Do I Really Need To Drink 2 Litres Of Water Every Day?
It’s become mainstream health knowledge that we should all be aiming for 2 litres of water per day, after all, our bodies are made up of around 60% water. However, it is not quite a one size fits all.
Drinking adequate amount of water everyday will help with weight-loss, joint lubrication, boost metabolism, brain function, increase energy, plumbing our wrinkles, flushing out toxins, and more!
However, there are certain factors that may cause your daily recommended water intake to fluctuate as not everyone should and will be drinking the same volume of daily water.
Benefits of drinking for weight-loss
Weight-loss
Drinking plenty of water everyday is scientifically proven to boost your metabolism, meaning you will burn more calories daily just from drinking more water, sounds too good to be true right!
Timing of when you drink water can also have an impact on weight-loss. If you drink a glass of water up to 30 minutes before you will feel fuller, eating fewer calories.
A 2013 study in 50 young women with overweight demonstrated that drinking an additional 16.9 ounces (500 mL) of water 3 times per day before meals for 8 weeks led to significant reductions in body weight and body fat compared with their pre-study measurements
Exercise performance
If you do not stay hydrated, your physical performance can and will suffer, not enabling you to get the very best from your workouts, having a huge negative impact on your weight-loss results!
Being dehydrated by as little as 5% has been shown to drop your capacity for work by as much as 30% (Armstrong et al. 1985; Craig and Cummings 1966; Maughan 1991; Sawka and Pandolf 1990)
To prevent this, you should be well hydrated before you begin exercising, as well as sipping water throughout your workout ensuring you replace the water lost through perspiration & exhalation.
Factors that affect how much water should you be drinking.
Your Environment
Believe it or not, the weather can have a huge impact on how much water you need that day. If you are in a warm humid environment, your body will require more water to replace what’s been lost through perspiration.
Exercise schedule
If you regularly perform exercise, naturally you will need to take on more water to replace the fluids lost during exercise. Not only do you sweat more when exercising as this is a cooling mechanism for your body, but you will be breathing with increase and become heavier, also resulting in dehydration.
The Foods you eat
Some foods contain higher water a higher water content than others. For example, you may be consuming more veggies when on a weight-loss program, vegetables on average are made up of 80% water, and so this will contribute to your overall water intake that day, meaning you will in fact not have to drink as much water than if you opted for a food of lesser water content.
Conclusion
Overall, you should be aiming to consume plenty of water every day, the health benefits speak for themselves, and your daily water consumption has a direct impact on weight-loss.
On average men should aim for around 2.5L and women 2L per day, however there are many factors that will cause this figure to fluctuate slightly so some trial and error may be required.
Overall, remember to drink your water!
We have delicious fruit & vegetables infused water recipes to make your daily drinking water taste amazing and offers even more weight-loss benefits than just drinking water!