Drinking water is so important for good health.
Your body is estimated to be about 60 to 70 percent water. Blood is mostly water, and
your muscles, lungs, and brain all contain a lot of water. Your body needs water to
regulate body temperature and to provide the means for nutrients to travel to all your
organs. Water also transports oxygen to your cells, removes waste, and protects your
joints and organs.
It’s easier than you think to get dehydrated
We begin to get dehydrated and our performance drops off with just so much as a 2%
water loss. When you have as much as 5% water loss you will be very ill and with 10%
you can die.
Signs of Dehydration
You lose water through urination, respiration, and by sweating
If you are very active, you lose more water than if you are sedentary. Diuretics such as
caffeine pills and alcohol result in the need to drink more water.
Symptoms of mild dehydration include chronic pains in joints and muscles, lower back
pain, headaches and constipation. A strong odor to your urine, along with a yellow or
amber color indicates that you may not be getting enough water. Note that riboflavin, a B
Vitamin, will make your urine bright yellow. Thirst is an obvious sign of dehydration and
in fact, you need water long before you feel thirsty.
No water, no go....
What happens to your body when you’re dehydrated?
Your brain won’t work properly – you’ll be groggy, slow, and feel out of it
You’ll lose muscle tone
Your kidneys won’t be able to function; toxins and wastes will back up in your
body, making you feel generally crummy
You’ll have trouble regulating your body temperature; you make feel overheated,
or you may feel chronically cold and unable to get warm.
You’ll get constipated
Fats stored in your body won’t get used up or metabolized
You’ll think you’re hungry all the time, and so you’ll be likely to eat more
Your skin will get dry, itchy, and saggy
How Much Water do You Need to Drink?
A good estimate is to take your body weight in pounds and divide that number in half.
That gives you the number of ounces (1 oz=29ml approx)) of water per day that you
need to drink. For example, if you weigh 160 pounds, you should drink at least 80
ounces (8 glasses of 300ml) of water per day.
And, they also recommend greatly increasing the amount of water you drink when:
You’re exercising
The weather is warm
You’re on a high fiber diet or taking a fiber supplement.
You’re trying to lose weight. You’re in a high altitude area.
You’re traveling, especially in airplanes where the same air is re-circulated. You
spend most of your time indoors, where there’s little fresh air.
You have an acute illness – like a cold or a bladder infection. Fevers, vomiting,
diarrhea.
So here are some suggestions:
Keep a water bottle with you..
Make it a point to drink two glasses of water 15 minutes before your meals. It will
help with increasing the stomach juices to prepare for food and help hydrate your
large intestine for digestion.
Try to do most of your drinking in the morning and early afternoon so there’s time
for all that water to be eliminated before bedtime.
Don’t waste your drinking efforts on things that won’t help – coffee, many teas,
colas, etc. A smaller amount of water will do you more good than a larger amount
of many other beverages.
How do you know if you’re not getting enough water?
Check off the questions that you can answer "yes" to:
Drinking enough?
____Is your skin dry? If you wrinkle it or pinch it, does it take awhile to "bounce "back"
____Is your urine dark? (It should be a light yellow in color)
____Do you get an unusually high number of bladder stones or bladder infections?
____Are you frequently constipated?
____Do you get groggy or headachy part way through the day?
____Do you have a lot of trouble staying cool – or keeping warm?
A "yes" to any one of these questions can mean you’re not getting enough water.
However, don’t kid yourself – every one of these problems or complaints can also be
caused by something other than dehydration. So Try water first, if that doesn’t help, see
your doctor.
Nate Solia is Corrective Exercise Specialist & Nutrition Lifestyle Coach with over 20
years of experience training 1000’s of people in Hong Kong &v abroad. He has
supported many up 85 years old with Exercise & their health.
He is also one of the PT’s at HKCC.