Human bodies are made of 45-75% water by weight (1). That should make it pretty obvious that consuming appropriate amounts of H2O is important to proper body functioning. According to the US Institute for Medicine, the daily adequate intake for water is 2.7 L for women and 3.7 L for men (2). 80% of this volume is expected to come from fluids and the best source is clean, pure water (2).
However, it can be hard to drink adequate amounts throughout the day depending on the situation you find yourself in! Because of that, I am going to give five tips to help increase your water intake. These will be in no particular order as some may find certain tips more helpful than others.
First and foremost, an easy way to increase your water intake is by investing in a nice water bottle. If you purchase a more expensive water bottle, you will be more likely to use it because you have made an investment in the bottle. A nice added bonus with this tip is that the majority of higher end bottles are insulated well, so your water will always be cool and refreshing.
Another way to make sure the water you're drinking is refreshing is to make sure you are filtering your water. There is a wide spectrum for how serious you want to go with this one, but even something as simple as a pitcher that filters out some of the heavy metals and chloride taste some tap waters have can make all the difference.
A big reason why people struggle with drinking water is they do not enjoy the taste of the water. An additional way to help spice up your aqua is by adding something to it! Whether you choose fruit like a lemon, cucumber or strawberry or even some other healthy sweetener that has little to no sugar or artificial sweeteners and dyes. My personal favorite is Vital Proteins - Hydration Lemon Lime flavoring.
The next tip is a good one for school aged kids: any time you are walking past a water fountain, stop and take a drink. This has been a staple of my routine since hearing a football coach encourage his players to follow this advice. Whenever I am without my water bottle and I see a water fountain, I stop at it and take a nice drink.
The final tip for drinking more water can be applied to most things you are trying to change in your life: setting a goal. It does not need to be something crazy like trying to consume the entire recommended amount before lunch, but something as minimal or easy as trying to hit your intake for one day and then challenge yourself for two consecutive days and keep working your way up. Another way to incorporate this same concept is finding a water bottle that has times of the day printed on it so you don’t even have to think about how much you should be drinking each moment of the day.
Sources
Riebl, S. K., & Davy, B. M. (2013). The Hydration Equation: Update on Water Balance and Cognitive Performance. ACSM's health & fitness journal, 17(6), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1249/FIT.0b013e3182a9570f
Vanhaecke, T., Bretin, O., Poirel, M., & Tap, J. (2022). Drinking Water Source and Intake Are Associated with Distinct Gut Microbiota Signatures in US and UK Populations. The Journal of nutrition, 152(1), 171–182. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxab312
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