When we want to quench our thirst, we often drink tap water. We could pour water directly to a glass of water. During meal, we often have a glass of water with our meal, not fruit juice or soft drink, just plain tap water. Thirst can be seen as a unique body response that we need more water. In this case, it is more critical for us to alleviate thirst, instead of our hunger; especially during survival situations. At home, we should be aware that our food already contains a lot of water; especially if eat soup. Fruits and vegetables contain about 80 to 90 percent water. Cooked fish and meat still contains about 50 percent water, while bread at about 40 percent water.
When considering to drinks litres of water each day, we shouldn’t forget that we already drink plenty of water through our food. This is something that we need to consider. It means that during our daily lives, we shouldn’t be concerned about being dehydrated. However, during hot days and after we perform intense exercise; we will need to consume more water. Fluid-deficiency will result in various illnesses and this is something we want to avoid. It is unlikely that we will develop life-threatening dehydration cases at home, but lack of water could cause our body functions to work sluggishly.
In this case, we should make sure that we don’t get the overall hydration equation wrong. We should have proper focus on the ideal hydration. Before Gatorade first appeared in the 1960’s, the source of hydration for people who exercise is usually water. However, some people could do this wrongly and some athletes think that stopping for a drink is a sign of weakness. We should know how much fluid we should consume before, during and after the event. Whatever we do, we should make sure that the fluid balance in our body can be maintained. There’s also the risk of hyponatremia that can affect athletes; which could happen when athletes drink only plain water; but without enough intake of electrolytes.
Instead of focusing only on the danger of dehydration, we should also consider that we can be over-hydrated. The best way to know when to drink, is to drink when we are about to feel thirsty. We should know when we are about to feel thirsty. It is a common wisdom that if we’re thirsty, then we’re already dehydrated. Thirst is a common indication and our body needs to have enough water. In reality, our body is smart enough and if we feel slightly thirsty; our body isn’t yet badly dehydrated and it is still in acceptable level. It means that we should know more about the proper sensation of thirst. When attempting to hydrate our body, we should make sure that we get it from good sources. As an example, watermelon and coconut water is a better choice than relaying only on Gatorade. Anything that we get from the nature could be better than processed one.