Imagine a day when there is no water? What do you think will happen?
Water is our most precious drink. It is necessary for our survival. It is but true that if the body loses more than 20 per cent of its normal water content, it dies painfully.
We need water as much as we need air in order to live. We can go without food for perhaps four weeks, but not more than four days without water. Water is life-for us and every living thing on earth.
It is amazing that all living things consist mainly of water. A chicken is about 75% water, and a pineapple and a potato are about 80% water. A tomato is even more watery- it is about 95% water!
Our bodies, too, are not as solid as they seem. Even the fattest person in your class is over 65% water! If you could squeeze out a human like a lemon, you would get around 50 liters (around 3 ½ buckets) of liquid.
Water dissolves
The body makes use of one of the most amazing proprieties of water-its unique ability to dissolves almost any substance; it can dissolve the hardest of rocks as it flows over the earth. It is also dissolves the nutrients that living things need. This makes water necessary to all living things. Blood and digestive juice contain water to perform lots of body functions.
Every day, about 10 liters of water moves around inside our body, managing every process. Our bodies need water to take in food and make use of it. For example, the saliva in your mouth helps you in chewing and swallowing. The food then passes into the stomach, intestines and, later, into blood. Very soon, the salivary glands start making more saliva by taking water from the nearby blood vessels. Other solutions help to dissolves the digested food and carry it to all parts of the body. Water is also needed for chemical reactions to change food into energy.
Water is an essential drink for plants as well. It dissolves nutrients found in the soil. This water is then absorbed by the roots of the plant. The water travels up the stem and branches into the veins of the leaves. The leaves use this water and carbon dioxi9de gas and sunlight to make food.
Water balance
Our body loses water in many ways all the time-as sweet, in urine and even as water vapor in our breath. Think of how much you seat while returning from school on a hot day! It leaves you clothes quite damp. It is the body’s best way of reducing its temperature.
To balance this loss of water, you gulp down lots of water and cold drinks. The body gets back the water lost through sweat. Other wise, you can be in danger of being dehydrate.
How much water should you drink everyday?
To stay alive and to be healthy, you must drink about two –and –a half liters (around 8-10 glasses) every day. Your body gets a liter of liquid from the food you eat. Fruit, vegetables, meat and bread consist mainly of water. So, you need to drink one-and –a –half liters of water, as fluids, to maintain the level of water in your body.
