Consuming certain beverages will dehydrate the entire body

Monday, June 17, 2013 by: Wendy Merrill
Tags: dehydration, beverages, caffeine

(NaturalNews) Ever wonder what the actual water content is of some popular beverages? Coffee is somewhere around 98 to 99 percent water. Soda is about 90 to 95 percent water. Wine tends to range from 80 to 85 percent water. A light beer is close to 90 to 94 percent water. Tea is approximately 98 percent water. On the surface, based on these numbers, is it any surprise that the average person today tends to think they have easily satisfied their body's daily crucial requirement for water? The 8 to 10 glasses of water that are often preached seems quite easy to attain given the water content of beverages like these. How many coffees and sodas are expended at the office each day? What about the after-work beer or wine relaxer? And when the thirst signal calls again, reaching for another soda seems to satisfy that desire, so it seems.

So what's the problem? It's about perception. People assume that because food and drink generally involve some percentage of water within its composition, that this now takes the place of consuming pure, unadulterated H2O. It's not unusual to hear "well, my soda is mostly water and I've had several cans, so I'm already getting plenty of water everyday." It's widely known that when the body sends out a thirst signal, it is already considered dehydrated. Oftentimes, one mistakes a thirsty feeling for hunger, and as a result, the body remains in a perpetual state of dehydration.

Alcohol AND caffeine-containing beverages deplete fluids from the body

Beverages like coffee, soda and tea also typically contain caffeine. Caffeine is quite well known as a diuretic, which tends to pull water from the tissues of the body and sends it "express" through and out of the body, continuing the chronic body dehydration. Alcohol also shares the diuretic quality, so consuming beer and wine, though liquids, will accomplish the same dehydrating effect as the non-alcoholic beverages.

The average person loses about 90 ounces of water daily. Thus, the value to one's health of consuming half of their body weight in ounces of pure water daily is infinite. Here are just a few:

1. Water creates boundless energy in the body (throw away the energy drinks)
2. Water is the vehicle by which all nutrients are transported throughout the body
3. Water carries waste products away to the liver and kidneys for excretion
4. Water is a great preventer of constipation
5. Water works better than body lotion and baby oil at lubricating the skin
6. Water helps prevent PMS and some normal menstruation pains
7. Water can cut down food cravings and consequently reduce excessive eating
8. Water picks up toxic deposits throughout the body and clears them out
9. Water helps to maintain a normal sex drive
10. Water works to keep the body young and the skin supple and the mind fluid

The body just simply cannot survive without a constant supply of pure water. Many health concerns could be alleviated be making this one simple change to your life. Drink up.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.frequencyrising.com/water_dehydration.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001977/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9540312

About the author:
Wendy Merrill, CCI, M.S. Hol. Nutr.

Wendy is a natural health and nutritional consultant, an IIPA Board Certified iridologist and serves on the International Iridology Practitioners Association Board of Directors. She also holds a Masters degree in Holistic Nutritional Sciences and is the Founder of VisualEyes Health (www.visualeyeshealth.com), a holistic nutritional consulting company using iridology assessments along with other non-invasive procedures to assist healing.

She is passionate about natural health living, with added emphasis on iridology (both human and animal), homeopathy, sports nutrition, nutritional physiology, facial diagnostics and nature photography.