Do you take on board enough fluid?

26/02/2009 by admin.

Water serves many purposes.  It is dispersed by the body through sweating as a natural method of reducing our body temperature.  We also lose water through urination, from our bowels and when we breathe.  So, without water, our bodies would struggle to function.

Somehow we need to replace the water we lose through daily functions.  We can obtain fluid through food as well as drink, this can account for approximately 20% of our required intake.  For example fruit and vegetables contain water.

There are various guidelines.  Here are 2 of the most common suggestions:

 w         Consume the equivalent water to the calories you consume.  Therefore if you consume 2,500 kcals a day, you should consume 2.5 litres per day. 

w         Consume 8 glasses of 8oz of fluid per day.

You need to consider that if you are participating in sport and therefore sweat a fair bit, you will need to replace that fluid but you will also need to replace the lost body salts. You therefore should consume a fluid which contains electrolytes.  All good sports shops would sell these, along with many chemists.  A good guide of whether you are over hydrated, correctly hydrated or dehydrated is the colour of your urine.  If your urine is clear, you could well be over hydrated and need some electrolytes, if you urine is straw coloured then you are correctly hydrated and if you urine is deep yellow or orange coloured you are dehydrated.

Be careful as although coffee is fluid, it contains caffeine so has a dehydrating effect.  However, as tea has less caffeine, it can be considered as part of your daily intake of fluid.  You should drink before you are thirsty, normally if you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated.

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