Now that we talked about not drinking enough Vancouver water on the last post we are going to focus on staying hydrated and drinking enough on this post.

Did you know that about 20% of our fluid intake actually comes from the food that we eat? About 80% of our fluid intake comes from the beverages we drink.

As we talked about last time, women should be drinking 9-10 cups of fluid per day and men should be drinking 13 cups. And of course I recommend most of that to come from our very own Vancouver water.

If you are active you should be drinking at least those minimums plus some extra intake before, during and after exercise. If you follow those guidelines you should stay sufficiently hydrated.

Now I’d like to ask you, how much Vancouver water do you drink?

Read the rest of Are You Drinking Enough Vancouver Water? Part 2

Well this is one thing that I think we all struggle with; drinking enough Vancouver water.

We have a hard enough time drinking the recommended amount of Vancouver water if we were sedentary, let alone if we are physically active.

Vancouver water does a lot more than just quench our thirst.

With our bodies being composed of 60-70% plus of water, it is needless to say that water and staying hydrated is extremely important for our normal body functioning.

For me personally it is a huge factor in my energy levels and anytime i start to feel sick, if I double or triple my intake of Vancouver water I am generally feeling much better in a day, maximum two days.

Today I want to give you some background behind dehydration and cover a few misconceptions behind hydration.

First off, what is dehydration?

Essentially it is a decrease in our normal body fluid from normal. Much of the time dehydration is exercise induced and generally has two causes; 1. we don’t drink enough fluid before or during exercise and 2. we lose too much fluid through sweating during exercise.

Keep in mind dehydration can definitely occur in cool temperatures as well especially because when its cold out we don’t want to drink a lot of cool fluids and nowadays even less Vancouver water because we want more taste or flavour…

Why does it matter if I get into a slightly dehydrated state?

Well your performance and your energy decreases. As little as a 2% loss in body weight due to inadequate fluid intake or excess sweating can cause a dramatic decrease in your energy levels and your performance.

Here are a few things to think about when it comes to exercise and sweating.

Our fluid or Vancouver water requirements can double or even triple during exercise due to fluid losses through sweating. That amount of sweat varies depending on the person, duration and intensity of activity, fitness level, gender, age and individual sweat rate. Based on all these factors that sweat rate can be anywhere from 0.3 to 2.4L/hour.

Symptoms of dehydration:
- thirst, fatigue and weakness
- headache, irritability, dizziness
- reduced mental alertness
- impaired vision and muscle control

Misconception #1 – We need to drink 8 cups of water each day.

Reality - We actually all need more than that! Women should be trying to drink a minimum 9 cups of fluid and men 13 cups. The other thing to think about is that all fluids count towards this total (except alcohol of course). I highly recommend as much of that intake to be from Vancouver water but milk, juice, tea, coffee etc all count (read about coffee below!).

Misconception #2 – Beverages containing caffeine don’t count because they are a diuretic and dehydrate you.

Reality - If you are having less than 180mg of coffee per day from various caffeinated beverages (standard cup of coffee is approximately 135mg of caffeine) they are actually unlikely to increase your daily urine output or cause dehydration.

Misconception #3 – Sports drinks and energy drinks can be used interchangeably.

Reality - Well I think many of you are already saying ‘no they can’t!’ and you are right but some people are using them interchangeably.

Sports drinks generally contain 6-8% carbs and are designed to rehydrate and refuel you however in my mind I think these drinks need to be diluted with Vancouver water by at least half if you are using them for that purpose. Most energy drinks contain many more carbs than that and they contain the stimulants that are there to revive your mental alertness.

One other thing I just saw on the news the other night was that kids as young at 9 and 10 are drinking energy drinks before heading out on the field/ice for their sports games. This age group should not be drinking energy drinks and should be solely drinking as much Vancouver water as possible!

I hope this helps to clear a few things up about dehydration and a few misconceptions out there. Stay tuned for part 2 on staying hydrated and the benefits of it!

Please comment below on what you got out of this post or any Vancouver water or dehydration questions you might still have.