Happy Earth Day, everyone! It’s April, full of showers because the Earth’s living things need water and that includes you! Because schedules can be very hectic in the 21st century, people forget to drink enough water. You don’t want that to be the case as the days get warmer. Now, there is an argument out there about whether people are predominantly dehydrated or not. However, many nutritionists, dietitians, doctors and others feel that most Americans are, indeed, dehydrated and you need to be hydrated for your cells to work efficiently. Your body is mostly water which gets depleted when you sweat , breathe, urinate, defecate, enter a dry environment, get sick, are exposed to toxins and forget to hydrate --- all those things that happen all the time! Everyone now knows that more water is needed when urine is yellow; but, you might also just need to drink some water when you feel irritable, tired or foggy because just a little dehydration can cause these effects. Ah, having water at business meetings may be more important than we previously knew!
Yes, your body can get water out of non-water drinks; but,
that’s going to require more processing than if you just drank the water in its
more readily available form. If you’re
on the go, stay away from plastic water bottles that are not BPA (bisphenol-a) FREE because research suggests that this
chemical is linked to cancer, diabetes and birth defects (some canned food
linings have also contained BPA).
How much water do you need? It varies from person to person
and is also related to whether one has a health challenge, is pregnant, in a
warm climate or in athletic training. However, here are quick ways to get a
baseline estimate of how many ounces you might need:
·
The standard 8 x 8 rule (eight 8-ounce glasses
per day).
·
The Institute of Medicine’s Adequate Intake (AI)
o
for women (2.2 liters: about nine 8-ounce
glasses)
o
for men (3 liters: about thirteen 8-ounce
glasses)
Other factors affecting suggested water intake:
·
Exercise
o
less than an hour (add 13 – 20 extra ounces)
o
more than an hour (include drink with sodium)
·
Motherhood
o
pregnancy (ten 8-ounce glasses per day)
o
breastfeeding (thirteen 8-ounce glasses per day)
Happy Hydrating!
References:
Mayo Clinic Staff (2011). Water – How much should you drink
per day? Nutrition & Healthy Eating, Mayo
Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle
Elkaim, Y. (2013). The truth about how much water you should
really drink. Eat + Run, US Health News. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run
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