Water Balance – How Much You Need To Drink To Avoid Dehydration

Do you drink when you feel a strong desire? It’s too late because the appetite for liquids testifies to the fact that the body begins to dehydration. How much you need to drink per day? Check your water balance, i.e the balance between water intake and excretion.


The body gets some water from food. It abounds mainly in fruit and vegetables (up to 96 per cent.), Milk (88 percent.), Meat (50-75 percent.). Dry bread has 40 percent of water, butter – 15 percent., flour – 13 percent, etc.. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables provides the body with approx. 1 liter of water. The other main source of water is (surely) liquids. It is worth knowing that drinking mineral water is healthier than tea, coffee, and soft drinks. Organism generates water as a result of certain chemical reactions in the cells as a result of compaction of feces and urine absorbing portion of the water from the intestines.


Get the water balance
During the day, the body loses approx. 2.5 liters of water. The most important regulator of water are the kidneys, which constantly filter the blood and produce approx. 1.4 liters of urine per day. Water escapes from the body also as sweat – 0.5 liters, through the respiratory tract – 0.4 liters, the feces – approx. 0.2 liters. In a healthy human water scarcity manifests the desire. We feel it even at the loss of 1-2 percent. water your body needs. The loss of approx. 20 percent. water leads to death. To compensate for the shortage of the fluid per day you should drink at least 1.5 liters of water, although the minimum established by the WHO experts reaches even 3 liters per day.

The demand for water depends on the season, climate zone, metabolism and the kind of activities. We need more of it during:

  • hot weather
  • during exercises (we lose even to 4 liters during them) when the water intensively evaporates through the skin
  • during illness with a high temperature
  • if you suffer from diarrhea, vomiting, disorders of kidney and diabetes.

The body uses more water than usual to digest high-calorie meals while eating foods rich in fiber (greater loss of water in the feces), highly salted and savory foods, as well as by drinking alcohol, which acts as diuretic agent. More people should drink water during weight loss and in case of being overweight (approx. 2 liters for every 25 kg above normal body weight). You should also drink more water if you a fan of coffee or strong tea!

Be wise when choosing liquids
When choosing water, you need to take into account the health status – e.g. a person with hypertension should avoid water with high sodium content. For pregnant women and infants, spring water should be the best choice. People suffering from kidney stones should avoid water with a high content of calcium. But patients with osteoporosis need to look for water with the highest concentration of this element. Persons who work hard physically or at high temperatures should supplement water rich in potassium and sodium.

Why the hydrating body is so important?
Most people drink too little water, which is the cause of health problems. Urine output is regulated by vasopressin – antidiuretic hormone (ADH) produced by the pituitary gland. If the water level inside our body is too low, it is increasing the concentration of this hormone. This leads to the kidneys receive and transfer substances to the plasma. With time, however, urine and plasma are increasingly concentrated and saturated with sodium. This causes intracellular dehydration, which manifests itself with dry mouth, irritation, insomnia, flushing, loss of appetite, physical fatigue, loss of coordination, a reduction in the amount of urine. Elimination of small amounts of urine impairs the removal of metabolism products, urea, creatinine – poisons body.

Symptoms of dehydration
Dehydration is characterized by cramps and muscle aches, dry, chapped lips, weakness, loss of skin elasticity and escalating headache. When these symptoms occur, try to rest in a cool place and drink water rich in mineral salts, energizing drink or the best quality isotonic drinks, which should deal with the deficiencies quickly!