What do you, the trees, and a hamster have in common? Give up?
You all need water. All living things must have water to survive,
whether they get it from a water fountain, a rain cloud, or a
little bottle attached to the side of a hamster cage.
Without water, your body would stop working properly. Water
makes up more than half of your body weight and a person can't
survive for more than a few days without it. Why? Your body has
lots of important jobs and it needs water to do many of them. For
instance, your blood, which contains a lot of water, carries oxygen
to all the cells of your body. Without oxygen, those tiny cells
would die and your body would stop working.
Water is also in lymph (say:
limf
), a fluid that is part of your
immune system
, which helps you fight off illness. You need water to digest your
food and get rid of waste, too. Water is needed for digestive
juices,
urine
(pee), and poop. And you can bet that water is the main ingredient
in perspiration, also called
sweat
.
In addition to being an important part of the fluids in your
body, each cell depends on water to function normally.
Your body doesn't get water only from drinking water. Any
fluid you drink will contain water, but water and milk are the best
choices. Lots of foods contain water, too. Fruit contains quite a
bit of water, which you could probably tell if you've ever
bitten into a peach or plum and felt the juices dripping down your
chin! Vegetables, too, contain a lot of water - think of slicing
into a fat tomato from the garden or crunching into a crisp stalk
of celery.
How Much Is Enough?
Since water is so important, you might wonder if you're
drinking enough. There is no magic amount of water that kids need
to drink every day. Usually, kids like to drink something with
meals and should definitely drink when they are thirsty. But when
it's warm out or you're exercising, you'll need more.
Be sure to drink some extra water when you're out in warm
weather, especially while playing sports or exercising.
When you drink is also important. If you're going to sports
practice, a game, or just working out or playing hard, drink water
before, during, and after playing. Don't forget your water
bottle. You can't play your best when you're thinking about
how thirsty you are!
When your body doesn't have enough water, that's called
being dehydrated.
Dehydration
also can keep you from being as fast and as sharp as you'd like
to be. A bad case of dehydration can make you sick. So keep that
water bottle handy when the weather warms up! Not only does water
fight dehydration, but it's awfully refreshing and has no
calories.
Your body can help you stay properly hydrated by regulating the
amount of water in your system. The body can hold on to water when
you don't have enough or get rid of it if you have too much. If
your pee has ever been very light yellow, your body might have been
getting rid of excess water. When your pee is very dark yellow,
it's holding on to water, so it's probably time to drink
up.
You can help your body by drinking when you're thirsty and
drinking extra water when it's warm out. Your body will be able
to do all of its wonderful, waterful jobs and you'll feel
great!
Reviewed by:
Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: February 2009
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice,
diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
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