You could ask your doctor and you could ask at a health food store. Regardless of where you go to find out how much is considered a safe amount of daily water intake, there are several factors to consider. Ultimately you want to avoid dehydration, but drinking water when you are thirsty is not enough. Here are some tips to guide you.

1 – You Need Water Daily

The human body depends on water for several reasons. It flushes toxins away, provides a pathway to cells that nutrients travel through and keeps sensitive organs moist for proper functioning. Dehydration is what happens when your body lacks the amount of water it requires. Without the proper level of daily water intake you risk losing energy and getting worn out which reduces productivity and quality of life.

2 – What Affects Your Hydration

As easy as it is to say you should drink 8 or 10 glasses of water daily, there are factors that have an impact on how your body uses it. If you exercise, or lead an active lifestyle, your body will lose more water through sweat than someone less active. This fluid loss needs to be recovered and extra water will suffice.

The environment you live in will also impact your hydration level. In particular, hot or humid climates will be a clue that you should increase your daily water intake. The same goes for high elevation climates which may increase breathing which will use more water than other localities. Plus, if you are ill or suffer from some health conditions, you will deplete your fluid reserves faster.

Another consideration is specifically for expectant mothers and breast-feeding women. Large amounts of water are used especially while nursing which needs to be replaced in order to prevent dehydration. It is a general guideline that nursing mothers consume no less than 13 cups of fluids per day to compensate.

3 – When To Drink Water Daily

As the foods you eat have a significant amount of water content, probably the most reliable source of fluids for your body comes from drinking water. This is why it is easy to add glasses of water to your daily routine. Drinking one with each meal, one before and after exercising or a vigorous activity and drink enough during the day where you do not feel thirsty and you will remain hydrated.

Stay Hydrated – Stay Healthy

As long as you are sure to keep your daily water intake at a level where your urine is either colourless or light yellow, you will keep your body healthy. With the right amount of fluids in your system, everything functions properly and you will look and feel your best!

You’ve seen them and have probably used or recycled several already. Plastic drink bottles are manufactured to be one use only and as a disposable item they are filling up trash cans and recycle bins everywhere. In fact, estimates say that consumers are using up to 1,500 of these plastic drink bottles every second! Aside from the huge volume of waste being produced, there are other reasons why they are harmful.

1 – Human Health Concerns

Let’s just cut to the chase. The chemical used to make plastic hard and clear is known as Bisphenol A, or BPA for short. It is a chemical that has been linked to several health issues including some forms of cancer, neurological matters, birth defects, fertility decreases in women and several more problems. The bottom line is that BPA is not good for your health and it is contained in plastic drink bottles.

2 – Animal Health Concerns

Wouldn’t you know it, although the plastic bottles are recyclable, their companion bottle tops are not. What this means is that although a bottle will likely find its way to a recycle bin and then to a recycling plant, the bottle tops typically end up in the trash. As they are dense in weight, they will often end up at the bottom of a bag of garbage.

This also means that a number of these bottle caps manage to work their way into streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. As a result wildlife and marine life end up swallowing these little things that do not break down in their system. Birds have died tangled up in plastic and even whales have washed up on North American beaches with bodies full of plastic material including bottle caps.

3 – Environmental Concerns

The petroleum product used to make plastic drink bottles is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which happens to use significant amounts of fossil fuels. For a visual of how much oil is used to manufacture a single bottle, fill one to about a quarter full of water. That’s how much. That’s a huge amount of oil used to produce something designed for a one time use.

Plus, recycling plastic may sound like a great idea but it is actually more difficult to recycle. In fact, because of this many communities don’t take recycled bottles further from their drop off depot. This means landfill sites end up with them and all that can be done is they can be buried which allows dangerous chemicals to leach into the ground over time.

How You Can Make A Difference

The simple solution that comes from your involvement is to stop using plastic drink bottles. It is not hard to do with several different fresh water alternatives available to choose from. Besides, you don’t want to keep feeding landfills or oceans something you only get to use once anyway.