Water and fluid balance
Sufficient fluid intake is the basis of a well-functioning body. Our body consists of 50–70% water. If you drink too little, you “dry out” your body.
The most important facts about water & your fluid balance in a nutshell !
- The human body is 50–70% water.
- Drinking enough is the basis for a healthy and well-functioning body.
- In addition to water, tea, coffee and water-containing food can also meet our fluid needs.
Why is drinking important?
Humans can go several days, even several weeks without food. If we are not malnourished, we have a lot of energy reserves (body fat, muscles), which we can fall back on when we are deprived of food. Without water, however, serious consequences such as thickening of the blood, circulatory weakness or memory disorders occur after only 2–4 days. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to drink regularly and sufficiently.
How much should one drink?
People between the ages of 19 and 50 should drink at least 35 ml of water per kilogram of body weight every day. For example, someone who weighs 70 kg needs at least 2450 ml of water — about 2.5 liters. This should only serve as an approximate guideline, as fluid requirements depend on many factors: Ambient temperature, physical activity or even the amount of salt and protein consumed influence the individual water requirement.
How do I cover my fluid requirements?
As everyone can imagine, water should of course be our primary source of fluid. Mineral water in particular is highly recommended because of the nutrients it contains, such as calcium and magnesium. If that is too boring for you in the long run, you can also partially resort to tea and coffee. They not only help to cover our fluid requirements, but also contain a lot of secondary plant substances that are additionally beneficial to our health. It should not remain unmentioned that food itself can also contain a lot of water. If you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables in the form of raw vegetables, you can also cover part of your water requirements.
Sugary drinks should be avoided as much as possible. These are bad for our health and are associated with a higher risk of cancer and overall mortality.
Text-Sources:
(1) Biesalski, H. (2018) Ernährungsmedizin. (5. Auflage) Georg Thieme Verlag.
(2) Hahn, Ströhle, Wolters (2015) Ernährung. (3. Auflage) Wissenschaftliche Vertragsgesellschaft Stuttgart.
(3) J.C. Laguna, M. Alegret, M. Cofan et al., Simple sugar intake and cancer incidence, cancer mortality and all-cause mortality: A cohort study from the PREDIMED trial, Clinical Nutrition, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2021.07.031
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