Prevent Migraines With Water

Most people know the basics of water. It has a simple chemical formula of H2O which means that each water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms bonded together. It covers almost 71 percent of the earth's surface and, on average, the human body is made out of 60 percent of water. It's also considered vital to human survival. Some medical studies indicate that one of the biggest contributors to pain and disease in the human body is chronic water shortages.

Water in Your Body

For your body to function well it needs to regularly have water and salt too. Water makes sure your cells are the right size and salt helps control the amount of water outside your cells. Build-up of acidic wastes has been connected to causing migraines. Making sure you have enough water to help flush these acidic wastes out of your body has been shown to help prevent migraines even if water alone doesn't eliminate them entirely.

What Water Does

Water transports many wastes from the organs and tissues in your body. It also carries oxygen to the different cells in your body. Water is also crucial to helping your body break down fatty acids and proteins into amino acids the body can use to grow, function and repair itself.

Water When You're Thirsty Is Too Late

It's possible to be dehydrated and not even know it. By the time dehydration symptoms show up, your body will have been suffering from a lack of sufficient water for quite some time. Even if you feel you don't do enough physical activity to lose large amounts of water, you can easily lose 50 ounces a day simply by sweating, breathing or urinating.

How Much Is Enough?

If you're feeling thirsty, then there's a good chance that you're already dehydrated. So you want to make sure you have enough water daily before you reach this point. For years you may have been told that you should drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses (64 ounces) of water a day. This is a good starting point, but the amount of water you need should be based more on your size and activity level. Some doctors suggest you drink one ounce of water for every two pounds. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds you should drink 75 ounces to make sure your body gets enough water.

Over hydration is possible too, but extremely rare for the average person. One hundred ounces of water daily for an average-size person isn't going to dilute the electrolytes in your body and cause conditions like heart attacks.

How to Get That Water

Water doesn't always have to come in a glass even though it's easier to measure if you're getting the right amount daily this way. You can also get water from fruits many of which are made up to 90 percent of water. Natural herb teas, whether hot or cold, are a good option as well since they're made mostly out of water and you can control the sugar content.