Water - Essential to the entire body.

How long do you think you would last without food? Actually, you would probably last about 45 days without food. But without water, you'd be lucky if you lasted 10 days. Of all the vital nutrients you need to survive, water is the one you simply can't do without.

Water makes up about 60 percent of your body weight, and if you don't get enough any other nutrients you take in will be left high and dry. A lack of water affects everything from your digtestive tract to your immune system. It also helps regulate your body temperature.

Your body loses 10 - 12 cups of water per day just from all the normal things you do. When you sweat, urinate, excrete waste, or even just breathe, you're getting rid of some of that moisture. So how does your body know when it needs more, and ow does it get that message to you?

When you get that "cotton" mouth, your body is telling you it needs more water. When you get dry mouth because your body is borrowing water from your salivary glands - your body is telling you that it's time to "wet your whistle." That's why experts tell you to drink throughout the day even if you don't feel thirsty.

In times of real trouble, the hypothalamus calls out the antidiuretic hormone (ADH). This hormone tells your kidneys to send some of the water they are holding for excretion back into the bloodstream. If your body has too much water, ADH will tell your kidneys to release it. But ti always makes sure you only get rid of water you don't need.

Water constanly moves in and out of your cells---dissolving nutrients, delivering them where they need to go, and carrying wast out of your body. Water plays a big part in feeding your cells so you get all the energy you need. Think of it as your own personal transportation system.

Like oil in a machine, water helps lubricate your digestive system to make it run the way it's supposed to. Without it, you can get constipated and the digestive process will begin to make you feel sluggish. That's why it is so important to drink a full glass of water, immediately upon rising in the morning. Water helps soften your stools so you can pass them more easily.

When you get that painful, buring sensation in your chest known as heartburn, you need water to wash the acid out and give your stomach a fighting chance to do its job properly. Try drinking a glass of water about an hour before meals to keep your stomach from bloating. A bloated stomach is more likely to overflow. Water helps antacids and medicines to do their jobs faster and more efficiently. It also keeps your body temperature even. When exercise or fever makes you sweat, the water evaporating off your skin helps you coold down --- a kind of natural air conditioning.

If you're sick or having surgery, drinking water is an easy way to put yourself back on the road to recovery. After surgery, your body retains water to help it heal, so adding to your supply gives your body an estra boost when it nees it most.

Water is your best source for preventing bladder or urinary infection. It helps flush the infection from your system before it gets a good grip.

It lubricates your joints and provides a cushion of water molecules that lubricate and make it easier to bend and move around. When arthritis makes you fel stiff and achy, your first though should be water. This simple solution may help you feel better and even reduce your painful swelling.

If you're bothered by gout, you especially need to drink a lot of water. It dilutes and carries away the uric acid that causes your discomfort.

Water moisturizes your skin and lips giving you a healthy look and helping to prevent wrinkling by nourishing your cells and making the skin more elastic and supple instead of dried up and shriveled.

Water watches your weight. It is at the center of any successful weight-loss program because it water carries nutrients you need and it happens to be calorie-free. Drinking a glass before eating fills you up and makes it easier to resist that mound of food on your plate. It helps you eat more slowly. I experiment many years ago with the idea of drinking a glass of water any time I felt the urge to snack - and it worked. You end up eating less and your body functions much more efficiently, especially during exercise.

Wash away the germs internally and externally with water. Fewer germs mean fewer illnesses and that means a healthier, happier you.

Of course, the amount of water your body needs depends on the temperature and whether you are playing a hearty game of gennis or just relaxing in front of your television.

I use a 32 ounce bottle of water with the markings. It helps keep me aware of just how much water I am consuming.

A 115 year-old man living on an island off Japan was asked how a person his age could be so healthy. "Simple," the old man replied. "I've drunk water all my life - gallons and gallons of it." He ended up living to the ripe old age of 120 years, 237 days. For Shigechiyo Izumi and others on his island, water was the secret to a long life. But it was a special kind of water filtered through ancient coral reefs. It gave him extra minerals and other elements that helped keep the spring in his step and a youthful song in his heart.