Water and Alcohol

Water constitutes 60 percent of your body. It is present in your skin, hair and even in your teeth and bones. Water acts as a universal solvent that dissolves minerals and other compounds and carries them throughout your body. Water carries nutrients and other necessary building materials to each cell in the body, besides being an integral part of the cells themselves. Water is critical to the body's chemical reactions and also removes impurities from the bloodstream and vital organs.

Water acts as an ideal cushion between joints, organs and sensitive tissues. It maintains pressure on the optic nerves enabling vision, helps to stabilize blood pressure and regulate body temperature. It also cools the body by getting converted into water vapor due to body heat.

Did you know that your body loses about 1,000 ml of water daily through sweating and bypassing urine? This amount needs to be replenished daily by drinking

fluids and food that contain moisture. Drinking eight glasses of water a day is a must to keep the cleaning and cooling systems of the body in prime condition.

Alcohol

Unfortunately, drinking is too often associated with hard liquor, beer or wine. However, it is wiser to opt for non-alcoholic beverages and water. Juices and squashes are better than aerated drinks. If you do drink alcohol, it should be in moderation. One drink means a small peg of hard liquor, a single cocktail, or a glass or two of wine or beer. But remember to eat before you consume alcohol. If you have not eaten for the last couple of hours, the liver's capacity to handle liquor will diminish, thereby increasing the effect of alcohol on your body.

For most people, two drinks in less than an hour will affect their judgment. After four standard drinks, a person loses all emotional control and eight drinks will affect your vision. Any more than this and the person could go totally haywire.

If you are hoping to lose weight, then your daily wine is a soulmate you can do without. Whether you like it or not, the fact remains that alcohol is fattening. Before you guzzle some more, cast an eye on the number of calories you take in with each sip. On an average, a peg of whiskey has 97 calories while a vodka martini will add anywhere between 105-125 calories to your frame. If you are fond of liquor, be prepared for at least 75-100 calories and with beer, anywhere between 90-145 calories.

While alcohol consumed in moderate quantities i.e. controlled and regulated drinking, is an accepted part of urban lifestyles today and may not necessarily be harmful, the consumption of excess liquor can be extremely damaging to one's health as well as one's mental equilibrium.