We lose approximately 2 litres of water daily through the skin (25%), urine (50%), lungs (15%) and faeces (6%). Two thirds of our body’s weight is water. Water is absolutely essential for the life in our cells. Almost everything we require our body to do needs water. It takes water to chew and digest food, to create blood, to move muscles, to breathe, to think. We would consider these as fairly essential functions!

A scientific method we can use to calculate precisely how much water we require, is 35 ml of water per kilo of body weight. Therefore someone who weighs 50 kg needs to drink approximately 1.75 litres of water per day. A little more than is commonly considered adequate! Obviously, the amount of water we require is also influenced by our activity level, the climate and our diet.

A recent response I received from a client, upon asking him how much water he drank each day was, “Oh I drink about two glasses of water per day, but I also drink about 600 ml of fruit juice and 6 cups of tea per day”! Oh dear. This is not an uncommon misunderstanding of the difference in benefits between various fluids. Tea and coffee are dehydrating and the sugar in this amount of fruit juice in clearly excessive. We should eat our fruits not drink them, and for every cup of tea or coffee, add in two glasses

of water.

On the other hand, I remember counselling a client on her excessive water consumption (now this is unusual) when I discovered that she was drinking six litres of water a day and weighed approximately 49 kg. The toll on her kidneys was dangerous and the systemic effects potentially lethal. (Brain swelling, confusion, seizures, coma.)

Water is ideally consumed at several intervals throughout the day, one or two glasses upon awakening and then about an hour before each meal.

Water should not be drunk with meals as it dilutes digestive enzymes and therefore affects digestion and nutrient assimilation. It should also be consumed at room temperature, never icy cold from the refrigerator (stuns digestive enzymes).

In winter, when most of us experience difficulty drinking the required daily amount, try sipping glasses of warm water with a slice of lemon or lime.