Why is water essential to health maintenance? Water is the “great regulator” in the body. It has several functions: to dissolve nutrients and move them throughout the body, to flush and carry waste particles from the body, and to assist in regulating pressure across all systems within the body. So, where is the water in our bodies? It is estimated the over half your body weight is comprised of water. Men actually tend to carry more water as they tend to have higher muscle mass: about 60 to 65% water. Muscle tissue is comprised of about 75% water. Women fall somewhere between 50 and 60% of water weight (Grosvenor, Smolin, 2006). Water is in the cells that make up tissue and organs: even in our bones. The water inside cells is called intracellular fluid and passes through the walls of cells with the assistance of proteins, sodium, and potassium which are dissolved in the body. This ebb and flow of intracellular fluid controls the levels of dissolved substances in the different compartments of the body. When particle concentrations are too high, water flows in to dilute, lowering the concentration to a proper level. When too low, water flows away from the compartment, thus raising the concentration. This process of diffusion is called osmosis. Osmosis is a mechanism in nature by which water in an organism is used to balance dissolved particle…