Best Way to Stay Hydrated

Hydration is a health aspect that is often overlooked by many. However, it’s one of the basic and most important factors people should prioritize. Not experiencing thirst isn’t a sign that a person is well-hydrated. In fact, thirst is not a good indicator of hydration. Most of the time, a person feels thirst when the hydration is already too low. In this article, we will discuss how hydration is important and how you can keep hydrated in the best way possible.

What is hydration?

Hydration is essentially your body’s storage of water. You can either be well-hydrated, dehydrated or overhydrated. However, we often encounter dehydration in our day-to-day lives. Luckily, this is something we can fix by just modifying our diet and lifestyle choices. A perfectly healthy person can easily control his or her hydration status through drinking water.

How much water do you need?

The rule that you probably often hear is eight glasses of water a day. It’s a good rule to stick to but most people are unable to comply. Moreover, the amount of water you need will vary depending on your weight, activity level, climate conditions and other factors.

Keep in mind that this doesn’t include some drinks like caffeinated drinks. Anything with caffeine will make you lose more water. This includes drinks like soda and coffee. This is because these drinks make you pee more, thus not letting you hold on to the water.

The best way

So how can one exactly hydrate himself the best way possible? The best way to do so is by drinking enough water everyday coupled with a good intake of fruits and vegetables. You might be wondering why drinking water isn’t enough.

Let’s face it. Most of us simply fail to meet the recommended daily water intake requirements. Moreover, we also consume food and drinks that even worsen our hydration status. Thus, supplementing with fruits and vegetables help us maintain hydration on days when we are unable to drink enough water.

Fruits and vegetables are packed with water. Some examples of these are cucumber, watermelon, tomatoes, celery, Romaine lettuce, among many others. Consuming enough of this food group ensures we remain hydrated.

How to know if you’re well-hydrated

As previously mentioned, people shouldn’t rely on thirst in terms of hydration. The better indicator of hydration is the color of your urine. As much as possible, you want your urine to be pale yellow or clear. A light yellow urine is also acceptable. However, when your urine starts to become less clear and more bright or dark yellow, it’s a good sign to increase your water intake.

Staying hydrated is one of the easiest ways we can keep our bodies stay healthy and strong. It might not seem like it, but choosing that glass of water over a soda will do our bodies significant good. It’s important we know when we are lacking water in our bodies and that we know the best way to keep them hydrated.