Drinking sufficient water every day is critically important to your health. How much water you should drink daily depends on various factors, including the climate where you live, your age, you level of physical exercise, your gender, and more.
The fact that the human body consists of around 70% water is not by accident but by design. Water is vital to the function of every single cell in your body, which is why it is important to drink water regularly in order to keep your body hydrated and healthy.
Drinking sufficient water every day
For many years doctors and scientists have told us that every person needs to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day! This has subsequently been disputed as it was found that the original paper on the daily recommended water allowance was in actual fact misread!
Drinking sufficient water every day does not mean that we all need to drink the same amount of water daily. The correct daily water needs are different for each individual person, and depend on diet, personal body chemistry, weight, lifestyle, general health, geological area, age, and exercise.
On average, each person loses around 1-1.5 litres of water daily, and more on days when they are physically active or out in the hot sun. It is important that you listen to your body, which will tell you when you have either too much water in your system or too little.
Your body’s water level indicators are:
- Frequent urination when there is too much water in your body;
- Thirst when your body needs more water (at this stage you are already about 2% dehydrated);
- Darker colour urine when you are dehydrated (the darker your urine the more dehydrated you are);
- Headaches could signify you are dehydrated and need to drink more water;
- Stiff and sore joints are a sign that there is insufficient water in your body;
- Muscle cramps could signify that there is an imbalance of electrolytes in your body and need to drink water to regulate the balance;
- Feeling tired for no reason could denote too little water in your body; and
- Brain fog (impaired ability to think clearly) is also a sign of dehydration
In order to ensure that you are drinking sufficient water every day, start off your day by drinking a nice big glass of water when first you awaken in the morning. Try to drink a glass of water around mid-morning and then again before eating lunch, mid-afternoon, before eating dinner, and last thing at night.
Watch the colour of your urine, and if it is darker than the colour of lemonade, drink a glass of water. If you are doing hard physical work or exercising, make sure that you hydrate well before and during if it is for a prolonged period.
Keep a container of water on your desk, or even better, get your boss to invest in his staff’s health by purchasing a water cooler for the office. Office water coolers ensure a steady supply of chilled water, and some even also supply tepid and hot water.
Get bottled water coolers and mains water coolers for your house or office.
