How much water is there in a person, and should you drink a lot of water?

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 normal, how it varies in different circumstances of human existence, what role in the life of the human body is played by water-salt metabolism, and why it is necessary to drink plenty 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 it is in her. For example, a monthly embryo contains 97% of water, a newly born baby - up to 80%. With age, people seem to "dry up", the elderly people consist of water only by 57%. So the answer to a simple question, how much water in a person, depends, first of all, on age. In addition, in different organs of the human body its content differs. It is known that most of it in the brain - up to 85%.

Water and Diseases

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 (he is suffering from dehydration very first) and other common ailments. The research of scientists led to interesting results: only the consumption of water in sufficient quantity can reduce the likelihood of developing colon cancer by 45%, of the bladder by 50%. One of the most common, unfortunately, cancer, namely breast cancer, is also pushed back at the rate of fluid intake.
To deteriorate the state of health, it is enough that the water content in the body decreases by only 2% of 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 weight determination systems) contain about 65% of water. And this figure is considered normal. In any case, she leads the textbook "Normal Physiology" Smirnov, determining how much water in a person.

Worse is the case with people with increased fullness, the water in them is replaced by lipids, its content can drop to 55% and 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 excretion of metabolic products. Getting inside along with beneficial harmful substances neutralizes the liver. But the kidneys are occupied by the excretion of waste unnecessary substances. They have to remove various salts, acids, stress hormones (the same adrenaline). But for the normal functioning of the kidneys, 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 do not cope with the work and do not remove all the toxins from the body. The remaining solid suspensions form sand and stones in the kidneys with all the ensuing consequences.
Harmful substances, accumulating in the body, lead to its chronic intoxication. The result is almost all our illnesses. Therefore, not so important is the question of how much water there is in a person, how much it needs to be consumed, so that the body can work without failures in the normal regime.

How much water should I drink?

What do the doctors do when the patient comes to them with poisoning? Rinse the stomach, intestines and blood (put a dropper with water or isotonic solution). In such emergency conditions, the entire intracellular fluid is replaced in a few days. Normally (as doctors think) this should happen in 25-30 days. In practice, most people do not consume fluids, and update their body in about 160 days. In fact, a very sad figure.
But everyone can help themselves. Norm of consumed liquid generally also depends on how much a person consists of water, from his age, occupation, and even the time of the year. For example, for a person weighing 60 kg, this rate should not be less than 1.8 liters.