Fact: Americans hate the taste of water. For many, this is true. The taste of water is either unappealing or is simply non-existent, which leads more people to gravitate towards carbonated beverages due to their different flavors. Now, it may sound as if everyone needs to drink a whole gallon of water a day in order to combat dehydration and stay alive; this is not true.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “You don’t need to rely only on water to meet your fluid needs. What you eat also provides a significant portion. For example, many fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon and spinach, are almost 100% water by weight.”
For some people, it is essential to their lifestyle to have an increased daily water intake. This can depend on many different factors: activity level, the weather, body weight and the overall health of the person, whether someone is sick or not. Runners in particular need to drink more water in order to sustain their workouts and have better performance.
Jacob Saylor is the physics teacher at GHS who is also the Boys and Girls Head Cross Country coach and the Head Girls Track and Field coach. He always makes sure his runners are hydrated.
“It really depends on someone’s body weight with how much they should be drinking, but they need to stay hydrated so their cells can perform to the best of their ability during meets,” Saylor said.
Not only is drinking water essential for keeping someone alive, it also improves your mental sharpness and productivity. From OfficeH2O.com, “ Research has shown that even mild dehydration (a body water loss of between 1%- 2%) impairs cognitive performance.” This means that if someone isn’t drinking enough water their brain will not function in the ways it should. Many students, especially, can experience fatigue, headaches or dizziness when trying to either get homework done or practice for their sport.
But how much water should a person drink? This question, after research, is a bit of a gray area in the health community. There is, of course, the saying drink eight glasses of water a day. Additionally, there exist people who say to drink half of your body weight in ounces or who try to drink an entire gallon in one day. While these are all healthy to some extent, this type of measuring can potentially get obsessive and time consuming. However, there are some ways to tell when you are hydrated enough.
The Mayo Clinic states that, “Your fluid intake is probably adequate if you rarely feel thirsty…It’s a good idea to drink a glass of water: With each meal and between meals; Before, during and after exercise; or if you feel thirsty.”
It is much easier than people think to start drinking more water throughout the day. One of the most broadcasted methods is finding the right water bottle.