Health Talk:

The H20 lowdown:
Your body weight is made up of about 60 percent water, according to staff at Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Every muscle in the body uses water to function, and without proper hydration, those muscles become fatigued and cause you to feel less energized and alert.

The general rule of thumb concerning daily water consumption states that an individual should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day. However, according to the Institute of Medicine, men should drink about 13 cups of fluids every day and women about nine cups daily. Keep in mind that water is also found in juices, such as orange and apple juice, lemonades and other beverages, making the daily intake of water less noticeable but much easier to attain.

Does the temperature of drinking water matter?
Ed Donnor, clinical psychologist and writer for livestrong.com informs readers that drinking cool water before meals helps reduce calorie intake during the meal, therefore resulting in loss of weight. Donnor also suggests drinking ice-cold water throughout the day. Anytime you drink water, your body heats it up to the typical body temperature of 98.6, so drinking colder water causes your body to burn more calories in the heating process. Moral of the story: Drink water as often as possible at whatever temperature is most appealing to you and you will certainly reap the benefits it has to offer.

Tap water vs. bottled water
Because tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and bottled water by the Food and Drug Administration, the arguable safety of the two water types differs. Information found on allaboutwater.org states that “while [city] water systems must test for harmful microbiological content in water several times a day, bottled water companies are required to test for these microbes only once a week,” which suggests that tap water may be safer to drink than its bottled counterpart.

Another argument made in the defense of tap water is that a health-harming chemical called phthalate, which is found in plastic water containers, can leak into its contents and negatively impact the health of consumers. Reversely, many bottled water drinkers believe that the same type of osmosis occurs between soil contaminants and tap water. The majority of resources on the Internet explain that both forms of drinking water can potentially have harmful chemicals present or that they are both perfectly beneficial to the health of their drinkers.

In the end, it is important simply to include water in your diet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that proper water consumption helps you regulate body temperature, keep your joints and spinal cord cushioned and protected and rid your body of useless wastes.

Eat, drink water and be merry!