Without water, life cannot exist. It forms the basis of fluids present in our body, such as saliva and blood. It also helps regulate body temperature through sweat, which is important for survival.1 According to the Water Science School, the body moves water throughout the body by dissolving and transporting essential nutrients, minerals and other substances that keep the body moving.2
The most sure-fire way to stay hydrated is to drink water throughout the day. But how do you handle it properly? You may have come across the adage that drinking eight glasses of water a day is enough to stay hydrated. As a result, this advice is inaccurate and needs to be updated.
Messages about hydration need to be updated.
In a study published in Nutrients,3 Researchers sought to evaluate food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) in several countries, with the end goal of promoting water consumption over sugar-sweetened beverages. But that’s not all. Countries that have legislated taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages are also included. The researchers explain further:4
“While significant progress has been made in adopting and enforcing sugary beverage taxes globally, policymakers must implement complementary policies to ensure access to free, safe drinking water for healthy hydration.
“There are no studies documenting healthy hydration recommendations for countries or jurisdictions that have enacted national or local sugar beverage taxes or levies in conjunction with other policies.”
For the study, they selected countries belonging to six world regions designated by the World Health Organization: Africa, the Americas, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific.5 Next, they narrowed down the list to countries promoting the message of taxing sugary drinks while encouraging water consumption from 2000 to 2023.
If a country abolished taxes on sugary drinks or imposed an unspecified tax that applied the same amount of tax to water and soda, those countries were excluded from the study. After this framework was completed, researchers used the following questions to guide their analysis:6
- From 2000 to 2023, how many countries in WHO’s six regions have enacted and/or updated sugary beverage taxes or levies?
- What is the most recently published version of the National Technical and Graphics FBDG document for countries with sugary beverage tax legislation?
- Which countries have published healthy hydration recommendations to promote water and reduce, replace, or avoid sugary drink intake, and how do national FBDGs compare and contrast text and graphic messages about their country’s healthy drink recommendations?
- What are the Healthy Hydration Recommendations (HHR) scores for countries with FBDG documents and sugary drinks tax legislation, and how do scores compare across WHO’s six regions?
The researchers conducted the analysis using a variety of analytical tools guided by four research questions. They narrowed the results down to 93 countries that had imposed taxes on sugary drinks to discourage the public from drinking sugar. They also reviewed each country’s messaging because it is an important component in promoting drinking water as a standard hydration choice.
Ranking of countries with the best dietary guidelines
Of the 93 countries selected, 53 have implemented FBDG. Through a deeper dive, the researchers noted 48 countries that sent messages encouraging water drinking and banning sugary drinks.7 Using the ranking system, Bolivia, Brunei, and Peru had the highest HHR among tested populations. According to the study authors:8
“Although water and/or sugary drinks were addressed in most FBDGs reviewed, only three health drink recommendations (e.g. Bolivia, Brunei, Peru) fully address the what, where, why, how, and quantity/frequency. Includes comprehensive instructions and visual representations to encourage water consumption and avoid consuming sugary beverages.
These results suggest that FBDG provides specific information (e.g. what, where, why, how, quantity/frequency and visual representation) to promote aspects of a healthy and sustainable diet, including promoting water as a healthy primary beverage. It is consistent with the conclusion that it must be done.”
You may be wondering why it is important to analyze messages from health organizations. Because they have the power to influence public health, for better or for worse. As noted in a 2021 study:9 “Collaboration between health, social services and other sectors is widely promoted as a route to improving population health.”
In this context, Nutrients research researchers say updating government policies to achieve consistency will improve sustainability, food security and water security.10 Unfortunately, only nine of the 93 countries evaluated have specific policies to tax sugary drinks that directly fund public health programs. In conclusion, they are encouraging other countries to do the same. According to Vivica Karrk, one of the study co-authors:11
“When the Government develops policy, it must ensure that the National Dietary Guidelines are consistent with and supported by the National Sugar Drinks Tax.
Our research supports culturally adapted and evidence-based practices by UN organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, to promote healthy hydration and normalize clean, safe and free water as a drink. It has important implications for providing countries with support to develop sound dietary guidelines. “You have a choice.”
Do you only drink eight glasses of water a day?
In the nutrient study, the United States scored average on hydration policies related to taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages.12 One possible reason for this is that drinking eight glasses of water a day has long been recommended.
This adage is often repeated as a criterion for good hydration, but in reality it is not the right approach. Everyone’s situation is different, so imposing one-size-fits-all recommendations doesn’t help anyone. But where did this foundation come from?
According to Dr. Christopher Labos of McGill University, the medical myth about drinking eight glasses a day originated in 1945 when the Food and Nutrition Board recommended 2.5 liters of water daily. What makes this recommendation so serious is that it has no scientific basis.13
While so-called health experts still perpetuate this claim, there are also those who fight back. In 2015, pediatrician Dr. Aaron E. Carroll published an article in The New York Times titled “No, you don’t need to drink eight glasses of water a day.”14 To debunk this myth.
If you don’t need to drink 8 glasses of water a day, what is the best indicator of hydration? The answer is to listen to your body. Use thirst as a guide to how much water you should drink to stay properly hydrated. Another tip is to check the color of your urine. Pale straw or light yellow indicates adequate hydration, while dark yellow or amber urine indicates dehydration.
Hydration is more than just drinking water
Adequate hydration is necessary for optimal health, but it is not the only factor. You should also pay attention to electrolyte balance to keep your cells hydrated. Minerals such as sodium, magnesium, potassium, and calcium have electrical charges and play an important role in important functions such as blood pressure, removal of cellular waste, and muscle function.15
When you drink water to replace fluids, there’s a chance that drinking too much water can change your electrolyte balance. On Jay Feldman’s podcast, registered nurse and independent researcher Mike Fave explains how electrolytes work with water to provide cellular hydration.16
“The interaction of water with electrolytes and proteins (within cell membranes) provides water structure, creating a gel state (Editor’s Note: Structured Water, or EZ Water, which stores energy and strengthens mitochondria2).” Pave explains.
“So… you need electrolytes and proteins as well as water. And… you need energy to maintain the appropriate concentration gradient, or the proper ratio of electrolytes inside and outside the cell.
The plasma membrane theory requires adequate amounts of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), produced by oxidative phosphorylation, to operate membrane-based pumps that regulate the gradient between inside and outside the cell.
Gel state theory, or gel water theory, requires proper energy production by the cell to maintain a specific charge on the protein structure, and water in general, so that it interacts properly and maintains its proper shape.
In both theories, the cessation of energy production causes the cell to swell, either because the cell fails to maintain an appropriate gradient between the electrolytes from the inside to the outside, or, in the gel state theory, simply through proper electrolyte interaction with water and structure.
Now we have the much bigger picture of how electrolytes are needed to maintain proper tissue and cell hydration. First of all, you need water, but you also need electrolytes, adequate proteins and amino acids, and proper cellular energy metabolism. If you are dehydrated, simply dumping water into your system will not solve the problem.
“There are a lot of other needs, and if you start taking in excessive amounts of water compared to what your body actually needs, the process of getting rid of that water becomes a bit wasteful for some of those other needs.”
Drinking too much water can upset your electrolyte balance
There’s a reason it’s important to gauge your hydration status by tracking your thirst or testing the color of your urine. Drinking too much water dilutes the salts in your body, which is equivalent to a sodium deficiency. This triggers the same stress response that results in loss of potassium and magnesium, the same cellular swelling, inhibition of cellular energy production, and ultimately dehydration.
This leads me to my next point. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that more salt intake increases your blood pressure. In fact, salt works with hydration. Drinking water with enough salt helps your body maintain adequate blood volume, which helps improve circulation.
When your salt intake is lower than usual, your body adapts to this stress by inhibiting your kidneys from excreting sodium through urine. Maintaining sodium increases blood volume. However, the downside is that it narrows blood vessels and increases blood pressure.
How to Synchronize Your Water and Salt Intake
On Feldman’s podcast, he said that existing recommendations call for limiting salt intake to no more than 1,500 or 2,000 mg, but studies have shown that this range is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and increased all-cause mortality compared to the higher range of 4,000 mg or less. It was found that it does. Up to 6,000 mg:17
“The point is that if we eat a lot more salt than we’re told to eat, we’ll actually do a lot better.” Feldman says:
“And as far as thirst goes, this gives us the best food and drink options for hydration. We don’t want to just drink plain water. There are many other places we can get fluids, so we can get more fluids.” These are the things you actually need to stay hydrated.”
So what’s the best way to stay hydrated while maintaining electrolyte balance? Fave offers several natural options such as mineral water, tea with raw honey (loose leaves), freshly squeezed fruit juice, coconut water, grass-fed milk, fruit and vegetable smoothies, cooked vegetables and ripe fruits. When drinking plain water, make sure it is properly filtered to remove common contaminants such as fluoride, chlorine, and disinfection byproducts.
If you sweat a lot due to exercise or other circumstances, keep in mind that you should also replenish electrolytes by drinking plenty of water. If you don’t have any of the drinks mentioned above, consider taking some Himalayan salt dissolved in water.
Other options such as Mediterranean sea salt or Celtic sea salt are also viable. Avoid highly processed table salt as it contains anti-caking agents and undesirable contaminants such as microplastics. If you don’t like the taste of light salt water, try adding a small amount of lemon or lime juice to improve the taste.
