The planet's source of life and your source for a long healthy life.

The most important nutrient necessary for our survival is oxygen. The second most important nutrient is water.

Consume at least eight 8 ounce cups of caffeine-free, nonalcoholic fluids every day. Add a cup of fluids for every half hour of moderate exercise. Why not figure out a schedule now? If you eat 3 meals a day, you should drink fluids...

• 1 cup when you get up (1 cup)
• At least 1 cup at each meal (3 cups)
• 1 cup between each meal (2 cups)
• 1 cup before you go to bed (1 cup)
• Eat fruits and vegetables throughout the day (1 cup)
• Replace water lossed during exercise:
  1 to 2 cups, 30 minutes to 2 hours before exercise
  1/2 to 1 cup every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise
  2 cups for every pound lossed during exercise

Drink more when you are sick. Water helps dispose of toxins, waste and the byproducts of sickness so it's especially important to get your minimum daily dose of water. In addition, vomiting, diarrhea, stress, certain medications and perspiration due to fever can cause increased dehydration.

The Importance of Water

Dehydration can cause constipation, urinary tract infections and kidney stones.

Once you become thirsty, you have already been dehydrated for a period of time. There is a delay from the time your blood becomes overly concentrated, to the time your brain detects this change and causes you to feel thirsty. That is why it is important to drink enough fluids to avoid thirst instead of waiting until you're thirsty to start drinking fluids.

Dehydration is a worldwide problem. 75% of Americans and likely half of the world's entire population are chronically dehydrated.

In 37% of Americans, feelings of thirst are so weak that they are often mistaken for feelings of hunger.

Water speeds up your metabolism. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.

Water and waterÐrich foods can help you lose fat. One glass of water completely prevented midnight munchies for almost 100% of the dieters in a Univ. of Washington study.

Water reduces fatigue. The #1 trigger of daytime fatigue is a lack of water.

Water reduces joint related pain. Preliminary research indicates that 8 to 10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

Water helps your mind's ability to remember and focus. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

Water helps prevent cancer. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily can decrease the risk ofÉ
Colon cancer by 45%
Breast cancer by 79%
Bladder cancer by 50%

Your body is composed mainly of water. Water constitutes 55% of a woman's body weight and 65% of a man's body weight.

The Many Functions of Water:

Water in every cell of your body provides the environment for cellular processes to occur.

Water in digestive juices provides lubrication through the digestive tract and aids the breakdown of foods.

Water in the blood and lymph delivers hormones, energy, oxygen and other nutrients to cells throughout the body.

Water in the blood, lymph, urine and stools is needed to dispose of carbon dioxide, toxins and waste originating from cells all over the body.

Water in sweat and blood is needed to regulate body temperature. Water is an efficient conductor of heat, meaning heat travels through water quickly. Sweating helps cool the body down. Arteries expand and contract to direct more watery blood toward or away from the surface of the body in order to cool or warm the body.

Water in the blood helps regulates blood pressure, and thus helps retain efficient circulation.

Water in the cerebral spinal fluid surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord.

Water in the amniotic fluid surrounded and protected you when you were a fetus living in your mother's womb.

Water in the synovial fluid lubricates your joints for comfort and ease of movement.

Water in your tears prevents your eyes from drying out.

Water makes you live longer. Water is the best solvent in existence. No Liquid dissolves molecules better than water. As a result, no other liquid isÉ

Better at diluting, dissolving and disposing of toxins
Better at dissolving and aiding the digestion and distribution of nutrients.

Toxins reduce and block the benefits you get from nutrients. So the toxin removal provided by water allows cells to take full advantage of the nutrients they receive.

Doctors have taken cells from a chicken and kept them alive long after the chicken died by giving them a constant supply of nutrients, oxygen and water. Herbivores live longer than carnivores because they eat more water-rich foods. The benefits of a good supply of water will cause your cells to live longer and function more efficiently, providing you with a longer life and the energy to enjoy it.

SoÉ the first thing you should do to change your diet for the better is to add water-rich foods. A pitiful 15 to 20% of most people's diets consist of water content foods Ð this is by no means enough! They should be eating 50 to 60% water content foods to stay healthy. Think of all the food you cook Ð the water is burned away. Fruit as a general rule is water rich. If you eat raw water-rich fruit (such as oranges, cantaloupe, plums, apples, tomatoes etc.) and drink water or juice during every snack and every meal of the day, then your body will be incredibly more healthy than it otherwise would. A good gauge for the amount of water in your system is the color of your urine. If it's deep orange, you are dehydrated Ð drink more water and eat more fruit. If it is light yellow to clear, you're doing great! It might take a little while for your digestive system to get used to eating more fruit, but it's worth it to live longer.