If you observe an animal, any animal (except maybe a camel), over a period of twenty-four hours, you will notice that it drinks water frequently. Not tea, coffee, cola, or Perrier, but water. Everybody needs water. The absolutely first thing I ask people who come to me for nutritional consultation is, "How much water do you drink everyday?" I’ve found many people don’t drink enough water, and often not any water! This is an invitation to disease and imbalance.

Water is essential, not only for life, but for balance between the two primary intra- and extracellular minerals in the body, potassium and sodium, and for proper functioning of the organs and systems of the body. Water must be drunk daily, on an empty stomach and in large quantities. What is a large quantity? I start off the day with a liter or quart bottle. It’s not easy. It’s not fun, I’ll be honest. I don’t drink much coffee anymore, but water still doesn’t taste nearly as good to me as a cup of coffee made from freshly ground, and freshly roasted beans with a third of a cup of half-and-half. But … let’s face it, caffeine takes it’s toll, like fat or sugar. I don’t care how many studies they do hyping the positive effects of caffeine on training. The bottom line is that caffeine is hell on the adrenals and the liver. If you want good health, you limit your intake of caffeine or don’t use it at all. One cup of coffee a day isn’t too bad, but if you are a woman with a high risk of developing fibrocystic breasts, for example, it’s important to know that if you don’t use any caffeine, you may prevent or reverse the condition. So we all make our choices.

You will lose a tremendous amount of water from the body through sweating while doing this practice. (He’s speaking of power yoga.) If you do not replace this fluid, you are at risk of dehydration. Therefore, you must drink water. Not right before practice, not during, and not for at least thirty minutes after practice.

This means drinking water on a regular basis. Always drink water on an empty stomach. Do not drink it with or after meals. This dilutes the digestive process and diminishes the absorption of nutrients gained from the food you eat. Tea and coffee and bubbly water don’t count as water. Anytime there is anything in water besides H20, the body treats it as food, and it requires effort on the part of the body. The nice thing about water in the body is that it goes straight through, flushing out the system, without requiring to much work from any of the component parts. It is extremely cleansing. One good way to tell if you are drinking enough water is by the color and odor of your urine. If it is dark yellow and strong in smell, you are not drinking enough water. Unless you ate a piece of asparagus the night before, your urine should not be strong-smelling. One good way to tell how much water to drink is to keep drinking until your urine is clear and odor-free. This is best done first thing in the morning when the stomach is empty and there is no digestion going on to divert or slow down the process. End to end, the whole operation shouldn’t take more than an hour. Drink water. Develop the habit.

From the book "Power Yoga" by Beryl Bender Birch, Wellness Director New York Road Runners Club