Drinking Water Enough Each Day?

The science is in. Most people do not drink enough water each day. Water is essential to life. It keeps our blood pressure low and ensures we can flush all the toxins out of our body each day. It is crucial to drink enough water to keep our kidneys and liver functioning correctly. Without enough water, our body would overheat on a hot day, perhaps leading to heat sickness such as heatstroke.

The average human body is made up of 50-70% water. When you think about it, that is a lot! And as a result, we use a lot of water each day for our bodies to function and operate properly. In the case of hot days, we perspire to keep our body temperature low, and after drinking alcohol, we need to go to the bathroom very frequently, as the body uses water to expel the alcohol from our bodies, as it is seen as a toxin.

So how much water should we drink each day? Different studies have slightly different answers. It depends upon a range of factors such as your height and weight, how active you are, how fit you are and where you live. The climate in hot and humid countries means people there need to drink much more water than those living in cold places such as Alaska and Norway.

It is recommended that the average male drink two and a half litres of water per day, whilst women should drink around two litres per day.

It is important to note that other fluids also contribute to our daily totals such as tea, soft drink, sports drink, fruit such as oranges and watermelons that have a high water content.

So how can you tell whether you are drinking enough water? The most common method is checking the colour when you go to the bathroom. It should be light yellow to clear in colour. If it is a strong or bright yellow colour, then that means that you are dehydrated and should start to drink more fluids. Having a headache or feeling dizzy are also signs that you are very dehydrated. 

If you do not like to drink water, then consider drinking green tea, or adding a slice of lemon to your water. A slice of lime is also a common way of making the water taste nice.