Latest Posts  •  November 12, 2020

The last health basics were about eating and proper chewing, today we dedicate our time to another basic for a healthy lifestyle: drinking. A good drinking pattern is essential for our body and our health.

These questions are at the start to a good drinking behavior:

• How much still, non-carbonated water do you drink per day?
• How do you measure your daily water intake?

Think about it for a moment and write down the answers on a piece of paper. Only continue reading when you have finished this step.

Water – Source of Life

Do you know that our body consists of a high percentage of water? Depending on our age, it ranges between 50 and 80 %. Water is found in our organs, muscles, cells and body fluids. The water in our body is in a constant cycle. Our blood consists of 90% water and supplies all areas of our body with nutrients and oxygen. The individual organs and the complex interaction of our body parts can only function well with a balanced water supply.

If we take in too little water or lose too much water, our electrolyte balance is disturbed. A decrease in the water content in the human organism prevents the faultless functioning of individual functions and has a negative effect on our physical and mental performance. We lose one to two liters of water during our sleep alone.

Water has many important functions in our body – e.g. splitting up substances that the cells need. If you take in too little water and lose too much water (e.g. through sweating, diarrhea), your electrolyte balance is disturbed.
The first signs of dehydration are headaches (our blood becomes thicker, lack of oxygen) or dry skin.

How to achieve a balanced water supply

What is your daily water intake? No coffee, no tea, no soft drinks, just water? And only still, non-carbonated water.

Three liters? It is probably less. But three liters is exactly the amount you should drink daily. This can be tap water – provided your tap water is of high quality – otherwise it should be still water from the bottle.

In another blog post, I will come back to the quality of good drinking water.

How do you measure your daily water intake? Because only with a little control, you will be able to drink three liters a day.

I have a little trick that allows you to determine the amount you drink.

If you drink your water from bottles, you should have drunk 2 x 1.5 liter bottles or 6 x 0.5 liters by bedtime. Place them in a certain place every day and remind yourself to drink continuously.

Drink 0.5 liters immediately after getting up. Then drink another 0.5 liter before you leave the house. Take water bottles with you to work and drink one liter there as well. And in the evening, drink the third liter.

If you drink tap water, get glass carafes to hold your 3 liters and make sure you have drunk them once night time arrives.

Drink even if you are not thirsty yet. Your body has probably already adjusted its needs to the supply. As soon as your body gets more water regularly, you will feel thirsty more often over time.

You will notice that you also have to go to the toilet more often. Your kidneys, your liver and your whole body will thank you.

By the way, on hot summer days or when I’ve done a lot of exercising, I drink up to five liters of water. But for the start to a healthy drinking pattern, it is already great to drink three liters every day.

Have fun drinking water!

P.S.: If you still have time and want to read a book about water, I recommend Your Body’s Many Cries for Water: You’re Not Sick; You’re Thirsty by Fereydoon Batmanghelidj