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How much water to drink?
How much water should we drink? The usual advice is "8 glasses a day" or even "as much as possible". But, as explained in another article, how much water and salt we take affects our immunity. It's not a great idea to avoid salt and it is also not a great idea to drink too much water.
This article was originally published in The Good Life issue #2, 1995. The entire issue looked at infectious diseases like Aids and drug resistant tuberculoisis,and how dietary and lifestyle factors can weaken our immune system, making us more prone to these diseases.
8 Glasses a day is one of the most silly pieces of advice ever given regarding how water consumption. When so-called health experts say that we should all drink 8 glasses of water daily, they totally disregard differences in individual needs. How much water we need depends on our overall diet, our level of activity, our environment, the weather, and many other factors. For example, if you eat salty foods, you will feel thirsty, which is the body's way of telling you to drink more water. Likewise if you eat plenty of dry foods like biscuits, or foods with a relatively low water content, like meat. On the other hand, if you foods with a high water content, like fruits, salads, soup (provided it is not too salty) or grains cooked into a porridge, you don't need to drink that much water/ You are already "eating" water together with your food. If your environment is hot and dry, you need to drink more. If it is cool and humid, and you don't perspire much, again you need to drink less. How much water you need depends on your level of physical activity as well. If you do hard physical work or exercise vigorously - especially under the hot sun – you need more water. If you are inactive, you don't need as much. And so on... Those who recommend drinking lots of water say it flushes out body toxins. This is true and if you are feeling unwell, for example, you may need to drink more water. But the better overall approach is to eat a clean diet so that we do not have much toxins to flush out in the first place. The best guideline is to drink only when you are thirsty. Don’t drink “for fun”. And drink slowly to quench your thirst. If you gulp, you will tend to drink too much. The only trouble is that some people, because of pre-occupation with work or other reasons, might "forget" that they are thirsty. Another good guideline is to monitor your urine. If you urinate more than four or five times a day (24-hour period), you are drinking too much. It may also mean kidney or bladder weakness, caused by, among other reasons, drinking too much. Also, if your urine is transparent, you need to drink less. If your urine is dark, you need to drink more. Ideally, the urine should be light yellow, like the colour of light beer. |
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