentiful substance in our body. It constitutes over 60 percent of our body weight, 70 percent of the brain, 90 percent of the lungs, and 98 percent of our intestinal, gastric, saliva, and pancreatic juices.  While our body contains about 5 quarts of blood, a 150-pound person contains 80 quarts of water. 

You can live without food for weeks, but nobody survives without water for more than a few days.  A three percent loss in total body-water will cause fatigue and could pose serious malfunctions within the body. A ten percent loss of body water is serious enough to be life threatening. Typical symptoms of fluid loss are headaches, poor concentration, fatigue, forgetfulness, and constipation. Extreme dehydration causes mental disorientation and death. 

Water loss occurs 24 hours a day, through daily activities (including sleep), skin evaporation, breathing, urination, and bowel movements. Replenishing our supply is crucial to maintaining our health and recovering from illness.

Water is critical as a carrier of nutrients entering our body through food, and the removal of toxins out of the body. Metabolite byproducts contain toxins that have been built up in our body. Maintaining the correct levels of hydration will flush the toxins out of the body before they have a chance to built up or absorbed into the cells. Well-hydrated cells also act as good lubricants that optimize the smooth movement of the joints along with elasticity and appearance of the skin. Adequate amounts of water are needed for optimum regulation of the chemical pump at the cell wall, efficiency of all protein and enzymatic pathways in the body, and optimum hormonal function.  No one single bodily function can be carried out effectively in the presence of a dysfunctional water balance state. Every function inside the body is regulated and is dependant on water.


Dehydrated and Not Knowing It

Eight, 8-ounce servings of pure water daily is the minimum amount needed for basic health maintenance. Fifty percent more is needed for optimum anti-aging health. If you are a healthy adult with normal renal and cardiac functions, your cells are dehydrated if you are not drinking this amount.

Over 50 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated and admit not drinking the minimum recommended amounts of water. In fact, studies have shown that 35 percent of Americans drink three or fewer servings, and 9 percent drink no water at all. The average American consumes only 4.6 servings of water a day.

Furthermore, Americans drink nearly five servings of beverages containing caffeine or alcohol, substances that act as diuretics, causing the body to lose water through increased urination. Such beverages act as an anti-nutrient, as they are non-hydrating in nature. Americans are in effect "drinking themselves to dehydration" by consuming too many water-robbing beverages. Many don't realize that beverages containing alcohol and caffeine actually rob the body of water by acting as a diuretic. The net result is that most Americans are probably only getting about a third of the valuable hydration benefits they need and are in a state of dehydration without knowing it.

Research has shown that those drinking at least five glasses of water per day were associated with an approximately 50% decreased rate of heart attack and stroke compared with those who drank two glasses of water per day. Drinking other fluids and total fluid intake were not related to decreased risk of heart disease. While the exact mechanism is not known, it is postulated that many of these other fluids are hyper-osmolar. They attract and draw water away from the blood, causing a temporary increase in blood viscosity.


Phases of Dehydration

Dehydration as a disease entity can be divided into 2 phases: sub-clinical and clinical. 

A. Sub-clinical Phase

The sub-clinical phase of dehydration can be defined as the state of the body when less than 2 liters of pure water (8 glasses of 8 ounces each) are taken in daily for the average adult. Often no symptoms are generated to warn us other than thirst from time to time. The body, while dehydrated, is still able to carry on daily functions through its many compensatory mechanisms. One of the first symptoms of physical damage due to the sub-clinical phase of dehydration is pain. Pain can be generalized or localized. It can be non-specific. Such pain is often mistaken as some other disease entity. When this state is not treated, the body progresses to the clinical phase of dehydration. There is no traditional laboratory test to define sub-clinical dehydration, since reference standards have yet to be established to address this phase of dehydration. Fortunately, one can always rely on the color of urine as an accurate indicator. The normal color of urine is almost colorless to light yellow. If it becomes dark yellow or RED, dehydration has set in and the kidneys are working hard to conserve water. 

B. Clinical Phase

The clinical phase of dehydration has been well studied by traditional medicine. The classic signs are dry mouth and dizzy sensations. In the advanced clinical phase of dehydration, disorientation, hypotension, and renal failure are common. If not treated, the patient ultimately collapses and dies.