Are YOU Getting Enough Water?

“Daily Water Requirements: Drink 50-75% of your body weight in ounces.  Sedentary People: 50% and Active People 75%.” - NaturoDoc

Not ingesting enough fluids on a daily bases affects every aspect of human physiology and prevents your body from operating at its fullest potential.  Improper hydration impairs overall mental and physical health and performance, quality of life, weight struggles and chronic pain—just to name a few. 

How To Calculate Your Recommended Daily Intake (RDA) of Water

Sample:

Weight: 150lbs

Activity Level: Active

Climate: Canada

150lbs x 75% = 112.5oz

Plus additional amounts depending:

Add 16oz for dryness of climate in a day

Add 16oz for strenuous activity in a day

Source: http://www.naturodoc.com/

Tip!

Dividing your total RDA by the number of hours in a day that you are awake makes it easier to monitor your daily intake of water by drinking a certain amount every hour.

Syndrome X: The Silent Killer

Syndrome X, also known as Metabolic Syndrome,  is a condition that involves a clustering of factors that together lead to an increased risk of developing Cardiovascular disease and Type II Diabetes Mellitus.  While there is no conclusive ‘cause’ of metabolic syndrome to date, an accumulation of 3 of these 6 risk factors can determine whether or not an individual has the condition:

· Abdominal obesity

· Insulin resistance

· Impaired glucose tolerance

· Elevated triglycerides

· Low HDL-cholesterol

· Elevated blood pressure

Metabolic syndrome is referred to as Syndrome X because there is controversy among medical professionals over whether the condition even exists.  Due to the fact that two different individuals could have metabolic syndrome without having any common risk factors, it makes the condition difficult to define as a disease.

The problem with metabolic syndrome is that nobody can feel it coming until they are diagnosed with it; however, by monitoring your health status regularly you can help to prevent yourself from developing this condition.  The 3 most common proposed causal factors are:

· Physical inactivity

· Genetic tendency

· Being overweight

Source: http://www.methodsofhealing.com/

Weight distribution is also an important factor to consider when trying to determine if you are at risk for metabolic syndrome.  Individuals who are ‘apple-shaped’ (carry most of their fat viscerally) are at much greater risk than those who are ‘pear-shaped’ (carry most of their fat on hips/thighs).  Fortunately, visceral fat is much easier to lose  through regular exercise.

Out of all treatment prescriptions for metabolic syndrome, none have been more effective than exercise because, while drugs are designed to treat each risk factor individually, exercise is beneficial for more than one (if not all) risk factors.