Are you concerned about your daily water intake? Confused about how much water you should be drinking daily? While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, there is an optimal range you can fall back on. But this can fluctuate depending on your health and other factors. So, check out our guide on how to consume enough water every day for all the details.
Additionally, if you struggle to find the time to drink water due to work or other activities, our list of 10 hacks will definitely help you out! Read on to find out more.
What are the health benefits of drinking water?
Although you primarily drink water to quench your thirst, it does so much more inside your body. After all, water is essential for every system in your body to function properly. Every organ, tissue, and even cell needs water to function optimally.
You might have heard that your body’s primary chemical component is water and it takes about 50–70% of your body weight. So, it is extremely vital for your body to constantly replenish its water content.
So, what are the specific benefits of drinking water?
- Water helps carry nutrients and oxygen to your cells which in turn helps the cells, tissues, and organs function properly.
- It helps your body get rid of waste and toxic content through urination, bowel movements, perspiration, and aiding digestion. Most importantly, it helps flush microbes like bacteria from your bladder.
- Clean drinking water helps lubricate your joints and helps cushion them. Additionally, it protects the sensitive organs and tissues in the body.
- Most importantly, staying hydrated can help regulate your body temperature, stabilize your heartbeat, and maintain blood pressure in addition to much more.
If you don’t drink enough, you risk dehydration in addition to loads of other health issues like weakness, low blood pressure, constipation, and headaches. In fact, a parched throat is a common indicator of dehydration. It’s your body screaming for water.
So, how much water should you drink a day?
Now that you know the benefits of drinking water, the next obvious question is how much should you consume daily?
Well, the ideal range is from 4–6 glasses of water a day for a healthy individual. After all, you lose water every day through sweat, urine, bowel movement, and even through your breath. However, there is no one size fits all when it comes to water intake as there are a lot of factors at play. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends a daily water intake of 3.7 litres for men and 2.7 litres a day for women.
You might have heard various medical professionals or online literature state that you should have at least 8 glasses of water a day. Although it is fairly reasonable, it’s not an absolute because we do consume water via food as well.
Additionally, you can stay hydrated by consuming electrolyte rich beverages like sports drinks as well. While 8 glasses of water are perfect for some people, it might not be the case for others.
So what’s a suitable number of glasses? The short answer is that it depends. Usually, it depends on the following factors:
Health: Depending on your health you’ll have to modify the amount of water you consume. For example, if you’re sick and suffering from an illness that gets rid of your body fluids like vomiting or diarrhea, 8 glasses of water might not cut it. You’ll have to drink more water following a doctor’s diagnosis. Similarly, you’ll have to increase the amount of water if you’re breastfeeding as you may need additional fluids to stay hydrated every day.
Environment: If you live in a hot or humid climate, your body will lose more water due to perspiration. So, you’ll have to adjust your water intake accordingly.
Body weight and Exercise: Depending on your body weight and intensity of workouts, you’ll have to drink more water to make up for the loss. We recommend you drink before, during, and after a workout as this can prevent injuries. Especially, as water can keep your joints lubricated.
Should you worry about drinking too much water?
Yes, drinking too much water can be a problem. When your body is overburdened with water, your kidneys won’t be able to get rid of the excess amount. This can cause the sodium content of your blood to diminish resulting in hyponatremia. This can be life-threatening as low sodium can affect nerves, muscles, blood pressure, and body fluid regulation.
So, if you’re in doubt as to how much you should consume, our advice is that you meet your general physician and ask them to recommend a suitable amount.
Is there a substitute for water?
Not exactly, in addition to pure drinking water, there are other alternatives that do contain enough water to meet your body’s fluid requirements. For example, certain vegetables and fruits do contain a significant amount of water. Watermelon and spinach contain almost 100% water in terms of weight.
Most importantly, they have added benefits of supplying the body with vitamins. So, if you hate the idea of drinking 4–6 glasses of water every day, then you should consider making these types of fruits and vegetables a part of your diet.
Of course, drinks like juice, coffee, tea, milk, and similar beverages can also work as a substitute as they do contain a huge amount of water. However, these drinks may not be the best alternative as they contain other compounds like caffeine or sugar that can be harmful when consumed in large quantities.
10 Hacks that will help you drink sufficient water every day
1. Set a daily goal and reminders
Setting a daily goal and following it up with a reminder can help you build a healthy water drinking habit. One of the most amazing things about this hack is that you can use anything to help you set it up. For example, you can ask somebody to remind you or use a watch or even your smartphone to help you keep track.
Moreover, the act of setting a goal and achieving it can help make the act of drinking water more positive. However, to truly make this hack effective, you’ll have to follow a SMART approach, which is basically a system that allows you to achieve your goals efficiently. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.
2. Keep a water bottle with you
This can be super effective if you find it hard to access water during your busy schedule. All you need to do is keep a water bottle with you. You can keep it in your bag and just carry it around throughout the day.
So, when you’re thirsty you can simply drink water from the bottle regardless of whether you’re traveling or in a meeting. This can help you drink more water throughout the day.
There is also the added benefit of it being a visual cue. The more you see the bottle around you, the more you’re reminded to consume water.
3. Replace other drinks with water
One of the most effective ways to ensure you’re getting enough water is to replace all other drinks like soft drinks, coffee, and sports drinks with water. Yes, it’s a drastic step, but one of the most effective. Most importantly, you get the added benefit of being able to cut out unnecessary calories with this method.
It wouldn’t take long to see an improvement in your health. Especially, since soft drinks and sports drinks are full of sugar and chemicals. By replacing sugary drinks with water you can lose weight.
However, we do understand that it isn’t easy to do. After all, just drinking water can get really boring. So, another way to ensure sufficient water intake is to drink one glass of water for every glass of soft drink, coffee, or sports drink. This can improve your hydration and can be the first step to completely replacing other drinks with water.
4. Get yourself a water filter
Yep, buying a water filter can actually help you consume more water. Not only does it drastically improve the quality of the water but it can also make it taste much better.
Most importantly, using a water purifier can reduce the use of plastic-like water cans and single-use water bottles.
However, if you’re concerned about the budget then there are water purifiers that you can subscribe to. Moreover, these water purifiers can be customised to suit your source water. So, you’ll never have to drink under purified or over purified water.
5. Adding flavours to your water before you drink it
This one might seem unusual or taking it too far but it is an effective hack if you really dislike the taste of water. By adding a suitable flavour, you can make it more palatable. Crazily enough there are a ton of choices out there. All you need is a fruit infuser water bottle. This is one of the healthier forms of adding flavour. You can use this infuser to blend the essence of the fruit and you can even add combinations like lemon-mint, strawberry-watermelon, etc.
There are other forms of flavour enhancers like powders and liquids. However, these might contain unhealthy chemicals, sugars, and additives that may be harmful. So, we recommend you use this hack after serious consideration and after consulting a medical professional.
6. Use technology to keep a track
This is one of the coolest hacks on this list. These days there are many apps out there that can help you track your water consumption. For example, with the HealthifyMe app, you can keep track of your daily water intake with reminders and visual cues of how much you’ve consumed. All you have to do is click a button after drinking a glass of water. Interesting, isn’t it?
7. Incorporate it into your fitness goals
Unlike the technology hack, this one is relatively free and easy. If you work out on a daily basis, it’s rather easy to incorporate a healthy water drinking habit into your daily life. All you have to do is sync it to your fitness schedule. For example, drink a glass of water before, during, and after working out.
You can even turn this up a notch by drinking water with your pre and post-workout meals. Not only will this hack help you consume more water but it can also help prevent injuries and even aid certain body functions like digestion.
8. Drink one glass of water per hour at work every day
This hack is honestly quite brilliant. An average employee works 8 hours a day. And by drinking a glass an hour, you can ensure a sufficient water intake of 8 glasses a day. What’s more, is that your body gets a consistent amount of water which is great for its optimal function.
9. Drink most of the water when you wake up and before bed
There are times when you have to work non-stop and things are so hectic that drinking water is your last concern.
By consuming enough water before you start the day and when you’re done with work, you can get the basic amount of water without feeling dehydrated. Most importantly, drinking a glass of cold water can help wake you up. And drinking some water before bed can keep you from waking up with a dry mouth.
10. Eat food that’s high in water content
If you hate drinking bland water all day or can’t stand consuming fluids. There is a suitable alternative. You can reduce the amount of drinking water as long as you substitute your diet with food that is high in water content.
As mentioned earlier, there are certain fruits and vegetables that are super high in water content like spinach, celery, lettuce, watermelon, and much more. You also get the added benefit of antioxidants, vitamins, and other essential compounds.
To wrap up, we understand that drinking water can get difficult. You either hate the taste or you postpone drinking water due to work and other commitments. While we do feel you, it’s super important to ensure you’re getting sufficient water on a daily basis.
After all, drinking water has a ton of health benefits. But not drinking enough water can be very harmful in the long run. So, if you’re struggling to find time to drink enough water every day, we hope our list of tips helps boost your daily water intake.
