Better Living H2O is a daily necessity By Jen Stafford You can survive about eight weeks without eating before you start to show vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Without water, though, your body can go only a few hours before it gets dehydrated, and it will only take a few waterless days to die. Fortunately, it is rare that you would get into a situation where there was no water available at all. We have all the water we need at are finger tips - but are we getting enough? You are supposed to drink six to eight glasses of water a day (two to three liters). Since there is so much water in food, though, this number can be lowered some. Milk is 90% water, apples are 85% water, and even roast beef is 50% water. The majority of almost any liquid you may drink, whether it is Ocean Spray or Sprite is water, so the water you need in a day does not necessarily have to come from eight straight glasses of water. Even though we have a general guideline for how much water should be consumed in a day, it is really something that depends on several factors including, our age, size, amount of exercise, and the environmental temperature. Diuretics, drugs that promote fluid excretion also affect water you should drink. An example of a diuretic is caffeine. This means that even though most of coffee is water, you are not meeting your water needs by drinking it; in fact, your body will need more water to make up for the caffeine in it. Diet pills are also diuretics because they cause weight loss by minimizing the water in your body. The adult human body is about 60% water. Blood is 90% water, muscles are 75% water and bone is 25% water. This is why just a small deficiency in water can cause your blood volume to decrease and a little bit larger of a deficiency can cause confusion and disorientation. Enough of a loss of water will cause death by blood volume decrease, kidney function decline, and eventual circulatory system collapse. It is important to know that you will not die or even get really sick if you are not getting the recommended amount - exactly two to three liters a day. However, consuming the proper amounts of water will help your body regulate several of its everyday processes like excreting wastes, controlling body temperature, digesting, internal lubricating and cleansing, and chemical reactions. Are you getting enough water?