Water: Earth’s MVP and the beverage you literally can’t live without. We drink it, bathe in it, swim in it and use it to clean. Did you know:
• Water accounts for 55–75 percent of a person’s weight.
• You can’t survive for longer than about seven days without it.
• The eight-cups-a-day rule is not backed by sufficient research, and there are no formal guidelines for how much water people need.
• Other liquids, like juice, coffee and soda, contribute to your water needs.
• Moisture in foods accounts for roughly 20 percent of the average person’s water intake.
• It is possible to overhydrate, which can be dangerous. Drinking too much too fast can stress the kidneys and cause dangerously low sodium levels in the blood.
• Dehydration can compromise your concentration, reaction time, learning, memory, mood, reasoning capabilities and energy levels, and can cause headaches and anxiety.
• Drinking extra water does not improve your skin, but being adequately hydrated does help counter vascular diseases, constipation, exercise-induced asthma and kidney stones.
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