If the body’s cells drop in hydration by just 1% then the cells themselves have a 10% drop in their efficiency.
In order for us to work at our optimum level our body should be around 75% water. If we break this down even further it means that our blood should be 90-93% water, our bones 12-22% and our brain 80-85% in order for us to work properly.
Many conditions and diseases are water related and in mild dehydration we can suffer headaches, low energy, low back pain, poor mental capacity, be overweight and suffer digestive disorders. If we are chronically dehydrated then we may suffer obesity, asthma, arthritis, allergies, hypertension and even Type II Diabetes.
One way we can work out how much we should be drinking is by taking our body weight (in pounds), divide by two and this is the amount of ounces we should be consuming per day of plain water. If you work in litres then divide the number of ounces by 35. For example a 100 lb woman would half their weight to 50, so she should be drinking 50 ounces per day. If we add cordial or even a splash of fresh fruit juice the liquid is treated differently in the body so if you can stick to plain water.
If you are interested in knowing more I recommend ‘Your body’s Cries for Water’ written by F Batmanghelidj . His famous quote ‘you are not sick you are thirsty’ is well worth thinking about for most of us!