By The endless debate about how much water to drink daily
This winter has become a big challenge when it comes to drinking water.
Mornings are challenging, despite adapting to the ‘warm water’ practice.
I’m still finding it hard to drink 3 litres, let alone the 4 litres I normally drink during those warmer months.
But what’s one to do when your wee is continually yellow? Fill up a bottle and keep drinking — even though the thirst bug isn’t there.
Drinking about 8 cups daily isn’t bad — but is drinking a little more necessary?
Hydration is probably the last thing on office and home workers’ minds — but it’s essential for health, well-being and energy levels.
Our bodies still have to get by and perform those normal psychological functions, like getting rid of any bacteria from our bladder, transporting oxygen to cells, helping us do a poo, keeping blood pressure steady and regulating our body temperature.
Thankfully, we don’t have to think about doing these things — but our body needs a decent amount of water daily to carry them out.
If you don’t drink enough water, then expect your concentration and cognitive functioning to decline, perhaps setting fatigue and tension as a byproduct.
We may not know that the water level we need isn’t that high.
Men need about 3.7 and women 2.7 litres. That amount isn’t just water consumption — what about other fluids you drink, like tea, herbal tea, and food?
Certain food contains water, which adds to your water drinking quota too.
By adding in hydrating foods, you are increasing your ability to reach that quota.
Water-rich foods are the following:
- lettuce
- cucumbers
- peppers
- berries
- melons
- celery
- summer squash
- watermelon
- coconut
You can also add coffee and tea to your hydration tally.
You won’t pee endlessly.
Research has proven caffeine doesn’t increase your pee frequency compared to other beverages (unless you have an overactive bladder).
Sparking water can be counted as a source of hydration and is just as good as water.
That’s very handy during hot days and for people like me to use this as a drinking alternative when out with friends (I don’t drink alcohol).
When it comes to alcohol, that’s probably the one thing that doesn’t contribute to your hydration pool.
Alcohol suppresses fluid-regulating hormones in the body and tells the kidneys to reduce urination frequency, which causes the body to flush it out and increases dehydration.
So, if you are out drinking an evening with friends, for every glass of alcohol, make sure you drink a couple of glasses of water too.
How much water should you aim for?
Most of your daily hydration intake should come from water, which ranges from four to six cups for women and five to eight cups for men.
If you partake in activities, you might need a bit more. The same goes if you are in a warmer climat. Aim for those quantities but do drink more if you need to.
Just don’t forget to keep water with you at all times because usually, in those moments of thirst, you may reach for foods you don’t need or, worse, sugary-filled beverages.
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