The difference between a large glass of water with no calories and a snack that might give us 300, 400, 500 calories is quite dramatic. 500 calories a day of additional snack food is around 3,500 calories a week or a potential weight gain of a pound. In metric we are talking around 7,000 calories a fortnight which is about the number of calories in a kilo of additional weight,



But there is more you need to know...

Many people believe that you do not get dehydrated if you are not thirsty. But the reality is that your thirst mechanism does not actually kick in until you are already mildly dehydrated.

In addition to this is the problem of modern society using things that wet our mouth without hydrating us and over time this has lead to a condition for many people were we do not actually recognize thirst even when we are dehydrating.

Very often when we think we need fluids we have a coffee, or a soft drink. The problem with this is that we experience wetness from the fluid in our mouths but the fluid we are taking does not hydrate us. Coffee is a diuretic so drinking coffee actually pulls fluids out of our body rather than adding them. Soft drinks create the same problem.

This leads to a situation for many people in modern society were many people do not experience dehydration as becoming thirst but mistake it as hunger. Instead of having a large glass of water we look for a snack and have something to eat.

The difference between a large glass of water with no calories and a snack that might give us 300, 400, 500 calories is quite dramatic. 500 calories a day of additional snack food is around 3,500 calories a week or a potential weight gain of a pound. In metric we are talking around 7,000 calories a fortnight which is about the number of calories in a kilo of additional weight.

Pretty dramatic don't you think?

For these reasons, it is important that we pay attention to our water intake and give our bodies the fluids it needs in enough quantity, and in a way that it can use them, preferably good, clean, water.

This is a problem is in the summer when it is hot and we need to replace the water we lose from the heat but it is an even bigger problem in the winter when we are often in air-conditioned, heated, offices and houses. The air-conditioning removes water from the air and the dry air pulls water out of us. Since it is cold outside though we often do not drink as much water, and do not pay attention to what we drink. For this reason the problem of dehydration can be worse in the winter than it is in the summer. We need to pay attention to this.

How can we tell if we are dehydrated?

Monitoring the color of your urine may be the best indicator. Urine should be clear to pale yellow. This indicates adequate hydration. Dark yellow to gold urine, especially if it is cloudy indicates you need to drink more water.

Taking a multivitamin may tint the color of your urine if you are using supplements that your body is not properly absorbing so you need to make allowances for that if you are like the majority on people nowadays and taking supplements.

Another method for monitoring hydration is to keep track of how often you visit the bathroom. Urinating at least every 2 hours is also a good sign that you are drinking enough water.

So if you are trying to lose weight, or just to be healthy, then take another look at how much water you are drinking and make sure that you are giving your body enough water so that it can work with you towards being fit and well.