Water is the most important thing we as humans need to survive. Naturally, we thrive off of a healthy balance of food and water, but if push came to shove, we could go longer without food than we could without water. Humans could go without food for around three weeks, but wouldn’t last more than three to four days without water. Knowing this, it’s important to assess whether or not you’re getting enough water in your system. You may feel hydrated after a few sips of water throughout the day, but you’re probably not as properly hydrated as you think you are. There are a variety of ways for you to determine whether or not you’re getting proper hydration. Here’s an idea of how drinking water can be beneficial to you, as well as a list of steps you can take in order to find the key to achieving proper hydration.

What Can Water Do For Me?

The question should really be “What can’t water do for me?”! Water is the main ingredient that keeps us alive. When you drink water, you’ll find that your energy is immediately replenished, which can lead to an increase in physical performance. If you have stiff joints, drinking water can lubricate them as cartilage contains 80 percent water, and long-term dehydration can eventually lead to joint pain. Drinking water not only prevents dehydration, but it keeps your mouth clean and helps reduce tooth decay. Water is also responsible for forming saliva and mucus, which are important for friction and damage prevention. When you are regularly hydrated, you’re aiding in the prevention of kidney damage; because the kidneys are responsible for regulating bodily fluids, it’s important to stay hydrated as insufficient water consumption can lead to kidney stones or other issues.

Water is responsible for aiding our bodies in optimal performance. For instance, our blood is made up of over 90 percent water. When you drink water, you promote good blood flow which carries oxygen all throughout your body. Water can be found all throughout our bodies; it’s part of what cushions the brain, spinal cords, and multiple other sensitive tissues. As such, when you’re dehydrated, your performance is seriously hindered, such as your ability to think and have reason, and it can affect brain structure and function. Dehydration can also bring about problems such as constipation, stomach ulcers, an overly acidic stomach, and it can increase the risk of heartburn. Additionally, your airways are restricted in order to minimize water loss when you’re dehydrated, which can pose a serious problem if you have asthma or severe allergies.

Drink More Water

This is both the most obvious and helpful step you could take when it comes to staying hydrated. Generally, most professionals suggest drinking eight 8-oz glasses of water every day. If you’re a water bottle drinker, that’s roughly four and a half bottles of water a day. When you put it into these terms, it doesn’t really sound like much. The amount of water you should ingest may also depend on your body weight; the heavier set you are, the more water you’ll need to drink. Because of this, there’s a slight difference in how much water men and women should drink every day. Men, on average, have higher levels of fat, which means they need to include more liquids in their diet. Either way, our bodies are made up of about 60-70 percent water, so it’s crucial that we give them what they need!

In this day and age, it can be hard to determine whether or not you’re getting enough water for your body on a daily basis. Luckily, there is a product for everything. You can easily find water bottles that are marked to help you drink more water. Let’s say you strive to drink a gallon of water every day: the bottles are marked with times that start in the morning and end at night. The hours aren’t back to back which helps to ensure that you aren’t drinking too much at one time. If the bottle starts at 8 A.M. and the time beneath it is 10 A.M., you would drink the necessary amount of water periodically until you reach that next time mark. You can even find water bottles that have motivational sayings for each time that help to encourage you to continue until you reach your goal! Overall, it’s really helpful to set a drinking goal for yourself as it will ensure you’re getting the hydration that you need.

Eat Fruits & Vegetables High In Water Content

If you’re not an avid water drinker, there are plenty of fruits out there that contain copious amounts of water for you to partake in. Watermelon is a fruit that has a very high water content—this explains why water is in the name! Other melons such as cantaloupes and honeydews also have a high water content. Melons are the go-to fruit when it comes to staying hydrated as their water content can be as high as 90 percent!

If you aren’t a melon fan, there are still a variety of fruits that are high in water content that you can eat to stay hydrated. Oranges, peaches, apricots, pineapples, blueberries, plums, and raspberries contain over 80 percent water. Eating fruits works out great because in addition to providing an excellent nutritional value, you are also capable of meeting your necessary water intake requirements.

It may come as a shock, but vegetables are also high in water content! Cucumber, tomato, celery, iceberg lettuce, and zucchini consist of over 90 percent water. Other vegetables with a considerable amount of water include green cabbage, broccoli, spinach, eggplant, and cauliflower. These are foods you probably already include in your diet. Finding and creating a good balance of fruits and vegetables with a high water content in addition to drinking water will ultimately lead you to the proper hydration you’re in search of.

How to Know If You’re Properly Hydrated

There are a lot of telltale signs that indicate whether or not you’re dehydrated. When you’ve been ingesting a lot of liquids, your urine is bound to be either clear or a pale yellow. Urine that is dark yellow indicates that you’re dehydrated. More often than not, if you find yourself feeling tired and fatigued, there’s a chance that you are dehydrated. Headaches are another side effect of dehydration. Naturally, this is easily and quickly solved by drinking water. If you experience any or a number of these symptoms, you could be dehydrated.

Hydration is very important, and a big part of staying hydrated is knowing what you’re doing both wrong and right! We hope you found these tips to be helpful and can come up with a method that works best for you so that dehydration is never in your future.