Drinking Water? Fluids? Food?: Hydration Without the Hype

Hi! My name is Julia Trader, and I am currently interning with Laura Poland at Dietitian in Your Kitchen.  She and fellow dietitian Amy Keller have a podcast together where they discuss all things nutrition! You can listen to any of the podcasts here!  I was so excited when she asked me to listen to one of their podcasts, Drinking Water? Fluids? Food?: Hydration Without the Hype, and then write a blog post about it for you all to read!  Many aspects of hydration are discussed including how other fluids can be just as hydrating as water and how to keep up on your fluid intake throughout the day.  So, take a sip of your favorite drink, take a seat, and get ready to learn all about hydration!      

It Does Not Have to Be Water:

Drinking water is obviously heavily encouraged, but you can be adequality hydrated while drinking other fluids. It is ok if water is simply only part of your fluid intake.  This is good news for those of us who don’t love water : ) .  Water is an essential nutrient, so it does need to be consumed in some form on a daily basis.  The good news is that almost all fluids have some amount of water in them.  There is also a decent amount of water in the foods you eat – broccoli, carrots, and of course soup.  And even dried raisins and pudding.  The benefit to drinking water is it has zero calories but still hydrates you.  To make water more appealing to your taste buds you can always infuse it with fruits, herbs, etc.  Check out Laura’s 411 on Infusing Water handout!

How Much Should You Drink:

How much water you should drink does depend on your age and gender, but there is an easy way to get a baseline estimate of how much fluid you should be consuming.  You simply take your body weight and divide it by 2, and that number is how many ounces of fluid you should aim to drink daily.  Despite popular belief, you can have too much of a good thing, including water.  More than 20L of water can put you in a potentially life-threatening situation.  Drinking too much in a short amount of time can also be harmful.  You want to try and avoid that “sloshing in your stomach feeling.”  The key is to be drinking adequate amounts consistently throughout the day.

Myths About Water:

• Water does not decrease your wrinkles:  Unfortunately, drinking lots of water over the course of your life does not directly translate to having less wrinkles.  How many wrinkles you have or will have is mostly dependent on how much time you spend in the sun, and your genetics.
• Water does not detoxify your body: While water is obviously very important to the health of your body it does not detoxify it.  Detoxifying the body is the job of your liver and your kidneys.  Your liver and kidneys need a certain amount of water to function, but drinking more water than necessary does not help your liver or kidneys work better per se. 
• Water burns fat: There are many fads or beliefs that if you add apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or even just drinking ice cold water that your body will burn more fat.  While many of us would like that to be true, there is not enough research or evidence to support the idea that water or water infused with certain substances burns fat. 

Considerations:

• Substituting Food for Water: Don’t do it.  People try and trick their bodies and drink water when what they actually need is food.  You should be eating every 4-5 hours throughout the day, so if it’s been that long, eat.  Trying to lose weight? Try eating more fruits and vegetables as part of your snack or meal. They are beneficial because they contain water (hydration yay!), they are low in calories, high in nutrients and fiber, and help satisfy your hunger. 
• What’s the Deal with Alkaline Water? I’m sure you have heard of alkaline water at some point recently as it is water’s biggest fad at the moment.  If you want to get the inside scoop on alkaline water and find out if it is worth the hype or a waste of your money, listen to the full podcast on hydration here!

Key Takeaways

• Water should ideally be your primary fluid, but all your fluids do not have to come from water.  
• Getting enough fluid is very much an out of sight out of mind thing.  If it is not near you, and you are having a busy day, quite frankly you will probably forget to drink.  Always have water or another fluid close by so you remember to drink throughout your day.
• Remember, being adequately hydrated is a marathon not a sprint!  

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