If you drink eight 250ml glasses of water a day, that’s fine, but you probably need some changes.
If you drink eight 250ml glasses of water a day, that’s fine, but you probably need some changes.
With branded bottle trends and daily challenges on TikTok, hydration is all the rage, and that’s good news for your health. The average human body is made up of more than 60% water. Water makes up almost two thirds of your brain and heart, 83% of your lungs, 64% of your skin, and even 31% of your bones. It is involved in almost all the processes that keep you alive.
“Water is essential for your body to survive,” says Crystal Scott, a registered dietitian and nutritionist. “It helps regulate temperature, transports nutrients, removes waste, lubricates joints and tissues, and also plays a key role in maintaining the delicate balance of electrolytes and fluids in the body.”
You lose water by breathing, sweating, urinating, and metabolizing food and drink into energy. If you do not replenish this fluid, your health can rapidly deteriorate. Without food, your body can keep working for three weeks or more. But without water, you will die in a few days. There are too many systems that depend on it.
“That’s the starting point when looking at any type of change or problem with your diet or lifestyle: Assess your water intake first,” says Scott. “It helps signal satiety, can improve cognitive function, mood, physical performance, and can prevent health problems like constipation, kidney stones, and urinary tract infections. It’s one of the mainstays.”
A general rule of thumb you’ve probably heard is the 8×4 rule: drink eight 1/4-ounce (250 ml) glasses of water a day. If you reach that goal, you’re doing well, Scott says. But it is possible that it could benefit from some adjustments. “I don’t think that number is necessarily wrong, but I think the research has certainly evolved over time,” he says. “Water recommendations will vary based on age, gender, and activity level.” Your needs may also vary depending on your life circumstances.
The average daily intake of water is about 3.7 liters for men and about 2.7 liters for women. If you’re not drinking exactly that much every day, you’re probably close to or even above it because you also get water from food, Scott says. “You can get a lot of hydration with foods like celery, oranges, strawberries, watermelon, and cucumbers,” she says. “These are all hydrating foods that can actually help supplement your water intake.”
Although rare, it is possible to drink too much water. It’s a condition called hyponatremia, and it occurs when the amount of water in your system overwhelms your kidneys and they can’t maintain a normal filtration rate. The sodium content of your blood is dangerously diluted and causes your cells to swell. Certain medical conditions like kidney failure and congestive heart failure put you at higher risk, and some high-level athletes can experience it.
But for the majority of the population, the main problem is getting enough water. While it’s helpful to keep track of actual amounts, the best indicator of how hydrated you are is your body. When you don’t drink enough water, your body will show certain signals.
“Urine color is a very good indicator of hydration status,” says Scott. If your urine is pale yellow or clear after you urinate, great. Dark yellow or amber colored urine indicates that your body needs fluids. Headaches, migraines, lack of sleep, constipation, dizziness, and feeling light-headed or confused can also be symptoms of dehydration. When in doubt, approach the faucet.
If you’re committed to optimizing your hydration, Scott recommends starting slowly. He first thinks about where you are, then sets a goal of where you want to be.
“A good starting point is to divide your weight in pounds by 35 to get the number of liters of water you drink per day,” she says. “So for someone who is 200 pounds, the first goal would be 2.5 liters. If that person only drinks 600 ml of fluid per day, they should increase to around 250-300 ml per week every week, slowly but surely. Because yes yes you hydrate too quickly, you can feel really soaked.”
Other helpful tips Scott suggests: Experiment with drinking ice water or adding sliced fruit for flavor. Use smaller water bottles and fill them up instead of filling a large jug all day, which can be overwhelming. Divide the day into parts and set a mini goal for each part. That way, you keep a steady flow of hydration instead of trying to swallow it all at once.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn