Step 3 - Hydrate
Are you feeling thirsty? At this present moment as you sit at your desk, or drive your car (naughty!) and scroll through your phone do you think about how much H2O you drink on a daily basis? Many don't. In fact most Americans suffer chronic dehydration on a daily basis and don't even know about it.
HYDRATE
The general recommendation for cups of water to drink a day is 10. I tend to recommend drinking 1oz per .5 x your body weight. So drink half your body weight in ounces. That is just a starting point, this all depends on your energy levels, your activity, where you live, when you are up, are you in the sun? etc. If you are a smaller human aim more for 2/3 of your body weight starting out (even though we all should get to that amount eventually). When we are hydrated there are COUNTLESS benefits.
For one our heart does not have to work as hard, I don’t know about you but I want to save that baby for as long as I can.
Secondly, it increases your performance by 25%. Are you feeling groggy? Distracted? Tired? You might be dehydrated! Studies show that 54% of kids going to school today are dehydrated! That is so sad. Put down the diet coke, pick up a water!
The graph to the left shows what percentage of each world population is consuming water. The ratio depicts how much water is consumed at an optimal level (around 8 cups a day which I think is fairly low) in grey versus what percentage is under-consuming water in blue. As you can see over half of most world populations are NOT drinking enough water.
It takes only a 2% loss of total water content for your body to start feeling thirsty. Once you’re at this point your body is already in a state of dehydration.
What are the common side affects of dehydration? Well, first let us think about what water really means to our body. On average our body is composed of 50-65% water. Practically, if you weigh 200 pounds that means over 100 pounds of you is water. Infants have an even higher percentage of them made of water, equaling 75-78%, which means hydration is even more important for them. However, it is important to note that water levels within the body change depending on your gender and fitness level.
Men tend to have more water than women, because they carry more lean muscle
Women tend to hold less water weight, we naturally have more fatty tissues
Where is our water?
2/3 of our water is intracellular (inside our cells)
1/3 of our water is extracellular (outside of our cells)
20% of our total water is found within our blood plasma
What does it do exactly?
Water is the primary building block of cells.
It acts as an insulator, regulating internal body temperature (aka it lets us sweat)
Water is needed to metabolize proteins and carbohydrates used as food. It is the primary component of saliva, used to digest carbohydrates and aid in swallowing food.
Lubricates joints.
Water insulates the brain, spinal cord, organs, and fetus (absorbs shock)
Water is used to flush waste and toxins from the body via urine.
Water is the principal solvent in the body. It dissolves minerals, soluble vitamins, and certain nutrients.
Water carries oxygen and nutrients to cells.
(Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "How Much of Your Body Is Water?" ThoughtCo, May. 13, 2019, thoughtco.com/how-much-of-your-body-is-water-609406.)
WATER AND PERFORMANCE
If you experience any of these things above you might want to check out your hydration levels. It is a serious issue to let your hydration suffer and you need to place some serious thought into how you are hydrating and what you are doing to put your hydration first.
REMEMBER
If you’re only mildly dehydrated you’re 114% more likely to make an error, which is similar to drinking low levels of alcohol.
Hydration is no laughing matter and as you can see from above it affects several aspects of our daily life. So keep it in check. Track what you drink if you are unsure and aim for at least 1/2 your bodyweight in ounces a day. But more is even better!
BOTTOMS UP!
Part 4 comes soon. Stay tuned and jumpstart your health. If you missed parts 1-3 head back to the blog and check them out!
PART 1 - https://www.rxtnnutrition.com/blog/6-steps-to-jumpstart-your-health