Today is World Water Day as declared by the United Nations in an effort to get us all thinking more about the need for clean water supplies worldwide, especially in third world countries. I’m going to take a different angle on today’s celebration and write about the importance of water when it comes to maintaining caregiver health and energy.

Instead of thinking about water needs around the globe, I want you to think of your body like the globe. The earth’s surface is 70 percent water. So is most of your body.

Here is the percentage of water composition throughout your body according to Watercure.com:

• Lungs (90%)
• Blood (82%)
• Brain (76%)
• Muscles (75%)
• Bones (25%)

You can see why staying hydrated is essential for your body to continue working properly. According to EverydayHealth, drinking enough water every day throughout the day will help you prevent heartburn, it will help ease the pain in joints caused by issues such as rheumatoid arthritis, it will decrease heart pain (angina is lack of water in the heart/lung axis), it can help reduce or eliminate migraines (which can sometimes mean there is lack of water in the eyes and brain), it reduces bouts of colitis related to constipation in the large intestine and can help manage asthma (when combined with salt), which affects 1 in 12 Americans, including 14 million children. Water also helps the kidneys flush the toxins from your body.

Although the latest Institute of Medicine report shows eight glasses of any liquid is beneficial, try to stay away from diet sodas, which are typically high in sodium and can cause bloating. These sodas also contain phosphoric acid a major contributor to the development of osteoporosis. In addition, diet soda has high levels of acidity which are thought to be one of the major causes of chronic inflammation.  A plethora of health issues are attributed to chronic inflammation including arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and even Alzheimer’s disease.

When it comes to caregiver stress, drinking more water may be able to put out those flames of burn-out and stress.  Coffee is often the go-to drink for caregivers feeling they need a pick-me-up or caffeine boost to get through exhausting days.  However, coffee can raise your levels of cortisol – the notorious stress hormone according to Nicholas Perricone, M.D., author of 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health, and Longevity.  Swapping coffee for hot tea may be the prescription you need (I know I love my Starbucks iced mocha, too). A University of London study found participants who drank regular black tea displayed lower levels of cortisol, and reported feeling calmer during six weeks of stressful situations. However, I can offer some good news for coffee drinkers: a 2012 study of 42,000 people published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found regular coffee drinkers had a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and had no higher risk of heart disease or cancer than non-coffee drinkers.

Caregivers also struggle with weight management (38% say they have gained or lost weight since becoming a caregiver) according to a caregiver health risk study conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving. Water can help you lose weight because it fills you up. A study done in Germany showed subjects who drank 17 ounces more water increased their metabolic rates (rate at which you burn calories) by 30 percent. However, you can drink too much water, so don’t become Esther Williams yet. People with certain heart conditions, high blood pressure and edema (swelling in lower legs) need to be careful about adding too much water drinking to their daily routine before consulting a physician first.

While different experts vary on the amount of water you should drink every day, the consensus has been 64 ounces a day (8 glasses at 8 ounces each).  More recent reports are advising another measurement:

Take half your body weight and drink that much water in ounces. If you drink 64 ounces, you should only weigh 128 pounds. While that is what it may say on your driver’s license, the reality is if you are a 140-pound woman, you need to drink at least 70 ounces of water a day and if you are a 180-pound man you want to increase your water intake to 90 ounces.

My message to caregivers: drink up (water) and float away to better health!

Excerpted from A Cast of Caregivers – Celebrity Stories to Help You Prepare to Care by Sherri Snelling (Balboa Press).