Oct. 22, 2014

By Jordan Gittens

When you hear ‘thirst,’ a few graphic images may come to mind.

You’re probably thinking of that guy with excess acne and a body odor that a could kill a rose vine miles away. Maybe that time you were studying in the library and that frat guy – in a far too tight T-shirt – sits at your table amongst a sea of vacant chairs and couches. Or maybe even the small question “do you gotta kik” sparks a traumatic memory… I’m sure we could go on and on about our experiences with the dreaded ‘thirst,’ but today that isn’t exactly the thirst I’m referring to.

Did you realize around this age our body is about 50 to 65 percent water? It’s a common misconception that we are 90 percent water but that is simply not true. If we are being honest, being made of that much water would cause hyponatremia. But, for now, hold that thought.

I’m going to assume you have access to water fairly easy. Well you are lucky, my friend. I’m sure you know you’re supposed to drink a minimum of 8 cups of water a day. So let’s take a minute and think about how much water we drink (and the ice in your frap from Starbucks doesn’t count).

Now that you’ve contemplated how much:

• More than 8 cups – you are on point, werk.

• About 8 cups – we can’t all be superstars.

• Less than 8 cups – do better.

Water helps so much when it comes to your body and well-being. As much as we love juice and soda, our body doesn’t actually need them. All those random zits and planet-sized pimples can probably be accounted from the soda, so cut out the bubbly. Even our favorite sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade are loaded with sugar and aren’t necessary to keep you hydrated. Water is quite the opposite. When your skin is hydrated that’s just one less factor to worry with your T-Zone and skin in general. Also with water, you will feel more energized to do things like work out, study and even read. It’s like a system update for your body.

So with all this being said, I think it’s time we start taking advantage of all this excess water we are exposed to.  If you drink less than 8 cups of water, starting today, you could try to be more conscious of that and drink up. Water even does this cool thing where you feel full so you’re not binge eating. What I’ve recently started doing is drinking a glass of water almost every hour I am awake. It helps a load to keep me constantly hydrated. However, while doing this it is important to keep a balanced diet because you could get water poisoning. Remember when I said “hyponatremia” and you thought I was pretentiously name slipping some off-the-wall disease you could never get? Well I wasn’t. It’s actually just the name for water poisoning (so yeah, maybe it’s still a little pretentious). It’s basically drinking too much water and is similar to the effect of too much alcohol.

So whether you’re getting “Drunk In Love” (not drunk on water!) with a cutie, dodging some guy who can’t – or possibly won’t – take a hint, or trading in the daily use of your gold card for a smart water, the more water you drink, the more your body will love you.