The Importance of Water

Written by rebeccah

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Health

50-75% of our body is water!

We need to drink water every day to replace the 2.5-3 litres we lose in order to stay hydrated and avoid the symptoms of dehydration such as:

tiredness
weakness
mood changes
our skin feeling dry

Rectangular image with blue water splash on top left and bottom right corners. Image of two blue water droplets repeated 5 times from bottom left corner diagonally to top right corner.

What does water do for our body?

Produces sweat to regulate our body temperature.
Maintains our blood volume so nutrients and oxygen can be transported around the body.
Contributes to our urine output so we can remove waste products from our body.
Improves digestion and helping to make our bowel movements regular.
Maintains the moisture in our skin.

How much should we consume?

The amount of water you should consume every day depends on your age, your gender at birth and how much physical activity you do each day.

Women:

If you are aged 14-18 years old, you should aim to drink around 6 cups or 1.6 litres every day.
If you are over 18 years old, you should aim to drink around 8 cups or 2.1 litres every day.

Men:

If you are aged 14-18 years old, you should aim to drink around 7-8 cups or 1.9 litres every day.
If you are over 18 years old, you should aim to drink around 10 cups or 2.6 litres every day.

This amount also increases if you are exercising, pregnant or lactating.

Drinking the recommended amount every day can be hard for some people, however, keeping your drink bottle close by, adding some fruit to your water or making sure you drink water with each snack or meal can help you increase your intake.

What are the sources of water in our diet?

While most of our intake comes from drinking water, around 20% comes from the food we eat, including:

Vegetables: cucumbers, lettuce, celery, capsicum, cauliflower, cabbage, asparagus, spinach, mushrooms,
Fruit: tomatoes, strawberries, watermelon, rock melon and grapefruit.