Water: An essential

For my first health related entry I'd like to start by covering something with which we cannot live without. I'll cover nutrition in the future of course but to put in perspective, you can live weeks without foot but only days without water. Strangely enough there's also a lot of debate on how much water you need a day so I will try to simply this topic to the best of my ability and help prevent you from being a gallon jug carrying lunatic.

I'm sure you've seen the statistic that we are over 60% water so I find it redundant to cover why you need water. I'll cover it with one statement: without water, you die.

So how much water do you need? Well that depends on a variety of factors from age, sex, diet, activity level, lifestyle, etc. However, there are ways to know if you're drinking the appropriate amount of water for you.

Two ways to figure out if you're hydrated:

Pee. Yes. Pee. If your pee is a color from clear to light yellow, congratulations, you are hydrated. If it is yellow to dark yellow, you are not hydrated. Get some water.

Second method

If you are feeling thirsty, get water. The human body has developed specifically for survival and is why we have thirst mechanisms internally built. So if you are feeling thirsty, it is safe to say that you are not hydrated.

Note: if you are pregnant, sick, or an athlete, you will require more water than a person who doesn't fall into one of those categories.

Scenario: You decide to follow a number tracking method (1 gallon = aka drinking 128 ounces of water or 16 cups). You're about to go to sleep but realized you have only drank 12 cups of water. Are you screwed? Not at all! Unless your pee is a dark yellow or you're feeling thirsty, you're good to go! Another important thing many people forget is that food has water. Therefore, you may have only drank 12 cups of water, but you have consumed the rest.

Congratulations, you now know the basics of water! Now you can live your life and start your fitness journey with scientifically correct information. In this series I will be covering all sorts of fitness topics that are jam packed with scientific information so I am not to mislead you.

Have a topic you'd like me to cover? Send a message or leave a comment!

Cheers to hydration.