The Importance of Hydration It’s widely known that health experts recommend drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day, which equates to about 2 litres. According to guidance from the Institute of Medicine, the recommendation for actual fluid intake is 3 litres for men and 2.2 litres for women.[1]
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ow, if you’re the sort of person who regularly drinks eight glasses of water a day, well done to you. As a nurse working in a busy A&E department, I would often go home after a long 13-hour shift and realise I hadn’t drunk enough water throughout the day, and my kidneys would ache as a physical reminder of this. Research suggests that I’m not the only one, as many of us fall short of the recommended eight cups a day.[2],[3] We’ve all seen the recent memes: how can we possibly be expected to juggle a career, have a social life, study, have a hobby, keep up with household chores, eat five portions of fruit and veg a day, exercise, practise self-care and drink eight glasses of water a day while navigating a global pandemic? It’s so easy to reach for a hot cup of coffee when we’re overstretched and running low on steam, but today I want to shine a light on the advantages of prioritising water throughout the day – because the benefits to our body are more important than we may think. How much of the human body is made up of water varies by age and gender; it can also be affected by body size and shape, and the balance of muscle and fat.[4] We can maintain this balance of water by drinking fluids throughout the day. But why is this so important? Well, ensuring adequate hydration has numerous benefits for the human body, not only physically but also mentally. Physical Benefits
Regulating the balance of water in the body is essential for maintaining health and life.
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