I’m sure we all know we need to drink water. As heatwaves are getting more common in the UK, it’s never been more vital to keep hydrated. But you may not know just how important it is and the health benefits. I have had clients who know they aren’t drinking enough water and find it challenging to increase their water intake. People can be busy and be preoccupied working away in the office all day and forget to drink some water.
Why is water so important? Around 50 – to 70% of your body is water. The amount varies, males have more water than females. Because males typically have more muscle tone. The purpose of water in our body is to move nutrients through our body and remove waste. It also protects and lubricates our joints.
How to know you’re dehydrated?
- Feeling thirsty
- Urine is dark yellow in colour and smelly
- Feeling dizzy and light-headed
- Feeling exhausted and weak
- Headaches
- Dry skin
- How often do you go to the toilet? If you urinate
Can hydration affect weight loss?
There isn’t much evidence to suggest that there is a link between how much water you drink and weight loss. However, some of the effects of dehydration could influence maintaining a healthy weight. If you’re dehydrated you’re far more likely to be tired. When you’re tired you’re a lot more likely to move around less. Some people may think they’re hungry when they actually need to up their water intake. If you’ve not been drinking enough fluids, when you do planned workouts you may not get a good workout in.
How much water to drink?
So you’ll often see 6 – 8 waters often mentioned as the amount of water you need to drink per day to stay hydrated. But it isn’t quite that simple, unfortunately. How much water you need to drink depends on your sex, body weight, climate, and how much you sweat. You could a urine chart to figure out how much water you need to drink. You might have seen these in chemists. Where you want your urine to be a pale straw colour. We want to avoid a dark urine colour, the darker the more dangerous it will be because the more dehydrated.
Does water only count?
Most people would assume that you should only be drinking water which is the most hydrating fluid to drink. But in fact, according to a study, some beverages are more hydrating than water. These beverages are whole milk, skimmed milk, orange juice, even cola, and diet cola. But you would need to moderate your intake of some of those choices because some of those do contain some calories. But just know that you don’t need to limit yourself to one choice.
How to drink more fluids?
You could carry a bottle around with you throughout the day. What this will do is it will act as a trigger or reminder to drink up.
Maybe you’re bored of drinking plain water all the time or you’re bored of drinking it all the time. Well, as mentioned above you don’t have to drink water all the time. You could drink sugar-free squash, to give your water some flavour. Milk, and fizzy drinks like cola and diet cola. Although they aren’t the most hydrating coffee and tea are ok too. But I would always encourage opting for zero or low-calorie options where possible when looking to maintain a healthy weight.
Do you forget to drink fluids? You could set a reminder on your phone to drink some water by a specific time. You can tailor it as a question, “have I drank 1litre by 1 pm?”. Fluids don’t always have to come from drinks. Many foods we eat like fruit, vegetables, smoothies, stews, and soups all contribute to water intake.
So in short, we need to make a more conscious effort to drink more fluids. To ensure you’re well hydrated to feel at our best so we can keep active and work comfortably. You don’t have to drink plain water, you can choose a variety of drinks that will keep you hydrated.
