Many have heard since childhood that a person is 80% water. Some experts believe that this figure is exaggerated. Let's try to find out how much water is in a person, what figure is considered normal, how it changes in various circumstances of a person’s existence, what role water-salt metabolism plays in the life of the human body, and why you need to drink a lot of water.
Water and age
The amount of water in the body of each of us varies significantly with age. The younger the person, the more her. For example, a monthly embryo contains 97% of water, a newly born baby - up to 80%. With age, a person “dries out,” as it were, older people consist of only 57% of water. So the answer to a simple question is how much water in a person depends, first of all, on age. In addition, its content varies in different organs of the human body. It is known that most of it in the brain is up to 85%.
Water and disease
It is scientifically proven that up to 70% of people experience mild dehydration. This often explains the increased fatigue during the day, the deterioration of the brain (it is the first to suffer from dehydration) and other common ailments. Scientists' studies have led to interesting results: just consuming enough water can reduce the likelihood of developing bowel cancer by 45%, and the bladder by 50%. One of the most common, unfortunately, oncological diseases, namely breast cancer, is also pushed back while observing the norm of fluid intake.
To deteriorate well-being, it is enough that the water content in the body decreases by only 2% from normal. How to determine how much water in a person is the norm?
Normal water content
It turns out that age is not the only thing that affects this figure. Much depends on the physique of a person. People of normal weight (normal weight - height in centimeters, minus 100 cm, plus or minus 5 kg, however, there are many systems for determining weight) contain about 65% of water. And this figure is considered normal. In any case, it is cited by Smirnov’s book Normal Physiology, determining how much water is in a person.
Worse things are for people with increased fullness, their water is replaced by lipids, its content can drop to 55% or less (depending on the degree of obesity). But thin people can be 70% water.
Why do we need water?
The work of any living organism is based on the consumption of nutrients and the removal of metabolic products. If harmful substances are ingested, it neutralizes the liver. But the kidneys are busy removing waste waste substances. They have to excrete various salts, acids, stress hormones (the same adrenaline). But for normal kidney function, the concentration of these substances should not be very high, and only water can dissolve them. Otherwise, over time, kidney failure develops, that is, the kidneys can not cope with the work and not all toxins are removed from the body. The remaining solid suspensions form sand and kidney stones with all the ensuing consequences.
Harmful substances, accumulating in the body, lead to its chronic intoxication. The result is almost all of our illnesses. Therefore, the question of how much water is in a person, how much it needs to be consumed, so that the body works without failures in normal mode, is not so important.
How much water should I drink?
What do doctors do when a patient with poisoning comes to them? They wash the stomach, intestines and blood (put a dropper with water or an isotonic solution). In such emergency conditions, all intracellular fluid is replaced in a few days. Normally (according to doctors) this should happen in 25 to 30 days. In practice, most people do not consume fluids, and renew their body in about 160 days. In fact, a very sad figure.
But everyone can help themselves. The rate of fluid intake actually also depends on how much a person consists of water, on his age, occupation and even time of year. For example, for a person weighing 60 kg, this norm should not be less than 1.8 liters.