Nutrition rubric: drink plenty of water

The importance of a healthy diet at all ages

Eating in a balanced way is essential to ensure well-being for the body, but it is not enough to choose foods capable of providing all the substances our body needs: for the correct functioning of all physiological processes correct hydration is essential.

In addition to being the first constituent of every food, water is present in all our organs in a percentage ranging from 60 to 75% and, to avoid physiological imbalances, this distribution must always be kept constant.

1. Why increase your water consumption

Taking the necessary amount of water serves to quench one's thirst but, above all, it performs a very important function for our organism: that of hydrating the cells, allowing them to trigger the biochemical reactions that regulate their cycle vital.

The benefits of abundant water consumption are evident from the first days of adopting this good habit, because the precious liquid quickly enters the circulation and improves the structure of all the organs.

Drinking a glass of water in the morning, for example, cancels the effect of nocturnal dehydration and stimulates peristalsis, helping the stomach to welcome breakfast, eliminating any sense of heaviness and thus allowing you to begin carrying out daily activities with a positive feeling of greater energy.

Moreover, water acts as a solvent for many nutrients: water-soluble vitamins, amino acids, glucose and minerals are "transported" and used more quickly; metabolic waste is also eliminated more easily, increasing the sense of lightness and avoiding annoying swelling.

2. All the benefits of proper hydration

The lubricating action of water allows the joints to be "dampened", allowing even older people to minimize the inevitable limits to mobility due to the passage of time; at any age, water purifies the skin, enhancing its natural elasticity and hydrates the mucous membranes, making them more efficient and functional.

Breathing also benefits from the right amount of water, because the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide occurs more easily on the respiratory surfaces: this factor affects not only those who practice sports (both at a competitive and amateur level), but also facilitates the body of those who carry out a sedentary work activity, because it triggers an essential process in thermoregulation, maintaining body temperature constant.

Drinking water must be preferably at room temperature or cool, natural or slightly sparkling and, above all, not containing added carbon dioxide.

3. How much water should you drink: the "water balance"

Given that the regular functioning of every organ in our body has a close correlation with the intake of the correct amount of water, it is essential to maintain a balance in the relationship between water intake and output , the so-called "water balance".

To establish the right quantity of water needed by each organism, reference must be made to subjective discriminating factors (age, gender, diet followed, composition and body weight) and objective factors, such as climatic and environmental conditions.

Considering that water is also present in many foods, especially fruit and vegetables, in general it is possible to state that an individual who carries out medium intensity activity must drink at least two liters of water a day.

Letting yourself be guided by the stimulation of thirst is important but not sufficient to ensure the body has the correct intake of liquids: elderly people, for example, feel less need to drink, but this does not mean they must neglecting the intake of the right amount of water, also because their body runs an even higher risk of dehydration than a young organism.

The same criterion must also be followed to establish the water needs of athletes, in which the "control mechanism" based only on thirst can be misleading: for them, in fact, other factors come into play factors, first of all sweating, which causes the body to lose a lot of water, without realizing the real water depletion taking place, for example during a race or during a particularly demanding training session, both physically and mentally .