Water

Today I'll talk about water. Let's look at some interesting facts. The earth's surface consists of  70% water. Blood contains 70% water. Our body has approximately 70% water. Don't you think that this 70% water content resemblance is too much of a coincidence. 

Water plays several key roles in the body. Water is the basis of many synthesized fluids like saliva, bile etc. It forms lubricants surrounding the joints in the body. It is a solvent in many metabolic processes. Water regulates body temperature by the process of sweating. Sweat is 99% water. Water is an important vehicle in removal of several wastes through urine and feces.

Well, the actual fact is that the body consists of 55-75 % water. We are born with a higher water content & the figure keeps coming down with age. Another noteworthy fact, there is more water in lean tissue (muscles) than in adipose tissue (fat). Therefore the percentage of water by weight, is lower in obese people than lean people. 

The water within the body is either intra-cellular (within cells) or extra-cellular (interstitial). The ratio of intra to extra is something like 2 : 1. So there is more fluid within cells than outside. A very important parameter of health, therefore is "The Water Balance". Whenever this term is scientifically used, it means maintenance of this ratio. Lay persons use the term water balance to mean quite a variety of things that they pick up in loose talk.

The water balance is maintained in the body by osmosis and negatively or positively charged electrolytes inside & outside the cells keep exchanging ions and thus water. The main responsibility of this recharge / discharge of water remains with Sodium (Na) and Potassium (K). Hence salt attains a very important role in maintaining the water balance, but it's role has been severely misunderstood, and it has been unnecessarily castigated in issues like hypertension.

On a ketogenic diet your body requires, and will ask for more salt, and that, is perfectly understandable and required. So give your tastes a good listen, and if you need more salt, by all means add it to your food. Salt & hypertension have a connect in a very small minority of the population.

As far as water intake is concerned, there are 2 opinions to go by. One says that you need to provide 3 liters of water externally, 1 of which comes from solid food so 2 litres of water or fluids must be had everyday. The other opinion says, listen to your body, and drink water when you feel like it. I think both are right and I abide by the 2nd but automatically live by the first because my body demands it.

Most of my water intake is during the hotter hours of the day, starting at about 11 am and finishing at about 5 pm. I am particular not to drink any water along with meals, except a swig or two, to enable the mouth to be cleaned, and the food pushed down into the stomach smoothly. I drink 30 minutes before a meal or 45 minutes after it, but never within this period. This process has now become automated in my system.

The stomach contains hydrochloric acid (HCl), which is meant to break down the incoming food into smaller particles, and then push it further into the intestines. A lot depends on the pH value (acid/alkaline ratio) of the contents in the stomach, and drinking water during eating hours, interferes with that and is therefore avoidable.

Since excess water consumed will just come out of the body as sweat or urine, in turn flushing out a lot of the wastes, there is absolutely no harm in drinking a lot of water, just take care of the above simple rules. A healthy water balance plus a bout of cardio work out during the day will ensure that you are never plagued by blood pressure issues. The first thing I advice people with hypertension is to increase their water intake provided there are no other underlying health causes. That helps a lot.