05.27.08
How Much Water?
You’ve all heard you are supposed to drink at least 3 liters of water daily to maintain healthy skin. If you were reading the above article carefully you may have noted that gradual intracellular dehydration is a key feature, even cause, of aging. Zs.-Nagy weighs in with this note, “…there is a continuous relative dehydration of the living systems during their whole life spans.” Some doctors have gone on record saying that most of our ills can be related to water deprivation.
Three liters a day is a helluva lot of water. There can be such a thing as too much water, as witness the boy who died in a recent water-drinking contest. I would say try to get about a liter or so of water a day if you can, but don’t forget, while we human beings are about 70% water, fruits and vegetables are usually more than that. Fruits and veggies do count as water intake. And if you are like me and you have a hard time drinking water, green tea is a great substitute. Eat a green salad, drink a few cups of green tea a day, and when you do drink water add a little juice like aloe vera, goji or watermelon to it. These juices are high in polysaccharides so you get the water-binding properties you need to stay hydrated. Watermelon also has lycopene, another skin-saver. Thirsty?—eat a slice of watermelon.
