diagram of human body

Water and Your Body

Water makes up between 55% and 78% of your body, depending on your age, sex and weight. An imbalance in how much water you have in your body can cause larger complications. If you suffer from only 1% dehydration, it causes a headache. Water is the primary component of your blood and is used for all of your bodily functions – from breathing properly to eliminating waste. The best way to calculate how much water you need is to take your body weight and divide it in half. The answer is how many ounces of water you should drink. A 120 pound woman should have 60 ounces of water in a day to stay healthy. A 200 pound person should have 100 ounces.

About one fifth of the water you need should come from your food, so the other 4/5 should come from your beverage intake. And while most of us have a busy schedule, keeping a bottle of water with you when you are working or exercising is a great way to start.