To what extent does the human body consist of water? Water for the human body. Lack of water in the body. How to take water. Daily water requirement



Have you ever wondered in your spare time how much water is in the human body? Quite often it happens to hear from various sources that the amount of this liquid reaches 90% or is close to this. It turns out that this information is not entirely accurate, since different people The percentage of water in the body is not the same. Several significant reasons affect the amount of H 2 O. This is the age, gender of a person, body type, state of health.


The story about how much water is in the human body can start with specific numbers. In adults, the normal percentage of water is between 55 and 70 percent. It is distributed unevenly in organs. Bone contains the least amount of fluid. There it is only about 32 - 35%. Largest quantity H 2 O contains the brain. In this thinking organ, the amount of fluid reaches 90%. It is approximately 80% in the blood.


She's not just like that spills in organs in pure form. Most of it (about 70%) is distributed inside the cells. The remaining part of the fluid is usually called extracellular. It is part of the blood (plasma), lymph.


The water content in the body is not the same in people of different ages. During the period when the embryo just begins to form in the mother's womb, it consists of more than 90% of this useful liquid. By birth, its number is significantly reduced. Newborns have approximately 80% H2O by weight.


Also decreases the amount of this fluid in elderly people. For them this number is close to 55 - 57%.


Affects the percentage of water content in the human body and our weight,

physique. It is a mistake to think that the more a person weighs, the more water there is in the body. Everything is just the opposite: than obese people, the more adipose tissue they have, the less of it is in their cells. Lean, lean people have about 70% of this fluid in their bodies.

The human body is not so simple. Nature has decreed that this colorless liquid found in the human body performs so many functions:


  • Participates in metabolism

  • Is the building material for our cells

  • Dissolves solids

  • Saves us from intoxication

  • Removes unnecessary substances

While in healthy body enough H 2 O, few people think about what can happen if a loss of fluid is suddenly discovered or there is an excess of it. Non-compliance with the norm is always bad for the body, since each condition gives rise to its own ailments, and sometimes very serious illnesses.


As soon as the percentage of water in the body increases, edema appears. This does not mean that a lot of liquid was drunk during the day, but indicates that some organ is not coping with its job. The most common cause of swelling is kidney and heart disease.


Often the percentage of water content in the body decreases, that is, goes down below permissible norm. This leads to dehydration. The first signs of such trouble:


With constant dehydration, a number of chronic diseases develop diseases. You can avoid them if you take the prescribed amount every day. quantity liquids, but there are no exact instructions here, since each human body has its own characteristics. The first thing to consider is weight. Approximately 30 mg of fluid per day is required per 1 kg of body weight. Increases slightly given quantity consumption on hot days. People engaged in physical work drink more fluid, as the body uses more of it. Persons suffering from kidney disease or hypertension should consult a doctor regarding use amount of liquid per day so as not to harm yourself.

Various nutrients And biological fluids contained in every living cell of the body in the form of life-giving aqueous solution. In particular, (92%), and the minimum – in adipose tissue – up to 25%.

In general, the human body contains from 86% (in newborns) to 50% (in old people) water.

Continuing statistical research, we note that the cellular protoplasm inside the cells contains 70% of the body’s water. Intracellular water has increased biological activity and is called structured. It is able to provide the body's resistance to the effects of destabilizing and aggressive factors. environment.

The proportion of extracellular fluid is 30%, it consists of intercellular fluid itself (20%), lymph water (2%) and blood plasma water (8%).

Thus, water is distributed inside the cells of the body (two thirds) and outside the cellular space (one third). Extracellular fluid contains bicarbonates, chlorides and large number sodium ions, and the intracellular fluid contains potassium, proteins and phosphate ester anions.

Water enters the human body not only in the form of liquid, it accounts for less than half total number(48%), but also as part of dense foods (40%). Another twelve percent is the result of metabolism nutrients. The water in the body is constantly renewed, and this process moves at high speed: seventy percent of the water in the blood plasma is renewed in a minute. All tissues of the body are involved in water metabolism, but the maximum intensity occurs in the kidneys, lungs, skin and gastrointestinal tract.

The main organ regulating water-salt metabolism is the kidneys, but the composition and amount of urine excreted varies widely. Under the influence of activity conditions and taking into account the composition of food and liquid consumed, the amount of daily urine varies from half to two and a half liters.

Through direct evaporation and sweating, water is removed from the body through the skin. Direct evaporation gives from a glass to one and a half water per day, but the amount of sweat largely depends on the intensity of physical activity and environmental conditions.

Up to half a liter of water is exhaled through the lungs in the form of vapor, but this amount can increase with increasing physical stress on the body. The inhaled air contains one and a half percent water, and in the exhaled air its content increases to six percent.

Very active in regulation water-salt metabolism gastrointestinal tract, and the amount of continuously secreted digestive juices can reach eight liters per day. However, a significant part of these juices is reabsorbed and, as a result, no more than four percent is excreted from the body with feces. The liver, which is able to retain a significant amount of fluid, is also involved in the regulation of water-salt metabolism.

Symptoms of dehydration

  • The loss of one percent of water by the body provokes;
  • at two percent of water loss, a decrease in endurance is observed;
  • at three percent strength is lost;
  • at five – urination and salivation decrease, an increased heart rate is observed, muscle weakness, apathy and nausea.

Water itself has no nutritional value but it's irreplaceable component all living things. Plants, like other organisms, contain up to 90% water. The primary role of water in the life processes of all living beings is explained by the fact that water is a universal solvent of a huge number of substances, in other words, it is an environment in which all life processes can take place.

Life cannot exist without water. Many have heard the phrase that “a person is 80% water.” Indeed, there is a lot of water in our body, although somewhat less than stated in the popular expression above. In fact general content water in humans (“total body water”) - 50-70% of body weight.
Water in our body is the main solvent; it is in the aquatic environment that many chemical reactions associated with the transformations of various biomolecules take place. Water also serves as a universal coolant, carried by the bloodstream, it cools the most actively working organs. In addition, water also performs a number of special functions, for example, takes part in maintaining acid-base balance in the blood.
We have water both inside (“intracellular water”) and outside cells (“extracellular water”). Extracellular and intracellular water constitute the basis of the extracellular and intracellular spaces, respectively (see below). In this case, blood water (more precisely, blood plasma water) is part of extracellular water. Since blood is in the vessels, such water is also called intravascular. The remaining, and most of it, part of the extracellular water directly washes the cells and is called interstitial(intercellular) water, or sterstitial liquid. Water molecules located in various water spaces of the body continuously exchange with each other. At the same time, water penetrates very easily through cell membranes, entering and leaving cells (in chemistry, membranes that are permeable to water, but impermeable to any other substances, are called semi-permeable membranes, therefore cell membranes are semi-permeable). Also, water easily crosses the walls of capillaries, leaving or, conversely, returning to the vascular bed.
Although some water is formed in the human body during the combustion of nutrients (on average, a person with a body weight of 70 kg has about 300 ml of the so-called endogenous water), most of it must come from food and drink: This is due to the fact that water in large quantities is lost from the body. Most of the water is excreted in the urine. The fact is that the kidneys are forced to excrete water in order to release excess substances that are unnecessary or toxic to the body. In addition, quite a lot of water is lost through sweat, during breathing (exhaled air is essentially water vapor) and through stool. Water loss through the skin, lungs and gastrointestinal tract is called unnoticeable losses water, although in fact, even in normal conditions they can reach 500 - 1000 ml, and with intense physical activity or an increase in ambient temperature they increase several times.

What do we know about water today?

Modern scientists have discovered the fourth state water - informational. I recommend it to everyone Necessarily watch a unique television project "Water - the Great Mystery of Living Water."

Water - The Great Mystery of Living Water

The Mystery of Living Water

This is a bright and dynamic film about the gift called life, the emergence of which on our planet we owe to the only substance in the world that can preserve it in the future - water.

Now humanity is on the threshold of a completely different understanding of the laws of the universe, opening up new prospects for treating complex diseases with water.

After all, water remembers its natural origin and is endowed special abilities. She is not only charged with emotions from everything she meets on her way. Water is capable of receiving, storing and transmitting information.

About your results scientific research the properties of the water element are told by world-famous scientists from Japan, the USA, Great Britain, Austria, Israel, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

And Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto shows photographs of water documenting its ability to respond to words, emotions and even human thought.

The prospects opening up in the light of the latest studies of the structure of water are simply colossal. Thanks to her memory, we will be able to heal not only ourselves, but also the planet on which we live.

In the film, many surprises await us on the way to learning the secrets of our old friend - water, about which, as it turns out, we know so inexcusably little...

What kind of water does the body need?

In a living organism, especially inside a cell, water works completely differently than ordinary water! This is primarily explained by the fact that the water used by the body is qualitatively different from ordinary drinking water. It is strictly structured...

The structure of macromolecules is the key to the behavior of water. This is where the accumulation of energy and information occurs. Only in this structured water living molecules of our body are capable of carrying out the most important biophysical and biochemical reactions.

At the same time, ordinary drinking water is a chaotic accumulation of molecules. Biological molecules themselves are loosely located between the molecules of such water and therefore do not retain it well.

To turn plain water in a structured way, to assimilate it into cellular level, the body wastes its energy. And the more of this energy is spent, the more harmful impurities there are in the water.

It has been reliably established that water has memory. It turns out that information about the presence of harmful toxic impurities in the water is not erased during normal filtration and the water remains, in fact, “sick.”

In principle, a person should consume as much water as he loses. Therefore they say that healthy person exists in a state water balance. This balance primarily depends on the condition of the kidneys. Healthy kidneys they know how to save water when it is insufficient in the body (temporary restriction of access to water consumption) or when there are large extrarenal losses (we all know that in hot weather, when we sweat intensely, the amount of urine excreted decreases). At the same time, with kidney disease, and especially with chronic renal failure or nephrotic syndrome, the ability of the kidneys to regulate water balance is impaired.

In this case, most often the kidneys begin to excrete less water, which leads to the appearance of edema (accumulation of excess water in the interstitial fluid) and growth blood pressure. However, in initial stages With chronic renal failure, the amount of urine produced may even increase, which can lead to dehydration.

Water -Participation in metabolism

Water is directly involved in metabolism, which underlies all life processes.

Metabolism is the continuous replacement of one molecules with others, i.e. disintegration of some and synthesis of the same or other molecules, needed by the body V at the moment and in this place. Metabolism requires a continuous supply of energy, and water also plays a key role in its production in the body.

About the importance of water in basic biochemical reactions has been known for a long time, but only in lately it was discovered that some processes require one kind of water, others require a completely different one, still others need some kind of water, etc.

Then a situation is possible in which the body may suffer from thirst with a seemingly excess of water in it due to a shortage of what it needs at the moment.

Hydrolysis reaction

For example, to obtain nutrients from food and building materials The main components of food - proteins and carbohydrates - must be broken down into small fragments.

This occurs due to hydrolysis - the breakdown of polymers with water. But for hydrolysis to take place, the water molecule itself must split into two parts. This means that the efficiency of the breakdown of food polymer molecules depends not only on their composition and structure, not only on the enzymes that break them down, but also on whether, where hydrolysis occurs, there is enough water that has the structural strength necessary to carry out this reaction organization.

Hydrolysis also occurs in the internal environment of the body, where some polymers are continuously replaced by others, where intracellular and extracellular structures are constantly rearranged. By hydrolysis, old, spent biopolymers or those that are not currently needed are eliminated.

Polycondensation reaction

New biopolymers must replace those disassembled into small pieces. They are assembled in a cage of molecular bricks, which required sequence are connected to each other. When a new link is attached to the growing biopolymer chain, one molecule of water is released. This chemical reaction is called polycondensation, and it is essentially the opposite of hydrolysis.

Naturally, where synthesis occurs, properties aquatic environment should differ sharply from water in places of hydrolysis. In the place where hydrolysis occurs, it must be more free to provide a sufficient number of free molecules for hydrolysis. Until now, these considerations have generally not been taken into account when considering metabolism.

Participation in energy processes

It is known that a significant part of the energy processes in the cells of any body is provided by ATP molecules, which carry easily accessible energy, and when broken down, they release it into in the right place V right time. To carry out any act of life, for example, muscle contraction, the ATP molecule will disintegrate into two fragments - an ADP molecule and the remainder phosphoric acid, and this decomposition is hydrolysis. That is, energy is released during the breakdown of an ATP molecule and a water molecule

Another famous source energy is the difference in electrical potential between the cell and the environment due to the uneven distribution of potassium and sodium ions between them.

The concentration of potassium in a living cell is much higher than in the environment. And there is much more sodium in the environment than in the cell. This difference is especially great in nerve cells, where it reaches many tens of millivolts.

Conduction of a nerve impulse is an electrical discharge in which potassium ions are released from the cell and sodium ions enter it. The cell then directs metabolic energy to restore the potential until its next discharge.

Almost no attention is paid to the role of water in this process, although the redistribution of potassium and sodium ions is accompanied by both a redistribution of water between the cell and the environment, and a significant change in its properties.

Since each ion is surrounded by several water molecules, much more water is redistributed than the ions themselves. This means that here, too, the role of water both in cells and in the extracellular environment should determine the efficiency of nerve impulses, i.e. functioning of the nervous system.

The same can be said about other excitable cells, for example, muscle cells, and primarily about the cells of the heart muscle. Therefore, the state of water is essential for electrical activity all cells of a living organism.

Participation of water in oxidative combustion reactions

Surprisingly, it turned out that water can act as a flammable substance in cells.

At the turn of the new millennium, several laboratories around the world discovered that in normal conditions: at normal temperatures and pressures, water can be directly oxidized by active oxygen to form other active forms.

Thus, in 2000, American scientists established that water can be oxidized by activated oxygen (singlet oxygen), resulting in the formation of the well-known hydrogen peroxide.

Antibodies promote water combustion

American scientists have proven that the oxidation of water with oxygen, and in essence, its combustion, constantly occurs in the blood of humans and animals. It has long been known that protective proteins circulating in the blood - antibodies - bind to molecules foreign to the body for their subsequent elimination.

The discovery was that antibodies help water burn. They organize water in space in such a way that it catalyzes its own oxidation by singlet oxygen to hydrogen peroxide. This property of antibodies obviously contributes to their effective performance protective functions. Since reactive oxygen species are strong disinfectants This means that viruses and bacteria are damaged already at the moment antibodies bind to them, because the water literally “burns” around them.

Antibodies also protect the body from its own molecules if they do not meet the established “standard”. As we noted above, normally old, worn-out molecules are eliminated through hydrolysis. Another way to remove them is to burn them with reactive oxygen species.

During hydrolysis, high-polymer “waste” metabolism produces bricks that can be used to build new biopolymers and other biomolecules currently needed by the body.

When waste is burned, the energy contained in it is released. The effectiveness of both processes requires, among other things, important factors(presence of appropriate enzymes, sufficient supply of active oxygen to burn “waste”) and special structural organization of water.

If optimal conditions for waste removal are not provided, “non-standard” molecules, essentially toxins, accumulate in organs and tissues, and in extreme cases, tumor degeneration of cells occurs.

And then the cells join in the fight against these “internal enemies.” immune system, and antibodies that are capable of independently structuring water and “burning” the enemy with the help active forms oxygen.

The key role of water in all life processes

So, water plays a key role in absolutely all processes that ensure the life of any organism.

Violation of its normal structural organization, or rather the relationship of various structural organizations and dynamic characteristics can serve as one of the main causes of a wide variety of diseases.

This means that preventing diseases or curing someone who is already sick requires no less than attentive attitude to the water base of the organism than to the state of its “solid” molecules, because normal operation The transformation of all cells, organs and tissues is possible only when water and “solid” inclusions in it function in harmony.

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Many people have heard that a person is 80% water. But what percentage of a person actually consists of water? Everyone is familiar with the state of dehydration that develops in the body in the summer, when it’s hot, and when intestinal infections, for example, cholera and dysentery. So how much water is there really in the body? Here's what researchers think about it.

How much of a person is made of water?

In fact, the ratio of water and other substances in the body depends on age, climate, time of year, amount of fluid consumed during the day and many other factors. What percentage of an adult is made up of water? this is approximately 60%. However, this norm is not absolute. If you healthy man For 40 years, the figure ranges from 62% to 70%, then for an elderly person this figure decreases and is about 50%. However, much depends on the condition, weather conditions, the amount of fluid consumed, salt and many foods, and health status. But the body of an embryo consists of 97% water. The amount of this fluid in the body of a newborn is 90%, in a child 5 - 7 years old - 80%. However, how much water a person consists of as an adult depends on:

Climatic conditions;

The ratio of liquid and salt in water. If a person consumes water and salty foods, then the salt retains liquid in the tissues and its ratio changes;

From weight - the larger it is, the more water may be in the body;

From the amount of fluid consumed and the speed of metabolism;

Depending on the time of year. In summer, dehydration occurs faster, especially if a person is in the sun a lot;

From illnesses. With some diseases, the amount of water in the body becomes more or less than normal;

From physical activity. After taking a bath, visiting the fitness room and any physical work a person needs to restore the balance of water in the body.

There are other factors that affect the percentage of water in the body.

Why does the body need water?

This liquid is involved in all metabolic processes, and it doesn’t matter how much a person consists of water. If there is not enough of it in the body, thirst appears, and a person simply needs to find water somewhere or drink another liquid. Experts usually advise drinking as much as possible during the day, since it is water that removes various toxins from the body, especially during illness. If a person begins to drink less regular, plain water, without additional substances, than he needs, then he gets sick, begins to age prematurely, and may even get heatstroke. Most of the water in the body is found in the brain, blood, and excretory system. There is a lot of it in other tissues. An indicator that there is not enough fluid in the body is not only thirst, but also poor condition hair and skin. After you drink even a little water, you feel much better.

Therefore, for health, it does not matter how much water a person consists of, the main thing is to drink enough of it during the day. However, you should also consume little salt to excess liquid did not linger in the tissues. Otherwise, toxins will spoil the microflora of the body, causing illness.

So, the average percentage of a person consists of water is 60%. However . It all depends on the person’s weight, age and height, time of year and other factors. The main indicator that there is enough water in the body is the absence of thirst. If it is there, it means that the body does not have enough water and urgently needs to replenish its deficiency.

Water in the body is the most an important component body weight and provides:

  • 50 – 55% of a woman’s body weight,
  • 60 – 65% of male body weight,
  • 65-75% of the child's body.

The percentage of water in the human body depends on age and gender. A newborn is made up of 75% water because its organs and tissues are not yet developed. Only after the age of 12 do gender differences become visible. This ratio is higher for boys and men than for girls and women. This is due to a simple reason, namely the anatomical structure.

Water plays important role in the human body, firstly, nutrients dissolve in water, which in liquid form reach every cell of the body. Water also helps digestion because it is found in saliva. gastric juice, intestines and bile. In addition to stimulating bowel function and detoxifying the body of toxins by removing waste products such as urea or carbon dioxide. Water also regulates body temperature by spreading heat throughout the body. We can notice this function with the naked eye - on hot days or during illness we sweat excessively, because in this way the body “refuses” excess heat due to the evaporation of water. Water is also an important component of all body fluids that protect internal organs: brain, spinal cord, eyeball etc. Thanks to water, these organs are not damaged by friction during movement.

Dehydration – signs of water deficiency in the body

The body regulates the water content in our body every day, but there are situations where this process is not natural. These may include digestive processes– diarrhea, vomiting, excessive physical activity, taking thermostats or diuretics. All of these factors can lead to dehydration and the following symptoms:

  • scars before the eyes,
  • muscle pain, cramps,
  • abnormal heart function,
  • abdominal pain, constipation,
  • lowering blood pressure,
  • dark color of urine.

Hydration is the key to health

The need for water depends on many factors: gender, body weight, physiological state, physical activity, temperature prevailing outside ... It is usually believed that 1 calorie consumed is 1 ml of water, that is, a person consuming 2000 kilocalories per day should drink 2 liters of liquid per day.

There is also another way to calculate water needs, which takes into account body weight, where:

  • for the first 10 kg there is 100 ml of water per kilogram,
  • another 10 kg – 50 ml,
  • Each additional kilogram is 20 ml.

For example, a person weighing 70 kg should drink 2.5 liters per day. It comes from a mathematical equation:

(10 kg x 100 ml) + (10 kg x 50 ml) + (50 kg × 20 ml) = 2500 ml of water per day.

In addition, people playing sports or on vacation in warm countries should consume correspondingly more water. This is necessary for the proper functioning of the body.

Don't wait until your throat is dry to drink water. Stay hydrated and enjoy your well-being!