Water
The liquid key to good health is to drink plenty of water. We should be drinking 8 to 10 tall glasses of water a day at a minimum and if we drink coffee, tea, soda, or alcohol we should drink at least another 2 glasses of water for every cup of coffee, tea, soda, or alcoholic beverage that we consume.
Water makes up more than two thirds of the weight of the human body, and without it, humans would die in a few days. The human brain is made up of 95% water; blood is 82%; and lungs 90%. A mere 2% drop in our body’s water supply can trigger signs of dehydration: fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on smaller print, such as a computer screen. Mild dehydration is also one of the most common causes of daytime fatigue. An estimated seventy-five percent of Americans have mild, chronic dehydration. That is a pretty nasty statistic for a developed country, where water is readily available through the faucet or bottle.
So according to that statistic most of us are in a constant state of mild dehydration. Not only do we not drink enough water, but we consume large amounts of coffee and soda or even alcohol which actually have a dehydrating effect on the body. When I worked for the New York Times Company, my Boss drank coffee all day long, I never saw him drink even one glass of water during the workday. He was one of the smartest men I have ever met, but all that coffee without any water to compensate was just one of the reason’s he struggled with his weight. When we are not in the habit of drinking water, that feeling of hunger is actually our dehydrated body crying out for water. It’s not until we actually start drinking the correct amount of water that we begin to get thirsty, before we start drinking enough water our thirst is interpreted as hunger.