JANUARY 2015
The Importance of Water
Water is your body’s principal chemical component and makes up about 60
percent of your body weight. Every system in your body depends on water.
For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients
to your cells, and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat
tissues. - www.mayoclinic.org
For those who are participating in the
2015 Midamerica Strong Program,
we have officially as of January 1st!
In addition to the step challenges
and weight loss challenge, we are
implementing additional health and
wellness challenges.
The first challenge of the new year is
the water challenge. The purpose of
this challenge is to promote a healthy
consumption of daily water intake. The
recommended daily water intake is eight
- 8 ounce glasses each day.
tired is one of the first signs of
dehydration. Next time you feel a
case of the sleepies coming on, try
drinking a couple glasses of water
to boost your energy.
•
Heart health. There may be a link
between heart disease
and water consumption,
in a good way! Research
suggest
a
correlation
between consuming more
water lowering the risk of
coronary heart disease.
Benefits of Water
Drink of Choice?
Drinking water is so important for good
health. Why? Your body is estimated to
be about 60 to 70 percent water. Blood is
mostly water, and your muscles, lungs,
and brain all contain a lot of water.
Twenty percent of your water
need will come from the foods
you eat. The rest of your
water should come from the
beverages you drink. Water
is the best choice.
Your body needs water to regulate body
temperatures and to provide the means
for nutrients to travel to all your organs.
Water also transports oxygen to your
cells, removes waste, and protects your
joints and organs.
Here are some more benefits of water:
•
•
It could help with weight loss. Extra
water
consumption
(especially
before a meal) helps you feel fuller
and in turn may eat less. It may
also help boost your metabolism.
It could give you energy. Feeling
Be mindful of soda or sugary
drinks. Sugar can dehydrate
you if it gets very high levels
in your blood. Even drinks that
appear to be healthy for you
could be high in sugar.
Soda = 39 g of sugar (average
12 oz can)
Vitamin Water = 33 g of sugar
(20 oz bottle)
We all know how hard it is to get your
recommended daily allowance of water.
Attention Midamerica Strong
Participants:
The January Challenge is to
drink eight - 8 ounce glasses
of water daily for the week of
JANUARY 19-25.
So be sure to have water handy at all
times such as by keeping a bottle of
water with you while working, traveling
or exercising. Water can be a boring
drink. To spice it up you may add a bit
of lemon or lime for a touch of flavor.
Check out some the flavored
water recipes on the back!
Dehydration
During the Midamerica Strong
Program you are probably or
should be more active than
usual so be careful that you
do not get DEHYDRATED.
Dehydration is defined as
excessive loss of body water.
Symptoms of mild dehydration
include chronic pains in joints
and muscles, lower back pain,
headaches and constipation.
Thirst is an obvious sign of
dehydration s and in fact, you
need water long before you
feel thirsty.
Mild
or
moderate
signs
of
dehydration
include:
sleepiness, decreased urine
output, dry skin, headache,
dizziness or lightheadedness.
Some
severe
signs
of
dehydration include: extreme thirst,
very dry mouth, little or no urination,
sunken eyes, shriveled skin, low
blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, rapid
Did You Know?
You can consume too much water! Drinking too much water can
quickly lead to water intoxication. Water intoxication occurs when
water dilutes the sodium level in the bloodstream and causes an
imbalance of water in the brain.
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. For further information, please consult a medical professional.
breathing or fever.
A good estimate to figure how much
water you need to drink per day is to
take your body weight in pounds and
divide that number in half. This will
give you the number of ounces of water
per day that you need to drink. For
example, if you weigh 160 pounds, you
would need to drink 80 ounces of water
per day.
the raspberries to the container. Press
and twist raspberries with a muddler
(trying not to pulverize the fruit). Fill
with ice and water, stir and enjoy!
Recipes
Citrus Flavored Water
1 Orange
1 Lemon
1 Lime
Ice + Water
Slice each item and put into a pitcher or
glass jar with ice and water. For a more
intense flavor, squeeze some of the
juice into the container. You can drink
right away or let the flavors intensify for
a couple of hours.
Raspberry Lime Flavored Water
2 Limes
2 Handfuls of Fresh Raspberries
Ice + Water
Quarter slice 2 limes and squeeze them
into your container, and then throw the
squeezed limes into the container. Add
After reading through the health information, please answer the questions below. Submit
your completed questions to Jen Pobst at the Central Office via mail, fax or email and your
form will be entered into a drawing for prizes!
Fax:573.334.3567 Email: [email protected]
Name (please print): __________________________________ Location: __________
questions
1. List 2 benefits of drinking water. ________________________________________
2. How much water is recommended daily? __________________________________
3. List 2 signs of SEVERE dehydration. ______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. It is impossible to drink too much water. (circle one)
TRUE
FALSE
5. Did you complete the eight - 8 oz glasses of water daily for January 19 - 25?
(circle one)
YES
NO
Please turn in completed form by January 31, 2015.
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. For further information, please consult a medical professional.