Four things you need to know about H2O

Bear with me. Before we go any further with this post, grab yourself a glass and go fill it up with water. Take a slurp. And now we’ll begin…

I think it’s pretty much common knowledge that, without water, we will die – we’ll shrivel up and turn into a human version of a raisin. A large raisin. With a few weird sticky out limbs and stuff.  But there’s an awful lot of conflicting information out there about how much of the good stuff we should be imbibing (I love that word). Personally, I like to think that I’m positively SAINTLY at drinking water when I’m at my desk – I fill up my 750ml bottle at least 3 times throughout the day – but outside of this routine at work, I need a little nudge every now and then. And I know from conversations with friends, that several of you don’t drink nearly enough either. So I thought I’d pull together a handy list of things you need to know about H2O to hopefully entice us into drinking more. But first…. Take another sip of that water you got earlier…

1. So what does all this water do for our bodies?

Well, it doesn’t just slosh about in our bellies until it makes an exit! Nope, it does a whole heap of good things to help make sure that we can actually exist. I’ve listed a few below:

• It keeps your tissues moist – not the Kleenex in your pocket, although it’ll do that too if you leave an open bottle in your handbag – the really important tissue around your eyes, nose and mouth and internal organs.
• If you think of food as the fuel in your car (body), then water is like the oil that keeps your engine running smoothly. It helps make sure things keep ticking over and that your body can build and repair itself. And it keeps your joints and organs lubricated so you’re not hobbling around, old before your time.
• It’s absolutely fundamental to the digestive system. It helps with the breakdown and metabolism of all the things we eat – the good, the bad and the ugly. It’ll transport the good stuff to the places we need it, dissolving the minerals and nutrients to make them easier for the body to use; and helps the kidneys to flush out all the nasties. So it’s like the Batman of our digestive tract. Just wetter! Awesome.
• And as we’re coming up to a steaming hot summer in the UK (okay, mildly warmer than winter), water is brilliant for regulating our body temperature and making sure that all the chemical reactions that make us move can still happen. Thirsty work!

(Go on… have another glug…)

2. How much water do we REALLY need?

Considering that 50-75% of our body weight is made up of water, and we’re pretty much like an unplugged sink (water goes in … and then out again…), we do need to drink a fair amount of it to make sure that all the good stuff I mentioned above can keep on happening. The basic guidelines are that the more active you are, the more you need to drink:

• If you’re relatively sedentary throughout the day (more time on your butt than on your feet), then as a minimum you should be getting through 2litres. (Makes you want another sip of that drink, right? Go on, do it).
• And on the other extreme of the scale, if you’re a high-powered, incredibly active athlete doing hours of training a day, then you should be nearer the 10litre mark per day. Yep, TEN.

If you’re curious about how much water you should be drinking while you’re exercising, you could always try this little experiment. Weigh yourself in as little clothing as possible (‘Oooer missus!’ Bit of cheek in the gym!) before you do some exercise. Don’t drink anything (just for the sake of this experiment) during your workout. Then weigh yourself again afterwards. Provided it was a relatively intense workout, then you should notice a shift in the scales. The weight that you’ve lost is purely water weight (sorry). And the general rule of thumb is that you should aim to drink 1litre for every 1kg of weight lost over that period on top of your usual daily recommendation.

3. You might not recognise some of the signs that you’re dehydrated
If you’ve not been getting enough water (which reminds me, time for another sip?), then the obvious symptom will be that you feel parched. But there are other signs that we often mistake for other things…

• Hunger
• Very dark wee
• Headaches
• No energy
• Feeling lightheaded
• Bad skin
• Constipation

So if you’re suffering from any of those, check your water levels – maybe it’s worth drinking more! Have another gulp of the glass infront of you as a promise to do just that!

4. Water comes in many forms

• Plain old water is absolutely best (and there are arguments for and against bottled or tap water), but it can get a bit boring… so some crazy kids like to jazz it up a tad by going for the bubbly variety! Or by adding some fresh fruit, veg or herbs to it. I like a bit of lemon, cucumber and mint with tonnes of ice. Looks well posh in a jug at a BBQ too.
• Yes, tea and coffee DO count. But they’re not the best for you. Caffeine isn’t great for any of us, and the tannins in tea can stop the absorption of vital nutrients like iron or vitamin C. If you are going to get some of your water this way, I’d suggest herbal teas are best.
• Some fruits and veg have incredibly high water content –  so stock up on goodies like watermelon, lettuce (with a whopping 96% water!), cucumber, tomatoes, grapefruit for example…
• Sadly fizzy drinks and alcohol contain far too much of the things that are bad for you for them to count towards your necessary fluid intake. Drinking booze is like imposing a drought on your body – it makes you pee more (‘breaking the seal’ sound familiar?) without doing the jobs that water would, so your kidneys have to work harder and your tissues start to shrivel – which is why you wake up with bright red eyes and a massive headache. So match water for wine when you’re out on the town!
• Juice is the bone of contention for most – yes, even the freshly squeezed variety… it’s so packed full of sugar, that it veers towards the fizzy drinks end of the scale. The trick here is to limit yourself to one 250ml glass a day and to dilute it. Much better.

So I’ll be making a concerted effort to guzzle a bit more of this amazingly simple nutrient… even if it results in this:
 

Finished your glass of water yet? Care to join me in another?

*image source unknown