If you are contemplating a diet — if you are considering a health eating plan for your life — you need to make certain that you include drinking the proper amount each and every day in the calculation. Without ingesting an appropriate amount of water on a daily basis you will never be able to obtain the full benefits of any sort of diet. Indeed, in the absence of the right quantity of water each day, you really will not have established a solid healthy eating program for your life.

In the final analysis if you truly are interested in not only losing weight and keeping weight off but also in living a long, enjoyable and healthy life, you need to pay attention to what and how you eat — and drink.

The Essentials of Water

In considering the makeup of the typical human body, most scientists agree that it is comprised of upwards to ninety percent water. Indeed, water is the most significant component making up the body of every human being living and breathing on planet Earth.

Every organ and other structure within the human body from bones to muscles depend upon a plentiful supply of water to function appropriately. Sadly, in this day and age, most people in most countries around the world simply do not drink enough water each day to properly hydrate the body. The lack of proper hydration — the failure to ingest enough water — actually can have dire and lasting consequences for a typical human being.

How Much is Just Enough Water

Many people bandy around the suggestion that a person should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water each and every day. On some level this truly is a useful suggestion. Indeed, if a person actually did drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water each and every day, he or she likely would see an improvement in his or her health. (Most people simply do not consume this much water on a daily basis.)
In reality, when it comes to the proper amount of water to drink on a daily basis, a person would be wise to think of the eight 8-ounce glass goal to be the baseline for healthy consumption. In other words, every adult (and teenage children) should ingest eight glasses of water daily.

However, for many people the eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily goal simply is not enough. For example, if a person weighs more than 160 pounds, he or she will need to consume more water on a daily basis to satisfy the operational needs of his or her body. Logically and scientifically, a larger body needs more water to operate and run in an efficient and healthy manner.

Many experts suggest that beyond the base amount of eight 8-ounce glasses a day, a person who weighs in at over 160 pounds should divide his or her gross weight in half and drink that many ounces of water each and every day. For example, if a person weighs in at 200 pounds, he or she should drink 100 ounces of water a day. That would equate to about twelve and half standard glasses of water in day rather than the eight glasses which should be considered a consumption threshold for all healthy people.

In addition, if a person is physically active, he or she will need to consume an extra amount of water to make up for what is lost through rigorous exercise.

如果你在考慮節(jié)食－如果在考慮一種健康的飲食計(jì)劃－你應(yīng)當(dāng)明確把一天要飲用多少水也考慮進(jìn)去。如果每天攝入的日常所需的水量不足，你就無(wú)法從任何健康節(jié)食計(jì)劃中受益。事實(shí)上，由于每天攝入的水量不足，你就無(wú)法建立一種健康穩(wěn)固的飲食計(jì)劃。

最終的分析是，如果你確實(shí)不僅對(duì)減肥并還要保持不反彈感興趣，而且還對(duì)一種長(zhǎng)久的，快樂(lè)的，健康的生活感興趣的話，你應(yīng)當(dāng)注意吃什么，喝什么以及如何吃、喝。

必不可少的水

說(shuō)到人體的組成，許多科學(xué)家都認(rèn)同，人體中水能占到90％。事實(shí)上，水是地球上任何生物的最重要的組成部分。

人體的器官和組織，從骨骼到肌肉，都依靠水來(lái)發(fā)揮正常功能。遺憾的是，現(xiàn)在，世界上許多國(guó)家的人們每天攝入的水量達(dá)不到身體吸收需要的量。缺少適當(dāng)?shù)乃�化合物－每天攝取的水不足－就會(huì)對(duì)人體造成可怕的長(zhǎng)期的影響。

多少水算夠

許多人都知道這個(gè)建議，一個(gè)人每天應(yīng)飲用8杯水（8盎司容量的玻璃杯，下同）。從某種程度上來(lái)看，這個(gè)建議還是有用的。事實(shí)上，如果一個(gè)人真的每天飲水8杯，就能夠看到他（她）的健康得到了改善。（實(shí)際上多數(shù)人并沒(méi)有達(dá)到這個(gè)日常基本量）。

現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中，當(dāng)人們每天飲用適量的水時(shí)，人們就知道8杯水的量是保持健康的基本量。換句話說(shuō)，每個(gè)成年人（和十幾歲的青少年）每天應(yīng)當(dāng)攝入8杯水。

然而，對(duì)很多人來(lái)說(shuō)，每天8杯水的量似乎還不夠。例如，如果一個(gè)人體重超過(guò)160磅，他（她）就需要飲用更多的水來(lái)維持身體的正常運(yùn)作。從邏輯上和科學(xué)上來(lái)說(shuō)，大塊頭需要更多的水來(lái)維持身體以有效的、健康的方式運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。

許多專家都建議，除了每天8杯水基本量之外，體重超過(guò)160磅的人，每天攝取的水量應(yīng)為他（她）體重的一半。如，體重200磅的人，他（她）每天應(yīng)攝入100盎司的水。這就等于是每天12杯半標(biāo)準(zhǔn)杯的水量，而不是通常認(rèn)為的一個(gè)健康人8杯的量。

另外，如果一個(gè)人經(jīng)常運(yùn)動(dòng)，他（她）就需要攝入更多的水來(lái)補(bǔ)充在運(yùn)動(dòng)中失掉那部分