A lot of people are trying to drink more water this year.
As explored in a recent piece by The New York Times, Americans are utterly convinced heading into 2020 that they should be chugging water all day long. Savvy advertising has directly developed hydration anxiety, and water is now widely considered a “cure-all” for a variety of bodily ailments and shortcomings.
Earlier in 2019, we touched on the trend here at InsideHook, in an attempt to answer the age-old question “How much water should we drink a day?” We did get a workable answer, believe it or not. Marvel Studios nutritionist Dr. Philip Goglia told us: “For overall health, and weight loss in particular, you should be drinking 1/2 oz to 1 oz of water per pound of body weight each day.”
For a 180-pound guy like me, that equates to at least five standard-sized water bottles a day. It’s doable, and I’ve tried to stay in that ballpark in the months since. That said, those days that I don’t reach that number aren’t some cause for concern. If you’re trying to up your water game this year (water diaries and water app-counters are growing in popularity … seriously), you just need to keep the long game in mind.
That’s to say, consider how a commitment to drinking water will help you when you’re collecting Social Security, not when you’re taking photos at wedding this summer. Faithful water intake prevents kidney damage, regulates body temperature, helps maintains a healthy weight (by helping along the metabolism), and lubricates the joints. Don’t stress the supposed luminescence you want it to immediately bring to your skin, don’t count on alkaline water to balance the acidity around your body (Essentia is a racket) and don’t drink when you’re not thirsty. The only result is more time in the bathroom.
Other helpful tips for the year ahead: the morning’s the best time to hydrate, sports drinks actually dehydrate the body, and if you have a small bladder, might be time to cut back on coffee. Otherwise this resolution isn’t going to be easy. Oh yeah, and get yourself a fun water bottle. There’s no reason to be using single-use plastics this decade.
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