Water Mass is the accumulative water content of the body contained in the cells, tissues, blood, bones and organs. The average human adult male is approximately 60% water, and the average adult female is approximately 50%. Both of these increase for elite athletes who have more muscle and decrease for adults who have too much body fat.
Water plays a vital role in many of the body's processes and is found in every cell, tissue, and organ. Maintaining a healthy total body water percentage will ensure the body functions efficiently and will reduce the risk of developing associated health problems.
The body’s water levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day and night. Water is continuously lost through urine, sweat, and breathing. Eating large meals, consuming alcohol, menstruation, illness, exercising, and bathing can cause variations in an individual’s hydration levels.
However, please note that your body water reading should act as a guide and should not be used to specifically determine your absolute recommended total body water percentage. It is important to look for long-term changes in the percentage and maintain a consistent and healthy total body water percentage.
The body cannot produce enough water by metabolism or food alone to fulfil its needs, so it must be replenished. In the typical UK climate, an individual should drink a minimum of 1.2 litres (six to eight glasses) a day. This minimum should be increased if you are undertaking exercise or strenuous work.
The five climate types of tropical, dry, temperate, continental, and polar will also impact total water levels. Surprisingly, changes in body weight due to climate typically take the form of weight gain, not lost as the body acclimates to activity levels in the heat.
The amount of water that is lost and replaced by the body is called ‘water turnover.’ This is typically 2 to 3 litres (0.5 to 0.8 gallon), per day. Daily water loss is principally made up of urine and sweat.
As daily water needs are dictated by activity and temperature levels, higher temperatures and intense activity will increase sweating and therefore water requirements. In high humidity sweat will drip rather than evaporate from the body and this reduces cooling qualities.
In the summer, body weight can go up due to retained body water. This is facilitated through fluid conserving hormones such as ‘aldosterone.’ This enables the kidneys to retain fluid and reduce salt in sweat which assists water retention. However, this will not occur in air-conditioned environments.
Water distribution in the body is broken down into two categories: intracellular water and extracellular water.
Extracellular water is fluid outside the cell walls and consists of mainly blood plasma and tissue fluid (a solution that bathes and surrounds the tissue cells). This water stores some nutrients and helps to remove waste from inside the cell. As a general rule, one third of total body water should be extracellular (outside the cell).
Intracellular water consists mostly of water, dissolved ions, small molecules, and large water-soluble molecules (such as proteins). Water is needed inside the cell to help retain water-soluble nutrients such as vitamins B and C. The optimum amount of water that should be inside the cell differs according to gender and age. As a general rule, two thirds of total body water should be intracellular (inside the cell).
Water plays a vital role in many of the body's processes and is found in every cell, tissue, and organ. Maintaining a healthy total body water percentage will ensure the body functions efficiently and will reduce the risk of developing associated health problems.
The body’s water levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day and night. Water is continuously lost through urine, sweat, and breathing. Eating large meals, consuming alcohol, menstruation, illness, exercising, and bathing can cause variations in an individual’s hydration levels.
However, please note that your body water reading should act as a guide and should not be used to specifically determine your absolute recommended total body water percentage. It is important to look for long-term changes in the percentage and maintain a consistent and healthy total body water percentage.
The body cannot produce enough water by metabolism or food alone to fulfil its needs, so it must be replenished. In the typical UK climate, an individual should drink a minimum of 1.2 litres (six to eight glasses) a day. This minimum should be increased if you are undertaking exercise or strenuous work.
The five climate types of tropical, dry, temperate, continental, and polar will also impact total water levels. Surprisingly, changes in body weight due to climate typically take the form of weight gain, not lost as the body acclimates to activity levels in the heat.
The amount of water that is lost and replaced by the body is called ‘water turnover.’ This is typically 2 to 3 litres (0.5 to 0.8 gallon), per day. Daily water loss is principally made up of urine and sweat.
As daily water needs are dictated by activity and temperature levels, higher temperatures and intense activity will increase sweating and therefore water requirements. In high humidity sweat will drip rather than evaporate from the body and this reduces cooling qualities.
In the summer, body weight can go up due to retained body water. This is facilitated through fluid conserving hormones such as ‘aldosterone.’ This enables the kidneys to retain fluid and reduce salt in sweat which assists water retention. However, this will not occur in air-conditioned environments.
If you have any questions, please seek advice from a medical or fitness professional where you use boditrax, or get in touch with boditrax anytime via support@boditrax.com
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