The Detailed Water Intake Guide You’ll Be Glad We Provided
I won’t bore you with the advantages of water at the outset of this piece. That isn’t the topic of this article. Not to add the evident truth that everyone, regardless of age or gender, believes that water is extremely important. If I were to start listing the benefits of water in this article, it would not be sufficient. We’ve all heard the saying, “Drink more water, it’s good for you.” However, merely saying “more” won’t persuade individuals to start consistently consuming enough amounts of water. If not, I wouldn’t be cringing when I hear about people’s water intake when they discuss fitness and wellness. I don’t blame them anyway because the word ‘more’ is here is really confusing. Don’t worry, after reading this article you won`t have any too many questions left.
How Much Water Should I be drinking?
How Much Water Should I be drinking?
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The usual guidelines being thrown around everywhere looks something like this:-
1) Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day
2) 2-3L of water a Day.
First off, these guidelines can be misleading because a glass comes in various capacities- from holding 200ml water to 500ml (doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that).
Secondly- 2-3L of water also doesn’t take into account the individual’s bodyweight, caloric intake and the climate conditions.
Here are the best two ways to determine your water intake
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1. 30-35ml/Kg of bodyweight in ml .So if you are a 70 kg male ,you will be needing-
30*70=2100mL (Or 2.1L) to 35*70=2450mL (or 2.4L)
Tip:-Fill up a 2L soft drink bottle with water and try to finish it by the end of the Day. If that isn’t easy, then you are too lazy.
2. For People Who know How Many Calories They Are Consuming Per Day
This will work for those individuals/ athletes who know how many calories they are consuming on a daily basis. Consuming 1mL of water per calorie will take care of your hydration needs. So that means, if you are consuming 2000Kcal a day, you will need 2000mL (or 2L) of water a day. A sportsman consuming around 3000Kcal will need 3L of water approximately.
NOTE – The above two guidelines give you the absolute minimum intake you should be opting for.
1. An important thing to consider here is that total water intake is from all sources and not just from water itself. Milk, cheese, fruits, green vegetables, potatoes and peas, lean meats and eggs etc also contain a lot of water in them.
For example – milk contains 85-90% water and same is the case for orange juice .So by drinking a 300mL glass of milk, you are also consuming around 260-270mL of water. So you can adjust your intake accordingly.
2. Athletes/lifters engaging in physical exercise will also need more water than the baseline because they are losing a lot of water from their bodies through sweat .On top of that, working out in a hot environment will increase the need even more. Otherwise get ready to feel drop in performance and strength.
3. A good guideline to check whether you are hydrated enough is to check the color of your urine. It should be clear to bright yellow. If it’s very dark colored, you aren’t drinking enough water and may be dehydrated.
Note – Only exception to this is when you wake up or are on a certain medication which could change the color of your urine.
