Water is crucial for our body to function optimally day-by-day. As we begin to enter the warmer months of the year, it’s important to ensure we’re meeting the recommended guidelines to help our bodies move and feel as best as they can.
Are you getting enough H2O into your body throughout the day?
Water makes up a large percentage of our total body weight, approximately 60%, and is distributed around the body such as in the saliva which helps us swallow, surrounds our joints to help cushion during impact and also helps regulate body temperature by sweating.
When our bodies are not properly hydrated, we can experience symptoms of fatigue, headaches, body aches, impaired cognitive function and a reduction of physical performance.
So the question we should be asking ourselves – how much water should we be drinking every day? There’s no magic number and requirements, this will be different for everyone due to the fact that we are all different shapes and sizes.
A great example, on average, men require more water than women due to body composition and size. Pregnant women need more than non-pregnant women and so on. In saying that, women should aim to consume at least 2 liters (9 glasses) and men 3 liters (12 glasses) every day.
Are you meeting the recommended guidelines? Grab a piece of paper or write down on your phone every time you have water throughout the day and do this for a whole week. At the end of the week compare your intake to what’s recommended.
Alternatively, if drinking water isn’t your FAVORITE past time, here’s a list of foods that contain high quantities of water.
- Cucumber, tomatoes, spinach (the perfect recipe for a quick and easy salad.)
- Oranges
- Apples
- Peaches
