How critical is water to your daily health routine? What if we told you that something as simple as hydration could vastly improve your overall wellbeing? Join me, Leonila Campos, on this episode of Simple Nutrition Insights, as we uncover the pivotal roles water plays in our body—from transporting nutrients and eliminating waste to protecting joints and regulating temperature. We'll walk you through the unmistakable signs of dehydration, like dark urine and headaches, and share practical solutions for overcoming common obstacles to sufficient water intake. Whether your goal is to hit the recommended 13 cups for men and 9 cups for women or simply start with manageable steps, this episode is packed with actionable insights.
For those who struggle to enjoy plain water, we’ve got innovative strategies to make hydration a breeze. Discover how pairing water consumption with routine activities or adding flavors with fruits and herbs can transform your drinking habits. We’ll also delve into specific hydration needs for children, teens, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers, and discuss when sports and electrolyte drinks are appropriate. Plus, learn why storing bottled water in hot cars can be hazardous and the benefits of using reusable insulated bottles. Get ready for a healthier you and stay tuned for our upcoming episode on bladder health to further support your hydration journey!
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com
How critical is water to your daily health routine? What if we told you that something as simple as hydration could vastly improve your overall wellbeing? Join me, Leonila Campos, on this episode of Simple Nutrition Insights, as we uncover the pivotal roles water plays in our body—from transporting nutrients and eliminating waste to protecting joints and regulating temperature. We'll walk you through the unmistakable signs of dehydration, like dark urine and headaches, and share practical solutions for overcoming common obstacles to sufficient water intake. Whether your goal is to hit the recommended 13 cups for men and 9 cups for women or simply start with manageable steps, this episode is packed with actionable insights.
For those who struggle to enjoy plain water, we’ve got innovative strategies to make hydration a breeze. Discover how pairing water consumption with routine activities or adding flavors with fruits and herbs can transform your drinking habits. We’ll also delve into specific hydration needs for children, teens, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers, and discuss when sports and electrolyte drinks are appropriate. Plus, learn why storing bottled water in hot cars can be hazardous and the benefits of using reusable insulated bottles. Get ready for a healthier you and stay tuned for our upcoming episode on bladder health to further support your hydration journey!
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com
have you thought about how water sometimes is difficult to drink, especially during the winter times? But maybe just the flavors I mean, it's flavorless, essentially, right and so sometimes it's difficult to just get yourself to drink more water throughout the day. Or just you plainly don't like water right, pun intended, plain and so then it's more difficult to want to drink more water, right. And so these are all things that my clients mentioned and they talked to me about. We talk about water all the time, and so I thought about, like okay, maybe I should make a podcast episode on just hydration water and maybe some tips to help you drink more water, if that is something that you want to do. And so welcome to another episode in this Simple Nutrition Insights podcast. I am your host, leonila Campos, registered dietitian, and today we're going to talk about all about water and hydration and hopefully help you to increase your water intake if you're not drinking enough water.
Speaker 1:
So first things first, right. Like why is this important? Like why do you want to talk about water, right? What's the whole purpose? So we might think that water doesn't play a huge role in our overall well-being, but it actually does. So water is vital, right, to our health. It basically plays a huge role in many of our body functions, from bringing nutrients to our cells, getting rid of waste and toxins, protecting our joints and organs and also maintaining our body temperature.
Speaker 1:
And so when you think about not drinking enough water, right, there's so many things physically right, that your body can be hinting you, right, if you're not drinking enough water. Number one, usually, that you know, the first thing that comes to mind is when we go pee, right, and you look at your water, you look at your urine and it's really dark, right, that's a first indication that hey, maybe you need to drink more water. But also thirst, usually, like, that signal of like I'm thirsty usually doesn't happen until we're slightly dehydrated, right. And so, paying attention to, obviously, your thirst, but also, right, the color of your urine, your skin, right, your skin can also tell you if you're well hydrated, because that can also affect your hydration. And so it is really important to really think about just your body in general, right, how is my body affected If I don't drink enough water? Do I recognize the signs of not drinking enough water? Because a lot of the times, your body can also be telling you you haven't had enough water, for example, if you have headaches, right, because you maybe you slightly you are slightly dehydrated or you're feeling, maybe you're not feeling so well, or again, your skin or you're having any other aches and pains, right, not, they're not all linked to dehydration, right, but they but they could be part of it or not being well hydrated can also affect those specific symptoms. I think it's really important to mention that, right, and also looking at, maybe, the challenges right as to, okay, what are my main challenges when it comes to drinking enough water? So I guess I should answer that question, right, like, what is enough?
Speaker 1:
A lot of the times, I have clients come to me and they, you know, they tell me, oh, I cannot drink a gallon of water a day. And so then we talk about, really, okay, what are really our needs? Right, of course, we're going to need more. If we're more physically active, if we're outside you know, in the heat, if we're sweating so much, then we're outside, you know, in the heat we're sweating so much then we're going to drink more, we're going to need more water, right.
Speaker 1:
But just in general, according to the institute of medicine men, it's recommended for men to drink at least 13 cups of water a day in 13 cups, right, that's eight ounces per cup. Let's make that calculation so I can give it to you. In ounces, 13 times 8, that's 104 ounces of water a day, or about 3 liters a day for men, and then for women, about 9 cups a day, just a bit over 2 liters, and so that is about 72 ounces of water a day. And so, a lot of the times, you know, if a client is coming to me and they say you know, I'm drinking about 64 ounces of water a day, and so a lot of the times, you know, if a client is coming to me and they say you know, I'm drinking about 64 ounces of water a day and I'm struggling, right, then we focus on that first right, let's focus on what we are already doing and how we can optimize that right, how we can maybe make it more consistent, maybe make it better, and then we can work on reaching that goal, right, maybe that first goal of 72 ounces, or, if you're a male, about three liters, right?
Speaker 1:
And so, because the first thing, right, that comes to mind when increasing your water significantly is like you're going to have lots of trips to the restroom and that can be bothersome and for some people maybe that is not possible, because maybe you have a job that requires you to maybe stay at your desk more often, or if you're a busy person, right, that doesn't have those constant breaks to go and use the restroom, it might be more difficult to take that break or to want to drink more water because of that specific reason. And so let's maybe start small, so let's train your bladder to hold a little bit more at a time. I'm actually I did a podcast episode with Dr Keshek and we talked about bladder health and that's going to come up or that's going to come this week on Wednesday. So definitely tuning in to learn more about that. But I learned that our bladder can hold up to 16 ounces of water at a time.
Speaker 1:
And then you get those triggers to use the restroom when you think about maybe I'm only drinking eight ounces, right, let me work to get to 12 ounces, right, or something small. That way you're not going to have that huge urge to want to use the restroom so much because you're drinking so much water at once and you haven't trained your body to hold that much water, right. So that's the first step, but initially right when you're thinking about the awareness, the thinking about okay, how much water do I really drink? Right, because in order to make a change, you kind of have to know what you're doing already, to have like a baseline, right, and then after that you can decide how you want to approach it or what kind of plan you want to do to improve that, in this case, water. So, for example, if I have someone that comes to me and says you know what? I only drink 16 ounces of water because I only have one water bottle, just your regular grocery store water bottle, plastic water bottle, and that's all I drink for the entire day, right, okay, let's talk about that, right? How can we increase that water to maybe do two water bottles, right, or maybe do a water bottle and a half a day, and that could be okay. Maybe let's add it, um, before our meals or after our meals, or let's add it, um, I don't know, after breakfast or something like that, right, because, again, this has to be sustainable and it has to work for you, because otherwise it's going to be really difficult to sustain, right?
Speaker 1:
The other thing, too, that I usually get at a trend from my clients is like I forget my water bottles or I don't have anything to measure it with and a few of my clients. What they have done is they have purchased a really nice water bottle that helps them to keep track of their water. It could be super simple, like that right, or a color that they really love, and so it reminds them to take the water bottle with them anywhere they go right, or if they're busy and they have it in front of them, that reminds them to take a sip of water, and so they're increasing their water like that a little bit more. I have a client that said I changed my water bottle that could only hold 24 ounces to now 48 ounces, and so I'm finding myself making more water because I don't have to stop what I'm doing and go refill my water. Or if I'm in a different level or farther away where I usually refill my water, or if I'm in like a different level or farther away where I usually refill my water, thinking about that extra step. Sometimes I don't do it right, and so now that I have a bigger water bottle, it really helps me to drink more because I don't have to take that extra step. So it could be as simple as that. Right Again, you have to figure out where are the roadblocks, where are the challenges that are maybe preventing you from doing that.
Speaker 1:
Now, I've also had clients that say I hate water, I don't want to drink water. You know, just the thought of drinking water like makes me want to throw up, or something like that right now. In those cases right, this is something like this is your case as well we almost have to introduce it very slowly and add it with something that you already are doing. So, for example, the first thing that you do in the morning is drink coffee. Right, and this is something that actually a client did. She said you know, before drinking my coffee, now, I drink a glass of water, right, and then I allow myself to drink some coffee. Pairing it with something that you already do can help to get you on that habit, and then eventually, it's going to be more natural and you're going to just remember automatically. Right, you're trying to do and this, literally, you can do this with any single new change that you want to make. Pair it with something that you already do, because it's going to be easier to do it and you're going to remember, versus, like you're just doing it alone or by itself is you have to, like, really work harder to remember to do it.
Speaker 1:
But the other thing, too right, is okay. How about if we add some flavor into the water, right, would that make a difference? And it can, right. So if we infuse the water with fruit, right, like cucumber and sliced oranges, or strawberries and mint, right, you're infusing that water and you can get a hint of those flavors, and so that can help us to drink a little bit more water because there's a little bit of flavor, right. I have another client that is actually doing that. She said, you know, one of my brothers gave me this water bottle and I'm adding, it has like one of those. It almost looks like a filter, like one of those. It almost looks like a filter, but it allows the water to go into that little filter and then it infuses. It's like a water infuser, I guess. And so she said, you know, I've been drinking more water because I really enjoy that taste, right. So I think it's, yeah, just a matter of experimenting, finding out ways to help you increase your water intake. Matter of experimenting, finding out ways to help you increase your water intake One of the other things that I want to mention too right, like for kids and teens, they should be drinking about six to eight cups of water a day.
Speaker 1:
Again, it really depends on their activity level and their age and their weight, but that's a general guideline. And then, for pregnant women should drink at least 10 cups of water a day. Again, this is according to the Institute of Medicine. If you're breastfeeding, right, drinking at least 12 cups of water a day, because you have to remember that you're producing breast milk and breast milk is mostly water. Of course, it has these amazing nutrients, but you want to be able to rehydrate yourself.
Speaker 1:
Now here's a question that I get often, and not only for my adult clients, but also from parents, or, you know if, I have pediatric patients. The question is can I add a sports drink, right? Can I add an electrolyte drink? Add a sports drink, right? Can I add an electrolyte drink? And my answer is usually it depends. Right, because most of these drinks, they add electrolytes, right Potassium, magnesium, zinc, calcium.
Speaker 1:
With the thought in mind that you're losing those nutrients, right, you're losing those electrolytes because you are exercising or maybe you're outside and sweating so much, then you need to replace them, right, not only with water, but you can replace them with those electrolytes. But if it's just to drink, right, because it's there and I just want to drink it, the answer is maybe we should choose something different. Or maybe, if you don't want to drink just water, have a cup of water and maybe have some fruit, right, that is going to also give you some electrolytes, but other nutrients without the other additives, into that specific drink, right, and so that is definitely important. More so if you're choosing these electrolytes electrolyte drinks that have added sugar, right. A lot of the times, the added sugar is added for refueling purposes, but also to add in some of that sugar.
Speaker 1:
Fast energy, again, if you're an athlete and you need that, right. But if it's just on a regular basis, a drink that you want to have regularly, then you're just adding added sugar that you don't really need. Instead, have some fruit, right, because it's going to give you more nutrients that way, without just adding added sugar that you don't really need. Instead, have some fruit, right, because it's going to give you more nutrients that way, without just the added sugar, right. So just a little bit on that. Absolutely right If it's something to help you rehydrate you, right, because maybe you've been exercising for over an hour or maybe because you're sweating so much or you're losing electrolytes and you need to replenish them, then go for it. But if it's on a day-to-day basis, right, it's better to work on these tips that I'm providing you to increase, to help increase your water, and then adding some foods, you know, as you need them.
Speaker 1:
If you're wanting to add some of those electrolytes, if you want to, but it's not something that you're losing because you know, maybe you're not exercising over 60 minutes sweating and you need to replace them. So, super important to remember that. Let's see what else I wanted to talk about hydration wise, yeah, so if you're struggling, right to really drink enough water again, just as a reminder, right, if you're a man, you need to drink at least 13 cups of water a day, which I think I said it was 13 times 8, 104 ounces of water. If you're a female, 9 cups of water a day, which is about 72 ounces. Again, it's going to depend based on activity level and the area where you're at right.
Speaker 1:
If maybe you're traveling and you're traveling to a tropical area or somewhere where it's like really humid and you're just like losing water, right, you might want to add your electrolytes there too, because you're probably needing them as well. It's higher for pregnant women 10 cups of water a day and 12 cups for breastfeeding women, okay, so, besides the water bottles, besides infusing our water, maybe what else we can do to increase our water intake, right? So if you're thinking, okay, yes, I'm struggling to drink enough water, I know that I have to increase it, but adding more water at the moment maybe it's not something that I want to do Hopefully that's not the case, but maybe, if it is the case, right, okay, let's start adding more high water content fruit, fruits and vegetables, right? So when you think about your fruits that have more water in them, like cucumber, watermelon, right? Pineapple, cantaloupe they're going to have a little bit more water. That can also provide some of that fluid, right? Same thing with your vegetables, right, like lettuce and celery, that can also give you that a little bit more water as well. And so there's some tips there to help you how to increase your water, right? I'm also going to show you a link. I'll add it in the show notes, so head over to the show notes. That is going to also help you increase your water that way.
Speaker 1:
But I wanted to talk about and again I'll link this article, um, that talks about is it okay to keep the water in the car? Right, we like your water bottles that you buy at the store, um, and explains here that usually, because the high temperatures, specifically during the summer, the chemicals in the plastic bottles can break down in the water and so of course there is not a huge amount, right, right, they're smaller amounts at that moment, right, but they can add up. So they're usually recommending to just keep your water with your groceries. Sometimes some people carry a case of water with them wherever they go, everywhere all the time, but they never take the water out, and so of course, that is convenient, right, and you won't so that way, you remember. But when you think about how hot it gets in the car and that constant heat, right, it can be breaking down those chemicals in the water bottles and they can be leaking into your water. So, definitely, remembering to take your water out of your car If it's easier again to maybe buy a reusable water, an insulated, maybe, water bottle that can keep your water warm or hot, in this case in the summer, and just have that with you all the time, is probably better to prevent that, right, prevent those chemicals from just leaking into your water, because it gets really hot, especially here in the central valley when the temperatures reach 115 degrees outside. Imagine how hot it's inside, right, so definitely, um, keeping that in mind for sure. So I'll make sure to link that um that information in the show notes so that way you can reference that as well. But I also created a quick recipe bundle for you that is free. That is going to have some ideas to add some flavors to your water, right?
Speaker 1:
Sometimes, what I recommend to my clients is like hey, maybe you're wanting to have something fizzy, right, so use like a salsa water or like a carbonated water and add just a splash of juice, right, orange juice or whatever other juice you want to add, just to get that hint, without adding the extra sugar, right, and you're still getting a lot of hydration that way. Or if you're wanting to have something more fruity aside from the, the infused waters, um, you can, uh, you can, blend fruit, right. In mexico, we call them aguas frescas, and so the only thing, though, is that sometimes they add tons of sugar, right, but we can always still do aguas frescas, right, blending the fruits, uh, sometimes vegetables, and obviously adding tons of water and not adding the added sugar, right, we can get used to slowly, to having some foods that are less sugary. But let's say, if you want to add a little bit of sugar, right, adding some maple syrup, right, that is going to have less usually. Or if you want like stevia, right, you can add some stevia there and it's going to add less. I mean not sugar, right, only the natural sugar coming from the fruits. So some options are too, but I'm adding that resource, resource for you, so you can take a look and see if that's something that you want to try. Um, if it's going to help you, right, increase your water a little bit more.
Speaker 1:
Now you might say, okay, I don't even drink water and like nothing has happened to me, but you eat and you drink something, right, and a lot of the times, those foods are going to provide, you know, some kind of hydration 20% maybe, depending on what types of foods you're eating and that's what's helping you, right, in a smaller scale, right, it doesn't mean that it's helping you absolutely right, because if you're not just not drinking water at all and you're getting your hydration from like other foods that you're eating maybe you're drinking coffee or other drinks, your cells still need that water, right, and so a lot of the times, the way that you see it is more so in your skin, right, like how dry your skin is, how dry your hair is, or again the headaches right, or these other symptoms that you're having, that you might not be contributing them to dehydration. But when you think about our bodies, just our anatomy, right, we're made out of pretty much water, and so we need that water for just overall health and well-being. But also your kidneys, right, your kidneys do so much work in terms of balancing our fluids and detoxifying your body and getting rid of toxins, and so when you're dehydrated, right, that puts a lot of strain in your kidneys, and so severe dehydration can lead to acute kidney injury, and so obviously we want to prevent that. You see that more often in the wintertime and mostly in elderly, because they're just not thirsty Usually, and I see that a lot with my clients. They just tell me my water intake decreases significantly during the wintertime because I'm just not thirsty, and so we still work, right, let's get at least 60 ounces of water right just across the board, just for overall well-being. And so, yeah, I do see that often with elderly right where they're dehydrated. I do see that often with elderly right where they're dehydrated, sometimes they even have to go to the ER or the hospital because they're getting these acute kidney injury just because they're not drinking enough water. Sometimes they're just drinking coffee, right, and their kidneys need that water right to be able to not just do their job, but also to help them get rid of the waste, and a lot of blood goes into the kidneys, and so we have to help them by drinking enough water.
Speaker 1:
So, keeping that in mind and absolutely during the summertime, it's hot your body is actually asking you for more water, and so listening to your body, right Like drinking your water throughout the day. Now, here are some tips. Though that also happens to my clients when we start to increase water is that we tend to drink most of our water at the end of the day, and guess what's going to happen? You're going to be up a lot of the times, multiple times, during the night, and that is just going to be bothersome. But it's also you're going to be up a lot of the times, multiple times, during the night, and that is just going to be bothersome. But it's also you're going to be annoyed, right, like you're going to come back and tell me hey, you know I'm not, I'm not sleeping, right, like I'm waking up so many times.
Speaker 1:
So the best thing to do is try to drink most of your water, uh, the first part of the day, right. If that is not possible, try to drink it. You know block times, but ideally, right. Maybe not so close to bedtime because most likely you're going to be getting up to go to the restroom, right? So, definitely, keeping that in mind, what else? I think? That's pretty much it, right. I'll give you those resources, I'll give you. I'll add some more links that you can read in the show notes and those recipes for you. You can download them, try them. Let me know what you think. And I think that's pretty much it. But if you have any questions, if you think of anything else, let me me know. I hope this episode was helpful.
Speaker 1:
Again, if this is something that you're working on, right, or if you find yourself not drinking hardly any water, right, start small, right, first thing. Right, be aware of it, know where you're at right and then, from there, create a plan for yourself to increase your water slowly. Nothing else, you know. If you cannot remember anything else from this episode? Right, just remember that your kidneys need water, your whole body needs water, just for overall well-being and health. And then, if you're having like these headaches, right, think of it. Okay, is it because I'm dehydrated? Right, if it's something else, sometimes you have headaches for multiple reasons, but maybe that might be the answer. Right, I just have to drink more water because I'm slightly dehydrated, and you know I need to just improve that might need it, and some tips, right, to help them increase their water. And I'll see you in another episode. Stay strong, stay safe, stay hydrated, talk to you and see you later. Have a nice day, all right, bye-bye for now.