Did you know that 55-65% of your body is water? Babies and
children are usually around 65%, adult men at around 60%, and women at 55%.
Every cell in our body relies on water to function properly. Adequate amounts
of water are needed for proper skin health, kidney function, liver detox, body
temperature regulation, proper digestion, physical performance, mental
performance and basically any bodily performance. This is why only a 2% loss of
total body water is already considered dehydration (1% of body mass). This may
lead to headaches, fatigue, dry lips, thirst, irritability and even hunger
signals as your body will try to obtain water from food items. At 10% water
loss, your body will experience severe physical and mental deterioration.
Needless to say that water is crucial to our survival.
How Much Do We Need?
Each person needs a different amount of fluids. We often
set the guideline of 6 to 8 cups per day (1.5-2 liters), and Dietitians of
Canada even says 2-3L per day, which aren’t bad guidelines, in my opinion.
Another way of calculating it is to have approximately 30ml per kilogram of
body weight. For example, if a person weighs 60kg, they would need 60x30 = 1800ml
(1.8L) or water per day. However, our needs are constantly changing, so it is possible that you might need more than that depending on your daily activities.
If you are sitting all day in a climate-controlled office at the computer, you
will surely need less fluids than if you are fixing a roof in the blazing sun
all day.
Our body loses water through urine, sweat and breathing. Does
the last one surprise you? Our breath is heavy with evaporated water, which is
what makes us able to see our breath outside when it’s cold. A simple trick to
see if you are dehydrated is to check the color of your urine. If it is as dark
as apple juice, I would recommend going to drink a big glass of water! If you
are in a condition that will lead to a lot of sweating and heavy breathing such
as hiking, for example, I would also recommend drinking a lot of water!
Don’t be too worried, what I spoke about above is the
amount of FLUIDS that you need in a day. This doesn’t need to directly
translate to water. Daily fluids include soups, juices (although not
recommended because they’re full of sugar), tea and other liquids. There are
also fluids in food items, but it becomes difficult to approximate and are usually
excluded from fluid totals.
Tips and Tricks
Let’s face the facts: drinking 8 cups of water in a day can
be hard. And boring. I personally know that I am dehydrated when water suddenly
tastes delicious; but at that point, it’s too late. Here are a few tricks to
make drinking water more interesting:
Ø
Carry
a water bottle with you at all times. You’ll be more prone to taking sips throughout
the day if it’s easily accessible. If investing in a cute water bottle that you
love does the trick, then do that!
Ø
Don’t
be afraid of tap water.
Ø
Keep
your water cold with ice cubes or freezing half the bottle and adding water the
next morning so that you can have a refreshing drink.
Ø
Add
freshly sliced lemons or oranges, mint leaves, basil, lavender or any other
infusion of your liking.
Ø
Add
a drop or two of essential oils.
Ø
Add
dried anise stars for a black licorice taste.
Stay tuned for next week’s article, Hydration Part 2:
Water, Exercise and Electrolytes. We will be discussing the craze about
Gatorade and coconut water at the gym.
References:
No comments:
Post a Comment