Hydration: Benefits, Dehydration, and Guiding Principles

The Why
Dehydration increases your chances of getting kidney stones, urinary tract infections, and constipation, because water helps flush each of these out before they cause you problems. More significantly, if you feel fatigued, irritable, or depressed make sure you’re drinking enough water so your brain and body can function properly.

How much water should I drink?
It’s hard to overhydrate as your body can pee out any excess. Research hasn’t agreed on the best way to evaluate hydration status, but drinking half your weight in ounces daily is a good reference to go by. 

If you weigh 150 lbs, you should drink 75 oz of water, or 4-5 16.9 oz plastic water bottles.

Athletes and those working in hot climates for multiple hours can get dehydrated if they only drink when they’re thirsty.  If you think your lifestyle is likely to make you dehydrated, being conscious of your hydration can make a big difference in how much mental and physical energy you have as you go about your day.

Avoid hydrating too quickly. Research has shown that you can have decreased mental clarity if you have rapid changes in hydration (Perry, et al.).

Quick tips to help you hydrate adequately: count how many times you would have to drink your favorite water bottle to drink half your weight in ounces daily (rounding up), then put that many rubber bands around your water bottle and take one off every time you drink your water bottle. Electrolytes will help you increase your hydration status faster. More on that next week!

For more information
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/water/

Perry, C. S., 3rd, Rapinett, G., Glaser, N. S., & Ghetti, S. (2015). Hydration status moderates the effects of drinking water on children's cognitive performance. Appetite, 95, 520–527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.08.006

Photo by Alex Azabache