HomeFoodWater and your healthWhy we need water

In this report

Related Information

Reports:

Water filters

close Print
- Print page
- Print whole report
print
comments (1)
share

Water and your health Updated: 30 Apr 2010

Why we need water

Your body consists mainly of water - about 70 percent of your total body weight is water. Women typically have lower average body-water content than men because they tend to have more body fat, which contains less water than muscle tissue. It's possible to survive for more than 50 days without eating, but you can live only a few days without water.

Water is vital to all sorts of bodily functions. One key fluid - your blood - helps transport essential nutrients and oxygen around your body. Other fluids act as lubricants for joints and eyes, help you swallow, act as cushions for your nervous system, and help with waste disposal. And water helps regulate your body temperature - you sweat when you get too hot.

There are other ways in which water contributes to good health.

It maintains the health of your kidneys by helping flush toxins and body waste through them.
It reduces the risk of stones in your urinary tract (kidney stones or bladder stones).
Some research has suggested drinking plenty of fluid (particularly plain water) may reduce the risk of cancers of the colon and urinary tract (including kidneys and bladder) and breast cancer. However, it's too early for definitive conclusions to be drawn.
It's thought drinking more water (but not fatty or sugary drinks) could help prevent childhood and adolescent obesity, partly because it creates a feeling of fullness and also because we can sometimes mistake feeling thirsty for feeling hungry.