How to drink water properly.

Hydrogen, alkaline, coconut, with collagen - new types of water appear on supermarket shelves every day. Some promise eternal youth, others - deliverance from all diseases, others simply modestly offer to quench their thirst. Is it worth overpaying for beautiful bottles, how many liters of water do we need per day and how to recognize a real mineral water by the label, they asked the experts. More about drinks you may learn in the specialized section "drinks" of the new project Healthy food near me

How much water to drink per day?

Ksenia Selezneva, a nutritionist at the European Medical Center, states: "There are still no uniform standards in Russia, but there are recommendations - an average of 30 ml per 1 kg of body weight."
According to the world`s leading organizations, the recommended daily intake of water has been developed, including dishes containing liquid - juice, tea, coffee, watermelon, soup.
Men need to drink from 2.5 to 3.7 liters per day, women - from 2 to 2.7 liters.

Do i need to drink, even if you don`t feel like it?

Many people think that drinking water is necessary only when thirsty, but this is not entirely true. Thirst is usually a signal of dehydration. The numbers speak for themselves: with a loss of 2% of fluid from body weight, a person is sharply thirsty, with an indicator of up to 10%, one gets dizzy and hallucinations occur. If a person loses 12% of the fluid, he urgently needs medical attention. Death occurs at a dehydration rate of 20%.

Can I get poisoned by drinking too much water?

Yes, you can. It is definitely not recommended to absorb several liters of water at once, especially at night. This is an overload on the kidneys, which already cleanse about 1,700 liters of blood from toxins per day. Firstly, the kidneys still cannot cope with the additional load, and secondly, edema will appear. Excess water consumption lowers the concentration of electrolytes in the blood, in particular sodium, which maintains a balance between the fluid inside and outside the cells.

And when exactly should you drink more?

In training. During exercise, you use up water much faster than usual. Due to perspiration and overheating, it is worth adding another 500-600 ml to the drinking rate. When fluid is lost, the blood becomes thicker, and it is more difficult for the heart to "drive" it through the arteries and veins. At the same time, the brain and muscles require more oxygen and nutrients. By the way, joint pain can be the result of a lack of fluid in the body, since cartilage tissue is an elastic material, 60–85% water.

During exercise, the body needs more water. Before training - a few large sips or half a glass of water, during exercise you can take a small sip of water every 15-20 minutes, after training, drink a full glass of water to restore the water-salt balance in the body.

If it`s hot outside, especially if the humidity goes off scale, you need to replenish the moisture lost with sweat.
When breastfeeding, you need to drink more than usual, on average 600-700 ml per day, since milk is 87% water.

During pregnancy, you need to drink 300 ml more per day, since the baby is surrounded by waters and needs sufficient fluid for 9 months.

In case of poisoning. If a person is sick, it is necessary to establish the correct drinking regimen. Drink more to remove waste products from your body. Water with lemon and sparkling water are much more effective for these purposes.

How do I know if I`m not drinking enough?

First, if you feel thirsty, it means that by 1-2% your body is already dehydrated. Many people confuse hunger with thirst and overeat. To avoid this, simply drink some water before starting your lunch or dinner. Second, watch your weight changes.

We recommend weighing yourself every day after waking up for a week. If the arrow on the scale shows 500 grams less than your average weight, you need to replenish the fluid balance by 400 ml. Thirdly, it is not superfluous to monitor the color of urine: if it is light yellow or straw, everything is in order, if it is dark, the body retains water, drink more.

If your urine is completely colorless several times a week, you are drinking too much. By the way, migraines and a constant feeling of fatigue are the first signal that the body is experiencing a lack of fluid. Recent studies have shown that dehydration causes problems with mood, decision-making, and normal tasks. This also affects the effectiveness of training: when the body is dehydrated by 1.5%, endurance indicators decrease.

A constant lack of fluid in the body increases the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease, and infections of the genitourinary system.

When is it right to drink water and can you drink with food?

It is recommended to start the day with one or two glasses of water upon waking up, it is better to have breakfast after 30 minutes.

There is a hypothesis that by drinking liquid with food, we dilute gastric juice with digestive enzymes, thereby slowing down the process of assimilation of food. Water does not have time to be absorbed into the walls of the stomach, and the fermentation process starts. We recommend drinking some water with meals.