Are you someone who carries a water bottle with you everywhere you go? Or do you struggle to gulp down a few mouthfuls of water in between coffees? If you are not hydrating well it can impact on your concentration at work, energy levels, motivation, general well-being and the results you achieve through training. It’s not just all about water though!
How much do I need to drink?
You have probably heard that you need 2 litres of water per day to stay hydrated. This may be a reasonable estimate for some people, however individual fluid needs vary quite a bit. A petite female is unlikely to need as much water as a 100kg+ active rugby player. If you are not drinking a 2 litre jug of water every day don’t despair, you may not need that much (or you may actually need much more).
Is water the best drink for hydration?
Although water should make up a fair volume of your daily fluid intake, it’s not the only drink that will hydrate well. Other nutritious fluids such as milk, tea, coffee, blended fruit smoothies and soup all help (for more about the hydrating qualities of soup and smoothies check out my posts Best Fluids For Hydration - Look No Further Than Soup and Why Juice is Not as Bad as You Might Think - Tips For Making a Top Choice).
Tea vs coffee
Yes, even coffee can help with hydration! If you work in an office, it’s pretty common to be drinking several cups of tea or coffee per day. Coffee CAN have a diuretic effect, so it’s not as effective in helping your body to hold onto your daily cup full as some other fluids, but it doesn’t make it all go straight through either! It all comes down to how much you drink. Black tea has far less caffeine (<20mg per cup) vs coffee (>80mg per cup, depending how it is made), so if you like both, tea may be better for helping hydration.
‘I don’t like water’
If you don’t love plain water, try adding ice, sliced lemon and lime, frozen berries, fresh chopped fruit or herbs and spices to give water a fresh flavour, or choose bubbly plain mineral water for a taste and texture change.
How do you know if you are drinking enough?
Try the pee test. Pale yellow to clear is what you are looking for. No need for it to be crystal clear but you don’t want it to look like the colour of beer either. (the urine colour test doesn’t work if you take vitamin/mineral supplements because these often cause urine to be darker in colour).
So drink up, and remember that the average body is made up of over 60% water and your body doesn’t function at its best without it.
If you are active, you might also be interested in the best fluids for training in my recent post Hydration is Important, But What is the Role of Sports Drinks and Electrolytes and Who Needs Them.
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