When we were young our parents were constantly reminding us to eat our vegetables, brush our teeth and drink our milk. This was so we could grow up strong and healthy. Unfortunately we were not told how water can make or break our health.

Nevertheless we grew up knowing that we had to drink water - if only as a means to stop our thirst. However, the exact importance of water and just how much is needed on a daily basis was not covered nearly as well as eating vegetables and drinking milk.

I personally learned this the hard way. I am a breast cancer survivor and while I was undergoing chemotherapy treatment my doctor told me to be sure to drink plenty of water. For whatever reason I did not listen as I should have and the consequences were not pretty.

I have never liked water, preferring soda and tea as an alternative. The problem with this is that even thought I did drink a glass of tea a day or maybe a couple of sodas this in no way replaced the amount of water I really needed. As a result, my feet, ankles and legs would swell every day. I assumed I was retaining water so I cut back even more on the amount I was drinking.

It wasn't until it got to the point that the swelling was also painful that I brought it to the attention of my medical team. Needless to say, I was wrong. I was told that because my body was starving for water that it was holding onto what little there was and allowing it to accumulate on my lower body.

I was also not helping myself when it came to the chemo treatments because water acts as a transportation system in the body. This essential nutrient circulates through the blood stream, delivering not only oxygen, nutrients, vitamins and minerals to vital organs and cells, but also helps to distribute the medication by means of the bloodstream.

Water is important to the mechanics of our body and we cannot function without it. In addition to the daily preservation, it also plays a key factor in the prevention and cure of many types of diseases, ailments, and weaknesses of many systems in our body.

Can water make or break our health? Yes. Everything you do on a day to day basis is dependent on water. Our bodies are made up of mostly water - 85 percent of our brain, 80 percent of our blood and 70 percent of our muscle is water. Additionally, every cell in our body needs water to survive.

Plain water contains zero calories; in terms of nutritional value it is priceless. Yes, most definitely, water can, and does, make or break our health.