Water & I

Water & I

How much water do you really need?

Water is one of the most important nutrients and is essential in every life stage - infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, breastfeeding, lactation and old age.
Every day we lose water through our breath, skin, urine and bowels. Water intake must balance these losses, and an Adequate Intake (AI) for total water is set to prevent dehydration, which includes metabolic and functional abnormalities.

Water Recommended Adequate Intake?

(according to the Food and Nutrition Board)


Life stage Group Total Water Adequate Intake (L/day) From Beverages
0-6 MONTHS 0.7
6-12 MONTHS 0.8 0.6
1-3 YEARS 1.3 0.9
4-8 YEARS 1.7 1.2
9-13 YEARS (boys) 2.4 1.8
9-13 YEARS (girls) 2.1 1.6
14-18 YEARS (boys) 3.3 2.6
14-18 YEARS (girls) 2.3 1.8
19-71 YEARS (men) 3.7 3.0
19-71 YEARS (women) 1.7 2.2
14-50 YEARS (women - pregnancy) 3.0 2.3
14-50 YEARS (women - lactation) 3.8 3.1
Source: National Research Council. Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride and Sulfate.

Why water is the best choice of beverage...

The primary ingredient in sweet beverages is water. Other ingredients are added to sweet beverages to provide flavor, color, and taste like sucrose, fructose, artificial, fruits extracts, and others.  

Increased consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) is frequently linked to an increase in negative health risks such as Type 2 diabetes (T2D), weight gain, obesity, metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease, and high blood pressure. These links have been attributed to several potential mechanisms as follows: an incomplete compensatory reduction in energy intake at subsequent meals after the intake of liquid calories; a glycemic effect with a rapid spike in blood glucose and insulin concentrations, which could lead to insulin resistance over time and a rapid hunger response.

Observational evidence suggests that drinking water is associated with weight loss and a reduction in caloric intake. In contrast, results for artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) have been sparse and inconsistent, with some studies showing increased risk of T2D, weight gain, and cardiometabolic dysfunction. 

These are our recommendations for keeping you and your loved ones hydrated:

table

Did you know?

Did you know?

How does dehydration influence cognitive performance?
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