Water is a vital part of our body's functioning. About 60% of the average human is made of water, including the water that flows around in bodily fluids (blood, lymph, digestive fluids, cerebral-spinal fluid, interstitial fluid...) Water has numerous functions in the body, including:
- Lubrication - fluid surrounds joints and organs (e.g. ocular fluid around the eyes) to reduce friction.
- Transportation - most vitamins are water soluble, so water helps to transport nutrients around the body to muscles and tissues that need it. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are also transported through fluid (i.e. blood).
- Eliminates wastes - newsflash, urine is also mostly water :) It transports all of the unneeded nutrients and metabolic wastes out of the body.
- Regulates body temperature - sweat helps to cool the body by evaporating from the skin
- Chemical reactions - water is needed for many chemical reactions in the body to take place, including all of the activites of digestion, absorption and use of the water-soluble nutrients.
Unfortunately, even though we have so much water inside of us, we also lose it in a lot of ways. Water is used to excrete wastes and to control body temperature, as mentioned before. We also lose water through breath (ever noticed that your breath is foggy in the winter? Guess why :)!)
Canada's Food Guide is very vague about water recommendations, saying only that you should "drink water regularly. It's a calorie-free way to quench your thirst. Drink more water in hot weather or when you are very active". Soooo... what does that actually mean? How regular is "regularly"?
The 8-glasses-per-day rule doesn't apply to everyone, but it's still a pretty good guideline to get started on. For someone consuming a 2000-calorie diet, at one mL per calorie, 8 250-mL glasses per day (about 2 litres) is perfectly fine. For someone looking to lose weight or who is very active, they may need more water to ensure that their bodies needs are met and that lost water is replaced. When you are active, especially if you are breaking a sweat, increase your water intake to replace the water lost through sweat and breathing. If you are sweating a lot or exercising for an extended period of time (more than about 40-60 minutes), you will also need to replace lost electrolytes.
I hear you. "I hate drinking water!", you say, "It's soooooooo boring and gross". It doesn't have to be this way my friends! Many fluids that we consume can count towards that 8 glasses, such as:
- Milk
- Juice (preferably real juice, not sugary fruit cocktails)
- Coffee and tea - recent studies have shown that despite their caffeine content, coffee and tea do not contribute towards dehydration as previously thought. However, drinking caffeinated beverages in excess may indeed cause dehydration, so be cautious if coffee is your only source of water :)
- Herbal teas and decaf coffee
Note, alcoholic beverages do not count, because they do contribute a diuretic effect.
Still not convinced? Here are some other ways to get more fluid in your day!
- Fruit has a crazy amount of water in it. Some fruits have 90% of their total mass as water, such as watermelons, peaches, strawberries, oranges, etc. Things that taste juicy generally ARE juicy! Some veggies also have a ton of water inside, such as cucumbers and celery.
- Soups still count as fluid, especially broth-based soups. Mix up an easy veggie soup and get slurping!
- If you hate the boring taste of water, add some stuff to it. Fruit (berries, orange slices, lemon and limes) can add some zing to a boring beverage, as can mint and/or cucumbers.
Dehydration can be easily avoided. When you first start to feel thirsty, you are already becoming dehydrated! Be sure to keep sipping your beverage(s) of choice throughout the day to ward off dehydration before it even starts. If you are peeing regularly and the colour is a pale yellow or clear, then you're good to go! If it's dark, chances are that you're dehydrated (though sometimes colour can be caused by excess vitamin C or other vitamins, but more often than not it's because the urine is super concentrated - i.e., you're dehydrated). If you ignore the thirst, other signs of dehydration include nausea or lightheadedness, headaches, dry mouth, dry eyes and weakness. If you're exercising moderately/high intensity and not sweating, that's also a bad sign! As dehydration continues, the situation can become life threatening. So please, drink up, and up, and up!
What's your favourite way to get enough water in a day?
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