We all know the importance of drinking water and the prospect of a day in the desert without a drop of the wet stuff is a scary thought. However, when it comes to the detail, whether you want to know how much water you need to drink a day or the best hydration for athletes, cutting through the mass of often-contradictory information can be hard. In this short guide we give you some tips on staying hydrated.
In its most extreme form not being hydrated i.e. being dehydrated is life threatening. We need a minimum level of fluids in our body in order to function and symptoms result when our daily fluid intake falls below that level. Mild dehydration can include a dry mouth headaches and dizziness. More severe symptoms are a rapid heartbeat and delirium while chronic dehydration can affect a person’s behavior prompting mood swings and depression. Ultimately, not being hydrated can result in death. Using the desert without water example, death can occur as rapidly as within one day and even in a hospital dehydration can be fatal in as little as two weeks. In short, the importance of hydration should not be underestimated.
The importance of drinking water
Drinking tea, coffee and soda during the day followed by a few beers or glasses of wine after work may push your daily liquid intake up to a healthy sounding number of liters, but don’t be fooled into thinking that it equals proper hydration. One of the biggest causes of chronic dehydration occurs when a person’s daily liquid intake comes primarily from sources other than water. Drinks that contain caffeine, such as tea, coffee and soda can have diuretic effects, counterproductive to staying hydrated while some, such as alcohol, don’t hydrate at all and, in fact, dehydrate. Water, on the other hand, does not have these rehydration downsides and is consequently vital for staying hydrated.
Your daily fluid intake: how much water do you need to drink a day?
The formula for achieving proper hydration used to be simple – 8 glasses or 64 ounces a day. However, decades of study has cast doubt on this ‘one number fits all’ approach to determining how much water you should drink a day.
Current thinking (according to the Mayo Clinic) is that men should take in 3 liters and women 2.2 liters each day. However, more fluids are required in certain circumstances, for example, during exercise, when you are situated in hotter and drier climates or at altitude, when consuming alcohol and when you lose fluids through vomiting, diarrhea and sweating during sickness.
How to stay hydrated
Staying hydrated isn’t just about drinking liquids. Most people get only 50% of their hydration from pure fluids while around 35% comes from foods and the remainder from metabolism. Therefore hydrating can be achieved in more than one way. Water is clearly important to hydration but low sodium and low sugar hydration drinks can also assist as will eating food that is high in water content, like fruit and salad. While exercising, for example running, hydration can be maintained by using a hydration belt or taking a sports drink with you.
Exercise and hydration
Most people know that water and exercise go hand in hand. Hydration during exercise is vital for a very basic reason – increased physical exertion leads to sweating and therefore dehydration. However, proper hydration is also important for maximizing performance as dehydration results in a loss of blood volume, which causes the heart to work harder when delivering blood to muscles and tissues.
Thirst quenching during prolonged periods of exercise or in heat and humidity is often not enough, particularly when sweating, and can be insufficient hydration for athletes. One rule of thumb is to drink 16 ounces of fluids for each ounce of weight lost during exercise while another way to monitor hydration levels is to check the color of your urine with pale yellow indicating proper hydration.
Hydration drinks
There are many hydration or ‘exercise’ drinks on the market offering an alternative means of hydration that can assist you in going that bit further and are a popular method of hydration for athletes. When choosing a sports drink, the most important thing to understand is what added extras it contains and how they compare to the essentials that our bodies need to function. You should always read the label and if you don’t understand the content list, follow up with some research. Avoid drink that have high levels of salts and sugars and choose hydration drinks that include protein when possible. Other beneficial ingredients to look out for are amino acids, antioxidants, B and C vitamins, glucosamine, electrolytes and minerals.
Understanding the importance of drinking water is the first step in staying hydrated.
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