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How Much Do You Need to Hydrate?

Yum

December 5, 2018 By Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD 2 Comments

I get asked all the time how much you need to hydrate. I also get asked WHAT you should hydrate with and when. I wanted to break down the HOW MUCH a bit today so you had a resource for your hydration needs. Hydration is an important part of your health and if you aren’t drinking enough or drinking enough of the right stuff, you may run into health issues OR just not be completely optimizing your health.

how much do you need to hydrate

I have at least 3 drinks around me at all times. So you could say I’m really into hydration. It’s not that I’m constantly thirsty it’s that I’m really into drinking liquids AND I like options. Not only that, I like to have access to fluids should I get thirsty. I guess you could call my 3-4 drinks at all times a security blanket. However, I recognize that while I prioritize hydration, everyone else may not, so let’s learn why we need to hydrate & how much hydration we really need.

Why Do You Need to Hydrate?

Let’s take a step back for a second and talk about why hydration even matters. Or wait, does it? Well, yes to put it plain and simple, being hydrated is important and without it can lead to many health issues. You can go a month without food but only 3 days without hydration. I mean, I can’t go a day without fluids so I can’t imagine the torture that would be 3 days.

Your body is over 50% water so CLEARLY, it is important. While I love food and find it incredibly valuable for your health, hydration is just as if not more important for you and your health. Here are a few key reasons why you need to hydrate:

  1. Digestive health. The go should be easy and water can help move things along appropriately. Constipated? May need more water.
  2. Muscle health. Water helps provide enough nutrients to the muscles, so for best recovery, you need water to do so. Not recovering from workouts? Could be related to hydration.
  3. Joint health. Water/fluid lubricates the joints which means more comfort around the joints. Feeling joint pain? Hydration could be a factor.
  4. Waste elimination. Water helps the kidneys (and all organs for that matter) do what they do best which is filter waste products out of the body. Forget the cleanses you see on Instagram, drink your darn water.
  5. Temperature regulation. You want to stay warm when it’s cold and cold when it’s warm. Drink water.
  6. Oral health. Dry mouth can lead to nasty breath, stay hydrated for all of our sakes.
  7. Skin health. Want supple skin? Drink water, especially because the skin is 70% water AND the largest organ in/on the body.
  8. Heart health. If you’re dehydrated, your blood volume decreases meaning the heart has to work a little bit harder. Why don’t you do some work for your heart and drink up?

….and many more reasons. Now that we know why you need hydration, let’s learn how much.

How Much Water Do You Need?

It DEPENDS. Shocker I know. However, it really does depends. Most people will tell you that you need 1/2 your body weight in ounces. While I agree, that is a good starting point, it’s not the perfect amount for everyone. Others will tell you that you need a gallon a day (and that you should carry said gallon jug around with you). That is also another “close, but no cigar” type suggestions. Still, others will tell you that you need 8 glasses of water per day. A good starting point, yet again. To make the drinking water in your home free of contaminants and to give it a closer resemblance to that bottled water taste, you could consider investing in water filtration devices for your home – Click for additional details.

The amount of water you need depends on A LOT of different factors and there is no one size fits all as it comes to hydration. Certainly, there are things to look out for to see if you are hydrated enough but let’s start by figuring out what your needs depend on.

Hydration depends on:

  1. Age
  2. Sex
  3. Weight/Height
  4. Activity Level
  5. Sweat Rate (Sweat Rate (mL/min or mL/h) = Sweat Loss/Exercise Time;Sweat Loss = Change in BW + Drink Volume – Urine Volume)
  6. Environment (i.e. heat, humidity, cold, altitude, etc.)
  7. Health Status (i.e. pregnant, breastfeeding, sickness, health, etc.)

If you need a baseline amount, the Adequate Intake levels, as set by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), is 2.7L/day for females and 3.7L/day for males (sedentary). It is suggested that 20% comes from food and 80% comes from fluids. However, fluid needs may go up to 10L/day based on activity needs. This is just an estimated guess as that’s all Adequate Intake really is.

For reference:

The AI is a recommended average daily nutrient intake level, based on experimentally derived intake levels or approximations of observed mean nutrient intake by a group (or groups) of apparently healthy people that are assumed to be adequate. (source)

Ok, So How Much?!

First, I have some questions to ask yourself when you are trying to figure out if you are hydrated or not:

  • What color is my pee?
    • Clear/Light color: for all intents & purposes, you’re hydrated
    • Dark/Off Color: may need to drink more water &/or look into what you’re eating/drinking/taking that could be causing a different color
  • Am I experiencing any mental fog, fatigue, headaches, etc. ?
    • Yes: drink more water to see if it helps
    • No: good on ya!
  • Do I feel thirst?
    • Yes: drink more water
    • No: don’t force it, but look for other cues to see if you could benefit from more waer
  • Am I relying on non-water fluids to keep myself hydrated?
    • Yes: add more water
    • No: you’re probably good
  • Am I having trouble going #2 (aka constipation)?
    • Yes: drink more water to see if it helps
    • No: good on ya!

Each question alone won’t tell you how much fluid you need but together they will help get you close. To be honest, thirst & digestion will probably be your biggest markers on if you are drinking enough water or not.

Sassy’s Recommended Intake

I recommend all my clients start with 1/2 their body weight in ounces and go from there. For example:

150 lb female divided by 1/2 = 75lbs = 75 ounces daily

If they feel likes it’s too much and not helping or not sustainable we back off. If they find benefit from it, we continue. If we find that they are still thirsty, we try upping it. There is no hard and fast rule.

I also recommend taking into account any changes to your normal status quo. If you are sweating more, traveling, in a new environment, new health status, etc. your hydration needs may (and will) change.

Once again, there is no right answer, just that you need to listen to your body. If you really have no idea, ask a professional! That’s what we’re here for.

What Do I Hydrate With?

I will do a whole other post on what to hydrate with, but for now, the key is to hydrate with mostly water and water from foods. Ideally 20% from foods & 80% from water itself.

Not a fan of water? Find a way to dress it up, add a lemon, toss in some berries, add a straw, treat yourself to a new water bottle, and/or some bubbles, and get to drinking!

What other questions do you have about hydration?!

xoxo,

Sassy

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I MAY BE COMPENSATED THROUGH AFFILIATE LINKS IN THIS POST AND ON THIS SITE. HOWEVER, ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN. COMPENSATION HELPS WITH ANY EXPENSES NEEDED TO KEEP THIS BLOG GOING.

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Comments

  1. Kevin says

    March 17, 2019 at 4:34 pm

    Sassy, as a diabetic using a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) I need to hydrate in order to help the machine have enough interstitial fluid to measure. Things get wonky if I lay off water for even half a day!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Sassy's 12 Days of Nutrition - The Sassy Dietitian says:
    December 14, 2018 at 8:57 am

    […] 2: Drink Water.Pro Tip: They say save water drink beer, but this time of year I’d highly recommend you drink water between every beer.  […]

    Reply

@thesassydietitian

We’ve made it over a week together and it feels We’ve made it over a week together and it feels like it’s always been this way.

Motherhood is a wild ride & it’s only getting started. I have never been so tired & simultaneously so fulfilled in my life. That’s not to say it’s not filled with tears, worries and doubts but what fun would it be if it were all sunshine and roses anyway?

Going into this all I have felt so supported by friends going through this with me BUT I felt so unsupported by the general public. It seems like we want to fear and shame moms because misery loves company, right?!

The focus quickly shifts from mom to baby (still shocked that I only have an appointment at 6 weeks even though my body went through the biggest event of its life) and there also seems to be this shift from joy to shame & guilt.

Here’s some of what I heard from people:

😕Sleep when baby sleeps. You’ll never sleep again.
😕Don’t let baby sleep in a car seat, or a bouncer, or anywhere but their crib EVER. 
😕You’ll never have time to shower again, enjoy it now. 
😕Cry it out is cruel and harmful to the baby. 
😕Get baby on a schedule/never put baby on a schedule.

These are all things I heard and that truly led me to believe I was going to lose all sense of who I was and my life as I knew it.

What I wish people had said instead were:

🥰Your heart will grow bigger than you could imagine.
🥰You’ll cry the happiest tears you’ve ever cried.
🥰You’ll feel like a giant hole was filled that you didn’t even know was there.
🥰You won’t feel guilty about cleaning your house, it just won’t matter anymore.
🥰Babies pooping will make you laugh so hard you will feel like a kid again.
🥰You will have time to eat and shower and you don’t have to neglect yourself.

We need to do a better job of building each other up, supporting one another and our decisions while refraining from offering unsolicited advice and opinions. 

So for all you future mamas and new mamas out there, I see you, I’m proud of you and I cannot wait to share our stories with one another and the world.

Let’s stop fear mongering (just like the diet world) and start building one another up.

Xoxo,
Sassy & lil sassy man
🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s b 🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s been a long year of loss, unknowns and worry but it’s all been worth it to get to meet my lil man🥰
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Now time to introduce this sassy human who is already so well loved to the world...
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Introducing 

💙 Connor James Ligos 💙
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After an almost 24 hour labor, Connor joined us over a week past his due date on 2/12/21 at a whopping 9lb2oz & 22.5 inches long with a full head of hair and lungs to scream hello to us with.
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We are so in love already and cannot wait to share him with the world. Thank you for all the love and support from friends and family and to all those that helped us in the hospital. Holy cow labor & delivery teams are truly magical and I cannot imagine doing it without all of their support.
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Now back to snuggling this human of mine and trying not to cry at every last thing he does 🥰 
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Mom, Dad & Bode are all doing well!
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#babyboy #pregnancyafterloss #rainbowbaby #birthdayboy #birthannouncement
I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk t I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk to others about what worked for us. That's great!
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What's not great is when we push our nutrition and eating behaviors onto others ESPECIALLY when we are not qualified to do so.
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So often when people meet me for the first time they are worried to eat around me and/or buy groceries around me. My friends can attest I am not judgemental around food and will gladly eat that cake, queso dip or sip on that glass of wine right alongside of you. I am not the food police and do not offer unsolicited nutrition advice unless it's a client who is paying for my help OR on Instagram and other social media platforms where my goal is to educate.
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Why do I share this? 
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Because I see far too many people diving down diet rabbit holes, finding success & then claiming to be nutrition experts purely because something worked for them. 
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I've also seen this alot being pregnant, everyone wants to tell you what worked for them. IF you use that stipulation of "this worked for me" then fine, share away but if you start doleing out advice please pause, take a breath and think about NOT doing it.
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People are OVERWHELMED by diet culture and some so badly want to change but YOUR way is not the only way and it most likely is not what will work for your friend/coworker/cousin/neighbor so please, stop trying to be an expert in something you aren't.
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Got it!?! 
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Ok, carry on.
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xoxo,
Sassy
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#nutrition #nutritiontips #nutritionist #dietitianapproved #rdapproved #rdchat #dietitiansofinstagram #dietitian #dietitiansofig #albanyny #albanynutrition #albanynutrition
Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. I'm not saying you have to find perfect balance (does that even exist?) but I am saying that we shouldn't feel like either we have to eat perfectly or that we might as well give up.
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Instead we should look to the grey area in between for our nutrition guidance. 
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What do I mean?
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I mean that we need to realize that we can still eat cookies but we probably should throw some veggies in there. 
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We can have a glass or 2 of wine but we should probably also drink some water. 
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We can take rest days but we should also find ways to move our bodies regularly.
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And the list goes on.
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It's not about all or nothing it's about doing something daily to help your health and nutrition without it feeling like a set of rules or a free for all.
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How do we find that grey area in between?
👉🏻 stop hopping on and off fad diets
👉🏻listen and trust your self, not your coworkers and cousins 
👉🏻focus on the simple things (ie drinking water instead of worrying about supplements)
👉🏻work to remove guilt and shame around food & body
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Where do you currently fall Right now?!
🤪 all
👍🏻in between 
🙅🏻‍♀️ nothing 
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Xoxo,
Sassy
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#dietitian #dietitiansofig #dietitiansofinstagram #nutrition #nutritionist #nutritiontips #thesassydietitian #rdchat #realtalk

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