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The ‘8 x 8’ rule

PHOTOS: AP & R. RAGU

MAKE WATER A WAY OF LIFE It helps improve your health

Every time one starts a new diet, it always seems to require the prerequisite eight glasses of water a day. One often wonders how they came up with eight.

All research agrees that water is essential to maintain life. It makes up 60 per cent of our body weight.

Every system depends on water. It flushes out wastes, cushions joints, moistens tissues, regulates body temperature, helps us breathe by moistening lungs, and carries nutrients to our cells. We can go without food for weeks (some can, maybe) but we can last without water only a few days.

Without enough water, we can become dehydrated, which could escalate into a life-threatening situation. Waiting until you feel thirsty is not a reliable warning sign for hydration because by then you often are dehydrated. A better barometer is the colour of urine: clear or light yellow is good, whereas dark yellow or amber may be signalling dehydration.

The amount of water we need depends on several variables. You need to drink water to compensate for fluids lost through sweat when you exercise.

About 2 cups should suffice for an hour workout; consider a sports drink to replace sodium after a more intense session.

Some symptoms that coincide with illness, such as fever, vomiting or diarrhoea, will cause you to lose fluids that will need replacement. Certain conditions affecting the bladder or urinary tract may require increased fluids, as do pregnant or breast-feeding women.

Finally, your environment influences your water needs. Heat, humidity and high altitudes all require increased fluid intake.

So what are the numbers? The “8x8” rule — drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day is not supported by any scientific evidence but is easy to remember and can be used as a basic guideline. The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume around 13 cups and women nine cups of total fluids per day. Another way to calculate: A sedentary person should consume daily fluid equal to 50 per cent of her body weight in ounces, an active person 75 per cent.

Increasing fluids helps with weight loss in that it encourages proper kidney function, which frees up the liver to focus on burning fat; it acts as an appetite suppressant, and it reduces water retention. As long as you have no health problems that require a decrease in fluid intake, adequate water consumption is an effective and easy way to improve your health.

All those ounces might sound like a lot, but you can do it if you get organised and start first thing in the morning. — NYT

Some Tips

Put a couple of bottles in the fridge the night before so you’ll have chilled water.

Keep your daily allotment easily within reach. Take it in the car, or have it on your desk so you can easily grab sips throughout the day.

You can drink more out of a water bottle than a glass — give it a try.

Many fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, tomatoes, milk and juice are composed mainly of water and count toward your allotment.

Beer, wine and caffeinated beverages also count, but since they have possible negative health impact they should be used sparingly.

Be prepared to run to the bathroom, after a few weeks, your kidneys tend to adjust.

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