Health Options Alan Titchenal  & Joannie Dobbs                   Wednesday, May 27, 1998

Summer heat increases need for water

Memorial Day weekend marked the beginning of summer, more time for physical activities, and the beginning of hotter weather. As the temperature rises, our need to consume water increases, and sometimes significantly.

Some people automatically drink more and others don't. Particularly people over 50 are less likely to drink enough fluid. As we age, our sense of thirst be­comes less sensitive. And this faulty thirst regulator makes it important to drink before we feel that thirst sensation.

How much fluid should you drink? Well, that depends on your energy needs, how much you sweat during exercise, and the amount of protein in your diet.

Basically you need about 1 quart (or liter) of water for every 1,000 calories we use. A person who burns up 2,000 calories per day will need about 2 quarts of water, or eight 8-ounce cups per day.

Add a cup of water for each additional 250 kilocalories. Thus, the common recommendation to consume about 8 glasses of water per day.

Athletes and very active people might burn over 4,000 calories per day and need to take in over a gallon of water each day. But this doesn't necessarily mean drinking a gallon of pure water.

Most foods contain significant amounts of water. So, you don't need to feel like you have been water deficient just because you don't drink 6 to 8 glasses of water each day. Water comes in your foods and other beverages. Most of us get about a quart of water each day in the food we eat. Fruits and vegetables are gener­ally over 70 percent water. Other foods vary depending on the preparation.

The most obvious forms of water are beverages, including milk, juice, soda, tea, coffee, sports beverages, and even beer. However, these beverages are not created equal in terms of health benefits.

Is there a single best beverage choice besides water? Are there bad beverage choices? As usual, few answers are that simple. But here are factors to consider when making your beverage choices:

1) Calorie and nutrient content of the beverage should be an im­portant consideration. Fruit juices, fruit drinks and sodas contain around 150 to 200 calories in a 12-ounce serving. Too many high-calorie drinks can make it more difficult to get the other nutrients we need within our calorie limits. All too often, this is a problem in children who love the high-calorie fruit drinks.

2) Common sports drinks can be good sources of fluid during ex­ercise to replace water losses and provide some carbohydrate energy. But remember, these are essentially properly diluted mixtures of sugar with a pinch of salt. They have about half the calories of soda and juice drinks, but usually don't provide vitamins or minerals in significant amounts (except for sodium).

3) Beverages that contain diuretics – such as caffeine or alcohol – increase water loss via urine. Therefore 8 ounces of caffeine- or alcohol-containing beverages do not equal 8 ounces of water and for some may actually cause additional dehydration.

4) One last consideration is that a high-protein diet can increase water needs too. Some people who meet their calorie needs with the currently popular 30 percent of calories from protein may need an extra 1 to 3 quarts of water per day to assist the kidneys in flushing out the excess nitrogen waste.

The bottom line is that although most of us don't really need to consume 6 to 8 glasses of water each day, it won't hurt. And, if you don't drink water, find lower calorie sources of water and wholesome foods that are high in water to meet your overall needs.