SIMPLIFYING HYDRATION

Two Glasses of Water, Irving Penn (1970)

If there is one health myth that will not die, it is this: You should drink eight glasses of water a day. Guess what? There is no science behind it. Personally, I’ve always had hydration guilt because I’ve never in my life drank eight a day, every single day. And that’s something to feel good about. As with everything, is not always about the numbers. I’ve always tried to keep go by how my body feels and not complicate hydration.

According to most doctors, we should listen to our bodies and shouldn't drink more than our body wants. Similar to when we eat, the body tells us when we’re full by taking that exhale. The discomfort we feel when we drink too much water is a protective mechanism to prevent over-hydration. Water intoxication is a real but rare phenomenon that occurs due to an excessive intake of water (usually during exercise), when the amount of water intake exceeds that of water excretion by the kidneys. As a result, the sodium concentration in the blood is diluted, and hyponatremia develops. When this happens, your body's water levels rise, and your cells begin to swell.

Working out aside, how much water should we aim for day-to-day? It’s really all about your lifestyle. Going off our own thirst is the best way to judge how much we need. Just like diet, it’s an individual thing and it all comes down to water in, water out. If you’re doing an intense SLB Cardio + Sculpt workout for example, you’re going to want more water and your body will tell you that. Those who break a sweat will crave more water and the same rule goes with food. By eating a balanced diet high in water-dense fruits and veggies, we’ll achieve about 20-40% of our daily water needs through food. Yet another reason to eat those collard wraps!