Hydration
Current recommendations for water are eight 8-ounce glasses per day, or 64 ounces total. This amount is sufficient for most healthy persons who are not in a hot, humid environment or sweating from physical work or exercise.
Pay attention to the color of your urine each time you urinate. Urine that has accumulated in your bladder during sleep will be more concentrated and yellow. Otherwise, if your kidneys didn't concentrate urine during sleep, you would have to wake up to urinate. After the urinating the first time after waking up, your urine should be colorless and odorless for the remainder of the day. This assumes that you have normal functioning kidneys and no bladder disease or infection.
With regards to water ratings, one comparison would be based on hard versus softened water. Hard water contains minerals, soft water doesn't and may have higher sodium content. Research has found that minerals in hard water, though not in the most absorbable form, are better for your cardiovascular system (heart).
The second comparison would be based on tap versus bottled water including water coolers. Since many people are drinking bottled water, they may not be getting fluoride provided by fluoridated city water. Fluoride helps make teeth calcium harder and less likely to dental decay. Fluoride also helps make bones harder and less likely to break or lose calcium.
Cold (40 - 50 degrees F) water is absorbed more quickly from the stomach. Also, if cold water is drank during physical exercise has the dual effect of also cooling the internal body temperature along with sweat produced by exercise. Since sweat is your body's way of cooling itself, leave sweat on your skin and you should feel cooler.
It is possible for a person to drink too much water. It is called water intoxication. What happens is the sodium level in the blood reaches very low levels (because of dilution by excess water which can only be excreted in the urine, sweat or breath). This disturbs water balance in the brain, which can cause epileptic seizures and even death. Research has shown that a person can safely drink up to 10 liters of water a day. That would equal 10 one-liter bottles of water. An exception would be persons with kidney disease who are limited in the amount of water they can drink per day. Persons with bladder infections benefit from increasing their water intake.
Cold water is the best fluid to satisfy a thirst and the most effective to replace fluid lost through exercise and perspiration. Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator during summer months for thirsty children.
When you make juice for hot weather thirst, try adding six cans of water to the frozen juice concentrate instead of three. If you use canned juice, pour the canned juice into a very large pitcher and add an equal amount of water. You can also fill their glass half with the canned juice and the rest with tap water. Remember though, you have diluted the nutritional content of the juice by adding twice the water. Fruit juice is a good source of vitamin C and if you double dilute orange juice, you will have to drink twice as much (1 cup) to get your Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin C. You will find that double diluted juice satisfies your children's thirst and goes farther for less during summer months.
Another suggestion for summer thirst is freezing juice in your ice cube trays. A fruit cube is cooling and similar to a frozen Popsicle.
You should be aware of how much fluid your children drink especially in summer. Your four-year-old can probably tell you when he's thirsty, but your 21-month-old child may not. Whenever your four-year-old wants a drink, offer some liquids to your 21-month-old also. Another guidelines for those parents with only one child is, whenever you get a drink for yourself, offer some to your child. This includes offering a bottle of water to an infant.
By the time you are thirsty though, you are already somewhat dehydrated. So drink water every waking hour to anticipate thirst especially in hot weather and remember to offer your children water every time you do.
At birth, 75% of the body weight of a child is water. This decreases to approximately 60% by age 10. To put this on a practical level, infants ages birth to two years (6 to 26 pounds), should have three to six cups of water per day. Children age's two to 12 years (26 to 100 pounds), should have four to eight cups of water per day.
Since the amount of fluid required per day is determined by your body temperature, the ability of your kidneys to remove wastes and sweating, a second guideline would be helpful. When your child goes to the bathroom, his/her urine should be light yellow or colorless and odorless, unless it is the first urine after getting up in morning. Also check infants soiled diapers for urine color and odor.
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Informational note: The data presented on our health and nutrition website is for educational purposes only. Though we stive to be accurate in all of the information we present, it should not be taken as medical advice. NSC always recommends consulting your physician before beginning or modifying any diet or exercise program.
