Drinking water is part of a healthy lifestyle. But do you know how much water you should really drink every day? If you answer think eight glasses is the correct answer, you may need to update your information. The quality of the water you drink is also important. You want great-tasting, healthy water to get the best benefits from increasing your water intake.
Water Intake Recommendations
Drinking enough water daily can prevent mental and physical fatigue. In fact, mild dehydration defined as losing only 1.36% of body weight in water caused by exercise. A study of females who exercised to a state of mild dehydration experienced headaches, inability to concentrate, poor mood, and a perception of greater task difficulty.
While the old rule of drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water persists, this myth has no science to back it up. Instead of measuring out your water to drink, follow your thirst. Just like your body’s hunger cues, thirst should direct you to drink an appropriate amount of water for your daily activity level. If you have medical conditions that affect water intake, such as high blood pressure or kidney disease, talk to your doctor about the amount of water you need to drink for optimum health.
Can You Drink Too Much Water?
While drinking too little water can cause dehydration, you can also have too much. Excessive water in the body decreases the concentration of sodium in the blood. When you have too little sodium, your cells do not balance fluids properly. In some people, this can have fatal consequences.
Drinking too much water typically happens in athletes who miscalculate the amount of water they need. For instance, in 2002, 13% of participants in the Boston Marathon showed low sodium levels from drinking too much water.
The amount of water considered too much depends on how quickly you drink and how much. Your kidneys will process out a liter of fluid an hour or up to seven gallons a day. Exceeding these amounts in intake puts you at risk for hyponatremia, also known as water intoxication. Typically, soldiers, athletes, and those with mental illness are most likely to develop water intoxication. Most healthy people, however, need to worry about not drinking enough water rather than overdoing it.
How to Make Your Home Tap Water Taste Better
If you want to drink more water, make your home’s tap water taste better by filtering it. A reverse osmosis system produces clean, purified water that has almost all contaminants removed from it. Connect with us at Best Home Water Treatment Systems online or by phone at 951.737.1500 to find out how you can have better-tasting water from the tap to make increasing your daily intake easier.
