Drinking enough water is vital to live a healthy life, physically and mentally! Our bodies are made up of around 60% water, so it’s essential to stay hydrated because water is needed to keep virtually every system in our bodies working properly.

Staying hydrated helps your body to perform numerous vital functions. It helps your body to supply nutrients to where they are needed. Additionally, it regulates your internal body temperature, aids digestion, and helps your brain to function better. Furthermore, it removes toxins and waste from your body, as well as maintaining blood circulation.

But what are the other benefits of drinking water and how much should we be drinking each day? Does drinking other fluids count towards your water intake for the day? How can you tell if you’re not getting enough water already?

Continue reading for all the answers…

How to Tell if You’re Not Getting Enough Water

There are many ways in which our bodies inform us that we are not getting enough water. The most obvious symptom of dehydration is feeling thirsty. However, if you feel thirsty then your body is already dehydrated.

Another easy way to tell if you’re not drinking enough water is to look at the colour of your urine. If it is dark yellow then you aren’t getting enough water. When you begin drinking more water, you’ll see that your urine will be a light yellow or clear colour. This means that your body is well-hydrated which is a great sign.

Water is the most essential component of the human body. Other signs to look out for are; feeling dizzy, fatigued or lethargic. These are indications that your body is dehydrated. Dry skin, lips and hair are also common signs that you aren’t drinking enough water, as our body also needs water to keep our skin and hair healthy.

If you are prone to headaches, this could be another indication that you need more water in your diet. Some studies have found that drinking more water can help decrease the chances of headaches.

How Much Water Should You Drink a Day?

There is a lot of debate about the precise amount of water we should drink per day. As there are factors that can impact the amount of water we need; such as gender, weight, daily physical activity levels and the climate we live in. However, there’s an average target of around 6-8 glasses of water per day, which is roughly between 1.5 and 2 litres.

However, if the weather is hot or you’re exercising, your body will need to intake more water to replace what you lose.

The best way to stay hydrated throughout the day is to drink little and often. Have a glass of water when you wake up, and take a refillable water bottle to work and keep filling it up throughout the day.

It may seem hard at first if you’re not used to drinking water but your body will soon adapt and it will become a habit of your daily life.

What Are the Other Benefits?

Keeping well hydrated has a whole host of other positive benefits on your health and mental health. It can help to boost your mental performance because your brain is heavily influenced by your hydration levels.

Even mild dehydration can decrease many aspects of your brain function. It can affect your mood, reduce brain performance, make you feel fatigued, lower your concentration levels, increase anxiety, and decrease memory and energy levels. However, drinking enough water can help to combat all these symptoms and help to improve your mood and energy.

It can also help to improve your physical performance whilst exercising. As drinking plenty of water helps to prevent tiredness, which makes exercising feel easier.

It’s important to stay hydrated during workouts because you lose water through sweating. Drinking water helps your body to control its internal temperature helping you to perform at your best without losing motivation or feeling too fatigued.

Keeping well hydrated is also a great way of helping you to lose weight, as it helps to boost your metabolic rate. This means you may increase the number of calories you burn throughout the day.

It’s also very common for people to mistake dehydration for being hungry. A lot of the time when you think you’re hungry, you’re just thirsty.

Drinking a glass of water when you think you’re hungry is a good way to see if you still feel hungry 20-30 minutes later. You may find that you’ve mistaken hunger for thirst and this can help you to stop over-eating or eating when you’re not actually hungry.

Another great technique is to drink a glass of water half an hour before you eat. This will help you to feel fuller, which means you eat fewer calories.

Do Liquids Other Than Water Count for Your Daily Intake?

Yes, there are several other drinks such as tea, coffee, milk, sugar-free drinks and squash that all count towards your daily intake of water.

Smoothies and fruit juices are also included in the list. However, they contain a lot of sugar. So, where possible it’s best to get your water intake from just water itself.

There are also a lot of foods that you can incorporate into your diet to help boost your intake of water even further. Many foods have a high water percentage such as; tomatoes, lettuce, pineapples, oranges, soup, melons, cucumbers and courgettes.

“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.”-W. H. Auden

Summary

Drinking more water is a great habit to adopt because it will help you feel better inside and out. However, if you’re struggling to reach the 2-litre daily goal, then try introducing more water slowly into your daily diet, one extra glass a day. You’ll soon be reaching for water without even realising it and it will become second nature to you.

If you want to have a healthier mind and body it’s a great easy way to improve your general health and it’s free. Invest in a reusable water bottle and be sure to take it with you throughout your day and you’ll see the benefits of staying hydrated in no time!

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.”– Thomas Fuller

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