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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Name a drink that can make you more alert for late-night studying, prevent you from fainting when giving blood, and even promote a tiny weight loss. Chances are you didn’t say water. But that is the right answer.
The American Red Cross found that drinking 16 ounces of water before a blood donation reduced the possibility of fainting by 20%. People who faint after donating–unsurprisingly–rarely come back to give blood again, so this finding was important for making sure needed blood gets donated. Research suggests that people who drink three 10-ounce glasses of water a day could lose up to 5 pounds in a year—even if they change nothing else in their lifestyle.
Water is a low cost, no calorie drink that doesn’t have any negative effects on health or weight gain. So, it makes sense to encourage swapping sweet beverages for water. Providing water at school would be a positive step toward meeting a child’s daily need. Schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program are supposed to provide free drinking water during meals but the implementation of this requirement varies widely. Research has shown that when kids are able to drink between 10 to 17 ounces of water throughout the school day their performance on tests improves.
How much water does your child need each day? Though needs vary depending on age, weight, temperature and will vary seasonally and with activity, the following can be used to estimate water intake daily.
Girls aged 4 to 8 should drink about 4 cups of water each day; boys 4 ½ cups.
Girls aged 9 to 13 should drink about 5 cups of water each day; boys slightly less than 6 cups.
Girls aged 14 to 18 should drink slightly more than 6 cups of water each day; boys 9 cups.
Adequate water intake not only ensures hydration but it reduces the risk of weight gain in childhood.
How much water should an adult drink each day? You’ve probably heard of the 8 X 8 rule – drink 8 servings of 8 ounces each day. It sounds good, but there is no foundation for this recommendation and no scientific evidence to support it. Physiologically, your daily water intake should be based on your calorie need. You need 1 milliliter of water for each calorie you consume. If you need 1,800 calories a day, you also need 1,800 milliliters of water. Translated into cups: 1 cup = 240 milliliters. If you divide 240 into 1,800 calories you get 7.5 cups per day.
But, these 7 ½ cups a day are your fluid requirement. They don’t have to all be water. Solid food contains a lot of water; you get 3 to 4 cups of fluid a day from the foods you eat. Spinach is 93% water, watermelon 92% water, blueberries 85% water, an apple has 84% water, and a banana has 74% water. When you eat these foods, the water they contain is absorbed by your body. Contributing to mild dehydration is the fact that many of us eat too few fruits and vegetables. Other liquids like juice and soup count too. If you drink caffeinated beverages – tea, coffee, soda, energy drinks – you can count half of your intake toward your daily fluid requirement, but not all. Caffeine acts as a mild diuretic, causing you to lose some of the water you drink but not all of it. Less is actually lost than once believed, so most experts now feel that a portion of caffeine-containing drinks can be counted toward your daily fluid need. In many cases you can meet your fluid requirement without extra water.
How can you judge if you are well hydrated? The simple answer is by looking in the toilet bowl. First, do you urinate at least 4 to 6 times a day? Second, what is the color of your urine? Urine color varies from very pale yellow or straw color (adequately hydrated) to brownish green (seriously dehydrated). A person with pale yellow urine has had enough water that day.
A last thought on single use water bottles. Only 30% of these bottles are recycled and it takes three times the amount of water to make a plastic bottle than the water they hold. Plastic beverage bottles are the third most common item washed up on beaches. Though it is unwise to reuse single-use plastic bottles, you can use a reusable water bottle instead. Check with your municipal water authority to see if your home tap water is safe to drink and make tap water your go-to water source.
Drinking water throughout the day is a healthy habit you can easily swallow.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of 30 books.
Available as eBooks from iTunes and Kindle/Amazon:
Diabetes Counter – the most up-to-date information on managing diabetes
Calorie Counter – a weight loss guide that won’t let you down
Protein Counter – put the latest protein recommendations to work for you
Healthy Wholefoods Counter – planet-friendly eating made easy
Complete Food Counter – food counts and nutrition information at your fingertips
Fat and Cholesterol Counter – newest approach to heart-healthy eating
Available in print from Gallery Books:
Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd Ed.
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com