Why do we need water?
The most vital substance for a healthy mind and body is water.
Dehydration makes us feel tired, cranky and stiff-jointed. It can make it harder to be patient with others. It can bring on headaches, nausea, aches, cramps and other more serious physical ailments. Severe dehydration can cause seizures, coma or even death.
The benefits of hydration
According to Vic Health the key benefits of proper hydration include:
- Greater physical and mental staying power
- Prevention of muscle cramps in legs, hands and feet
- Prevention of achy stiffness in joints
- Prevention of some headaches
- Flushing out toxins
- Keeping your digestive system working, softening stools and making them easier to pass
- Helping to prevent urinary tract infections by flushing bacteria away
Dehydration: what to look for and what to do
Mild dehydration
Look for: thirst, dry lips, dry mouth, flushed skin, fatigue, irritability, headache, darker urine, decreased urine output.
What to do: Increase fluid intake
Dehydration
Look for: signs of mild dehydration plus a very dry mouth, sunken eyes, skin that does not bounce back quickly when pressed, limited urine output, dark yellow urine, cramps, stiff or painful joints, severe irritability, fatigue, severe headache.
What to do: Call a medical professional
Severe Dehydration
Look for: signs of mild and moderate dehydration plus blue lips, blotchy skin, confusion, lethargy, cold hands and feet, rapid breathing, rapid and weak pulse, low blood pressure, dizziness, fainting, high fever, inability to urinate or to produce tears, lack of interest in drinking fluid.
What to do: Call 000
How much water should I drink?
According to healthdirect.gov.au, the amount of water that someone should drink varies greatly from person to person. It depends on how your individual metabolism works, what the temperature is, what you eat, your age and whether you have a medical condition.
As a general rule, men need about two and a half litres of fluid every day and women need about two litres (add another 250 ml per day if you are pregnant or breastfeeding). Babies need 0.7 to 0.8 litres of fluid a day from breast milk or formula, while children need between one litre (for 1-year-olds) and two litres (for teenagers).
You can get water from any fluids — including tea and coffee, fruit juice and soft drinks. But be careful how much of these you drink since they can make you put on weight, damage your teeth and have an unwanted stimulant effect.
Australian tap water is always the best choice and it is important for you to drink before you feel thirsty.
Can I drink too much water
It is possible, in fact we’ve written a blog on it here, however it is extremely rare and takes a significant amount of water to be ingested quickly. Nevertheless, it is important to be mindful of the risks and drink water consistently during the day to ensure you are replacing your bodies water at roughly the same rate it is being expelled.
The benefits of filtered tap water
Aquaclear sells, installs and maintains a wide range of filtered water systems utilising Australia’s world class quality tap water as the source. Our clients regularly report that employees notice the benefits of having healthy, chilled filtered water on tap at their workplace and are therefore less likely to become dehydrated as a result. Other benefits include a lower propensity to consume unhealthy sugary drinks and significant benefits to the environment through the reduction in single use plastic water bottles.
If you’re considering investing in a filtered water system for your organisation, get a free independent opinion from AquaClear between 7am-5pm eastern on 1300 070 007.