Basic Questions and Answers with WATER H2O
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QUESTION: I always drink plenty of water, which everyone says is very good for me. What does water do?
ANSWER: Water accounts for 60 percent of the bodyweight of the average male and 50 percent of the average female. Every tissue in the human body contains water, but not all tissues contain the same proportion of it. Muscle tissue contains 72 percent water by weight, bones are about
25 percent water, and fat contains 20 to 35 percent water. Consequently, people who have a higher percentage of bodyfat have less water in their bodies than thinner people of the same age and sex because muscle tissue contains more water than fat tissue. Women generally contain
less water because they have a greater proportion of fat tissue than most men.
Water is necessary for many bodily functions, including hydrolysis, the process by which proteins, fats and carbs are broken down with water for absorption. It also acts as a lubricant and cushion in saliva, tears and synovial fluid, which is the thick liquid that is encapsulated
around many joints to cushion the joint. Another of water's functions is to regulate body temperature. ft maintains an even temperature better than other fluids because water temperature is not easily affected by changes in environmental temperature.
Both blood and interstitial fluids, which are present throughout the body, have high water contents. If your body is exposed to cold, it conserves heat by narrowing the blood vessels near the skin surface. This causes less blood to be circulated near the surface, which slows the
loss of heat from the body. If your body is overheated from exercising, the blood vessels of the skin dilate, which brings a larger volume of blood close to the surface, where it loses heat to the environment. When you perspire, the skin excretes fluids, which results in a further
loss of heat.
Water, as you can see, is a very important element to the human body-and not just to athletes' bodies. You should drink eight to 10 glasses a day.
QUESTION: I like meat and eggs, but when I add a lot of carbohydrates to my diet, I eat too many calories. Why are carbohydrates so important?
A: Carbohydrates are the human body's fundamental source of fuel, but not all carbohydrates are major sources of energy. There are two different types of carbohydrates, available carbohydrates and dietary fiber, Available carbs include starches and sugars, which are hydrolyzed, or
absorbed, in the human digestive process. Dietary fiber is a plant food component made of linked carbohydrate units that cannot be separated by human digestive secretions.
Sugars and starches are metabolized, or processed, by the body and broken down to glucose, which is used by all the body's cells to create energy Inadequate carbs in your diet, therefore, can cause the higher centers of your brain, as well as your muscles, to malfunction. Available
carbs also play a role in metaboli2ing fat for energy. In fact, even when you're burning away fat through diet and exercise, your body needs a byproduct of carbohydrate metabolism to function optimally during exercise.
Therefore, if there are no carbohydrates, your energy production will be limited and you'll burn protein instead-an undesirable situation because your body has other specific needs for protein. Consequently, you should eat at least the minimum recommended amount of carbohydrates so
the protein is spared from being used as energy. This is referred to as the protein-sparing effect of carbohydrates.
Dietary fiber, or unavailable carbohydrates, enhances the activities of the gastrointestinal, or digestive, tract. The human digestive tract doesn't use fiber, because it can't break it down. Instead, most dietary fiber remains a solid material in the large intestine after the other
components of food are absorbed, and the intestinal muscles get a workout moving the solid waste through the colon. Fiber is a also source of food for bacteria in the gut, and soluble fiber is believed to lower blood cholesterol because it reduces the absorption of cholesterol from
the digestive tract.
All of this means that carbs are very important to your body even though some of their functions are minor. The National Research Council and other experts recommendthat6o percent or more of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates, primarily a complex-carb and fiber
intake of 25 to 40 grams a day.
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