Are you drinking enough? I don’t mean Alcohol!

“Water is a basic nutrient of the human body and is critical to human life”

World Health Organization – Water Sanitation and Health (W S H). Body contains 60% water and our brain about 90%.

NHS choices “To stay healthy, it’s important to replace the fluid we lose when we breath, sweat or urinate.

We get some fluid from our food but most comes from drinks.

The European Food Safety Authority recommends that women should drink about 1.6 litres of fluid and men should drink about 2.0 litres of fluid per day. That’s about eight 200ml glasses for a woman and 10 200ml glasses for a man.

However, the amount a person needs to drink to avoid getting dehydrated will vary depending on a range of factors, including their size, the temperature and how active they are. So, for example, if you’re exercising hard in hot weather you’ll need to drink more.

All drinks count such as tea and coffee, milk, fruit juice but water is the healthiest and calorie free. It is best to avoid or limit alcoholic drinks.

Also try to avoid sugary, soft and fizzy drinks that can be high in added sugars. These can be high in calories and are bad for your teeth.”

Signs of dehydration:

Benefits of drinking water :

• Improve physical performance

• Improves energy levels and brain function

• May Prevent and treat headaches

• Helps relieve constipation

• Can aid weight loss

• Help healthy kidney function

• Can help avoid hangovers

• Improve memory

• Improve appearance of skin

Drinks to rehydrate include:

• Water,

• I glass of low fat milk 200ml,

• Lassi made with low fat yoghurt, skimmed milk and fresh or tinned fruit in juice blend,

• Tea or Coffee with low fat milk and no sugar,

• Diet or sugar free soft drinks,

• Flavoured water with:

1. twist of lemon or lime (or a little juice)

2. A small piece of fruit

3. A little unsweetened cranberry concentrate (look in health food stores)

4. A slice of cucumber (subtle, but refreshing)

5. A mint leaf or two (“bruise” them a little to release the flavour)

6. A lavender flower or other edible flower

7. Herbal tea bags

Is your urine clear?

Staying well-hydrated will improve your overall health

and reduce your risk of illness, falls and infection.

Checking the colour of your urine is one way of telling if

you are drinking enough. Dark, strong smelling urine

maybe an indication your body is dehydrated or you

have an urine infection. If in doubt get it checked out.

Ideally it should be a pale straw colour – the clearer

the better.

Being dehydrated affects blood pressure and can

increase your risks of falls.

Top most Dehydrating Foods and Drinks

1. SALTY SNACKS. e.g slated peanuts, salted crisps

2. PROCESSED meat and meat alternative products e.g sausages, burgers

3. HIGH SALT FOOD e.g soya sauce, marmite ,cheese and smoked food

4. SUGARY TREATS.

5. FRIED FOOD AND READY MEALS.

6. ALCOHOL and CAFFEINATED DRINKS e.g tea, coffee ,diet drinks

Simple Starting out tips:

1. Have water to drink before each meal – 1 glass 250 ml per meal

2. Drink water when you are active

3. Drink water with a healthy snack

4. If you don’t like plain water infuse with above ideas

5. Check urine is pale straw colour and remember healthy person tends to go to toilet x6 per day to urinate

Hydration is a delicate balance between how much you drink and how much you urinate out . You don’t need to overdrink water . Just find your balance with the above starting out tips

For Specialised Diet and Nutrition advice seek the advice of a Professional Dietitian and Nutritionist Tabby Kabeer SRDHCPCMBDA Tel:07551910919/[email protected]